One way China is no different than the United States and virtually
any other country, is the desire of young people (not to mention some
older ones) to be "stars" or
"idols." America has American Idol
which is a copy of Britain's Pop Idol
show. While the American and British shows have
both been extremely popular, they can't compare with China's version
of the singing contest TV show, Super Voice Girls (超级女声;
Chāojí Nǚ Shēng; "Super Female Voice"). The Super Girl show was a
singing contest for female contestants broadcast nationally in China
from 2004 to 2006 (although a newer version was introduced in 2009).
While American Idol's biggest audience in the U.S. for any episode was
37.7 million (2007 final episode), over 400 million Chinese viewers
tuned in to the final episode of the 2005 Super Girl competition.
Little Western Idols v. Big
Chinese Idol
In 2005, over 120,000 young women applied for the show
from 5 provinces (Hunan, Sichuan, Guangdong, Henan and Zhejiang).
One applicant named Zhou Ting went so far as to say “I will strive to
get on TV, even to death.”
Through 5 rounds of regional competitions which were broadcast
weekly, initial selections were narrowed down based on audience
text messaging
votes. Young Chinese are avid texters - in the
Chengdu(成都)
regional competition, the top 3 contestants received a total of
307,071 text message votes (more than the entire U.S. population).
Further, each vote cost about 25 cents so apparently, Chinese are
willing to spend money on music (or at least on something related to
music). Ten finalists from the regional competitions survived to make it to
the national competition.
The Top 5 Super Girls of 2005
As on American Idol, the judges (well-known pop singers, critics,
etc.) play an important role, rating and criticizing the contestants
as well as providing some drama on their own. “I scold those
girls who want to become celebrities but have no chance of doing so,
in the hope of driving them back to school,” said Xia Qing (who I
guess is the Simon
Cowell-type judge).
One important aspect of the Super Girl show is
its economic impact. It has been
estimated that
Hunan
Satellite Television, which broadcasted the show, made about $55 million from the 2005 season.
This income was from advertising revenue ($30-35 million) plus text
messaging fees ($20-25 million). In
addition Mengniu Dairy
Company paid $14 million to be the show's
corporate
sponsor (and
likely sold a lot of their
yogurt
as a
result). The
Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, in a report
entitled The Development Report on China's Cultural Industry: 2006,
estimated that total revenue from the 2005
Super Girl contest was
about $95.75 million.
Aside from the money, another aspect of the Super Girls
show that
merits consideration is its social/cultural impact. With its
popularity and huge audience, Super
Girls played a substantial role in transforming the television
industry in China. Chinese television has
traditionally been
state-owned and very conservative by Western
standards. Rather than being purely an
entertainment medium, television had largely been an educational and
propaganda
source. China
Central Television (CCTV;
中国中央电视台; Zhōngguó Zhōngyāng Diànshìtái) is China's main TV
company and traditionally broadcasted Chinese
documentaries, news shows, comedies, and soap operas. In the 1990s, as
part of the economic reforms initiated by
Deng Xiaoping,
the government began loosening its control over content a bit.
Although television stations are still subject to state control, they
are not completely funded by the state anymore so they must attract
advertising income to be profitable. As a result, they target
programming largely at the Chinese youth market which increasingly has
disposable income, is very brand conscious and can be influenced by
advertising.
Can Super Girls Change
Confucian Society?
Traditional Chinese society tends to be much
more conservative and group-oriented than Western society which
emphasizes
individualism. Whereas, America's current youth generation (Generation
Y) might also be described as the "me generation," Chinese
might be more accurately described as the "we generation" since
Chinese society places much greater emphasis on the collective
(family, community, work group, etc.) over the individual's interest.
The importance of group identity goes back thousands of years and
originated with
Confucius
(孔子;
Kǒng zǐ), a teacher and philosopher who developed an ethical system
which became a fundamental part of the social, political and legal
systems of China (as well as
Korea
and Japan) and
has guided peoples' beliefs and behavior ever since. A key part
of Confucianism
(儒家;
Rújiā) is the importance of individuals relationships and the
obligations individuals have to others which are deemed necessary to
insure social harmony. Everyone must know their place in
relation to others and an individual's interests are generally
subordinate to the various groups to which the individual belongs.
Accordingly, while Western culture admires people that stand out,
traditional Chinese culture does not encourage such a degree of
individuality.
What, in the name of Confucius, does all this
have to do with Super Girls? Well, the 2005 Super Girl
competition may indicate that China's Generation Y, maybe due in part
to the increasing influence of Western
pop culture,
is becoming a bit less Confucian and a bit more individualistic. The
results of the 2005 competition were a bit surprising since Chinese
voters to an extent seem to have favored contestants that displayed
individualistic, non-conformist images rather than the best or most
talented performers.
Li Yuchun, a 21 year old college music student from
Chengdu,
ended up getting the most votes (3,528,308) and winning the 2005
Super Girl contest. Her popularity was not due to
her being the best singer or dancer. Instead, it was
largely due to the fact that Li didn't fit the stereotypical
Chinese female pop singer image (pretty girl with pleasant voice
singing love songs). However, Li had a unique image
and attitude that defied the stereotype. Her
androgynous look (often wearing loose jeans, black button-down shirt, no make-up
& a short hairstyle) and choice of songs written for male
performers played up her self-proclaimed
tomboy image.
"God is a Girl"
Some Chinese questioned
this result such as Yu Guoming, Vice-Dean of Journalism at People's University of
China who commented in the
Beijing News: "After all, in China the opportunities to use votes to choose
are relatively few." An editorial in the China Daily
wondered: "How come an imitation of a democratic system ends up
selecting the singer who has the least ability to carry a tune?"
For whatever reason (maybe sheer novelty), young Chinese viewers
especially identified with, valued, and/or supported this
individuality and deviation from the norm.
Li at Beijing Airport greeted by fans
Li's popularity on the
Super Girl TV show led to "overnight stardom" and considerable
commercial success. After winning the Super Girl
competition, Li was quickly signed to a record contract with
Taihe
Rye Record Companyand
released her first album, The Queen and the Dream (皇后与梦想),
in late 2006. Li released a second album, Mine (我的), in
late 2007 and a third, Youth of China (少年中国) in
mid-2008. Although record sales don't generate much income
in China even for successful artists such as Li, her popularity
led to much more lucrative endorsement deals with major
companies such as
Coca-Cola, Swatch, and Hewlett-Packard.
