CCTV's Chinese Kung Fu

Oh great. Like that title will be easy to search on the interwebs...:rolleyes:

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Reality or bust
Global Times | 2013-1-27 18:43:01
By Xu Ming

http://www.globaltimes.cn/Portals/0/...5dcdc9b38.jpeg
Scene from Master Chef Photo: CFP

Domestic TV rides the talent show bandwagon

Arriving with the spring of 2013, a bevy of reality TV shows will hit the Chinese small screen. There will be nearly 30 of them vying for attention including some that have already proven successful like The Voice of China, China's Got Talent, Master Chef and Your Face Sounds Familiar. There also will be new ones like Chinese Kung Fu, X-Factor, and many more.

The tremendous success of The Voice of China last year has aroused another upsurge of talent shows in China, after the first surge was brought about by Super Girl in 2004.

"We sure will see the blooming of reality shows on screen this year, but it requires both correct location and innovation to really yield fruits," Gao Jin, chief editor with iqiyi.com, an online video portal, and a senior critic in variety shows, told Global Times.

Fill the gap

Iqiyi.com and Dragon TV reached an agreement on January 14 about their strategic cooperation in promoting Master Chef and producing related programs centering on food. That was two days before the first broadcast of the second season of the show.

Gao Jin stressed that the breakthrough is based on the delicate production and distinctive features of the program and its popularity with the audience. "It is a reality show worthy of the name and the carrier it chooses is special," Gao told Global Times, "While the stage of a talent show is full of songs and performances, Master Chef stands out."

Master Chef, introduced from the UK, is the first cooking talent show imported from abroad. It combines a pressure-packed exhibition of talent with moving stories about the grass-roots candidates who dream of becoming a "master chef."

Besides the competition and cooperation among candidates with different personalities, the interaction between the candidates and judges, which include top chefs, gourmets and celebrities, is also absorbing.

While the competition among various talent shows has grown white-hot, the introduction of Master Chef is regarded as a show that satisfies the domestic TV market's craving for a program that focuses on food.

CCTV's Chinese Kung Fu is seen as another attempt to fill the variety gap. The show will serve as a stage to exhibit many forms of traditional Chinese kung fu and gather a large number of martial arts experts all across China. It has been revealed that the tutors will include kung fu masters such as Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung, Donnie Yen and other stars. As seen from netizens' reactions, it is a highly anticipated show for 2013.

Dragon TV's Super Diva exported from South Korea last September is also regarded as special because it allows real "desperate" housewives to show their talent in singing.

A similar concept is seen on Hunan TV's Nü Ren Ru Ge, a copy of Holland's The Winner Is, which also spotlights married women.

"TV stations are trying to find the gap in the market and provide diversified forms of shows," said Shao Jingjing, a cultural critic.

A repeat of last decade

Since 2004 when Super Girl introduced people to the charm of reality TV, a number of similar shows centered on a singing contest have emerged to take their slice of the pie. But few have managed to be so influential. Problems such as rough and casual production and even audience deception have emerged from the chaotic market.

In 2007, Chongqing TV's acting talent show got called off by the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television due to bad behavior by the judges. This stirred up wide discussion about unscripted TV shows in general.

Prospects for these kinds of programs grew increasingly dim, until last year when The Voice of China imported from Holland injected fresh blood. Its success is widely seen as due to the way it selects candidates, which focuses on the voice itself through "blind" selection. Respected judges and quality production are also said contribute to its appeal.

Following the success of Voice, many TV stations, including CCTV, are starting to place emphasis on the reality TV shows again, causing a surge of buying copyrights from foreign shows.

Along with Master Chef, other reality shows will begin to appear one after the other. The fourth season of China's Got Talent already started last November. The third season of Your Face Sounds Familiar aired about 10 days ago. Hunan TV's exported I'm a Singer got on screen last week.

Other shows including Chinese Kung Fu and the second season of The Voice of China will be on later this year. The blooming is delightful, but flocking these shows together worries some who recall a previous glut of talent shows.

"There will be an overflow of such programs, since they have become almost a necessity for daily life," Shao told Global Times, "besides, many people want to get famous through the platform." But she believes the programs will improve with time under the pressure of a competitive market.

Find the difference

When the form of talent show is not fresh to the Chinese audience anymore, the shows need to find a way to differentiate themselves.

Gao told Global Times that some TV stations already determine programing based on the location of stations. To her, the differentiation between different channels is taking shape. Master Chef, Your Face Sounds Familiar, If You Are the One, The Voice of China are all good examples of setting themselves apart from the crowd. "The programs suit different TV stations' location and target audience," Gao said.

For example, Hunan TV of Hunan Province targets audiences that are relatively young, fashionable and pursue sheer pleasure in watching TV. So programs like Your Face Sounds Familiar, which focuses on the imitating of famous singers and is full of funny performances, fits its channel.

"It would look weird if Your Face Sounds Familiar appeared on Dragon TV, which emphasizes society, culture and people's daily life in their programs," said Gao.

Many would notice that among the present programs, most of the famed are exported from other countries. Lu Di, a professor with Peking University is upset about this trend.

"It is borrowed prosperity. If these programs want to develop, they need to innovate based on the local culture and characteristics and develop a way of their own," he told Global Times, "Imitation is not the way."

Lu added that domestic reality TV shows still lack authenticity. "Some programs are rampant with feigned stories," he said, "The untrue production of overnight-fame stories easily misleads young people." He called for a transfer of attention from such shows to realistic programs such as documentary.

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Dancing and kung fu. yay.

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Talent TV shows still all the rage
By Xu Wei | 2013-3-11 |

TV talent discovery shows are hot and much better than earlier, trashy star-making contests. But critics say there's not much originality in TV entertainment. Xu Wei reports.

Talent discovery shows such as "The Voice" and "China's Got Talent," based on successful foreign formats, are hugely popular on prime-time television and more talent "reality" shows are planned. Dancing and kung fu are up next.

These are the second-generation of star-making shows - the first were sensationally popular, often tasteless, and generated enthusiasm with live audience SMS votes in prime time. They - along with some often-vulgar dating shows - were ordered to stop or clean up, become more uplifting and end mass voting.

In September 2007, the broadcasting watchdog required the star-making shows to be removed from the prime time from 7:30pm to 10:30pm.

These new talent "discovery" shows are usually aired at 9pm and 10pm on weekends.

Even China Central Television (CCTV) is trying to innovate and enliven its programming, which is largely social and educational, with talent and soft entertainment shows.

On the evening of April 14, CCTV-1 will launch a weekly original dance reality competition, "Dancing My Life." It will run for more than two months.

"As an old brand of China's television, we are now bringing more encouraging and creative programs to the screen," says Qian Wei, director of CCTV-1. "We're eager to cooperate with veteran domestic and foreign producers to make our programs appealing to younger audience."

The show is partly inspired by ABC's "Dancing with the Stars." It will feature a Chinese celebrity and a "grassroots" dancer as a team.

"Sharing their enthusiasm for dance, they will learn from each other and cooperate in an amusing way," says producer Jin Lei. Twelve teams will perform a range of dance styles, including ballroom, Latin, jazz and hip-hop.

"There will also be heartwarming displays of emotional stories behind their dance," Jin says.

Stars on the invite list include Hong Kong singer and actress Cecilia Cheung, mainland TV host Sa Beining and award-winning mainland actress Liu Xiaoqing. In each episode, performances will be judged by a jury panel and a celebrity comedian observer.

Given its large audience base, CCTV's potential for entertainment shows is vast but underestimated, say industry observers. "Dancing My Life" is the first of what is expected to be a number of reality TV shows on weekends.

In September, CCTV-1 is also considering the launch of a martial arts reality competition, "The Kung Fu of China."

Traditional Chinese kung fu from Shaolin Temple, the Wudang Kung Fu Academy and other famed martial arts institutes will showcase their diverse skills, swordsmanship and combat.

Today, most regional satellite television stations air such reality shows, usually with an interesting coaching element, not the slashing bitter comments that have characterized such programs in the past.

"The Voice of China," a reality singing contest based on the copyrighted "Voice of Holland," will launch its second season on Zhejiang Satellite TV over the summer vacation. The first season was a huge hit last year, topping the ratings with an average viewership rating of 4 percent.

According to produce Tian Ming, the show will be developed into a mature and sustainable franchise to support both domestic music and TV industries.

More untapped talents will be discovered in the new season and eight finalists will have opportunities to become contract singers with well-known music companies and release their own albums. Last year, a few top singers got increased exposure and several signed record contracts. None is professional, however, and none have shot to stardom.

Dragon TV airs two popular reality competitions, the Chinese version of "So You Think You Can Dance" (every Sunday night) and the cooking contest "Master Chef" (every Wednesday and Thursday).

In May, the channel will launch "Chinese Idol," a Chinese version of the acclaimed reality singing contest "American Idol." It will compete with Hunan Satellite TV's "China's Strongest Voice," which is based on the format of "The X Factor."

Besides, "China's Got Talent" will also return for a fifth season in November.

"The reality TV genre now plays an important role in the TV industry in terms of its popularity and diversity of styles," says Xu Xiangdong, director of the Chinese version of "So You Think You Can Dance" and "Dancing My Life."

"This fever will last for a long time internationally and also in China because these shows bring out a person's personality and can evoke intense emotions in viewers."

Purchasing successful foreign TV formats is already a trend. The shows share operational know-how and can give Chinese producers new concepts and ideas for a mature franchise and production chain.

"However, only those made with sincerity and real expertise, rather than a short-sighted profit motive, can survive the competition," Xu says.

Chen Peiying (mostly known as Xiao Chen), a celebrated local entertainment TV producer, has witnessed the development of Chinese entertainment shows over 20 years.

Her credits include the popular game show "Intellectual Big Surf," the city's first entertainment TV show that debuted in 1994, and the celebrity dancing reality show "Let's Shake It," which debuted in 2006.

TV audiences today have much shorter attention spans because they have many more choices and change channels quickly if they are not interested.

"A common challenge for domestic TV producers is how to hook an audience in the first five minutes," Chen says. "They naturally feel pressured and begin to resort to reality competition shows that feature a big, shining stage, more spectacular visual effects and magically turn ordinary people into stars overnight."

Chinese entertainment shows have shifted from merely imitating successful foreign shows in the 1990s to the current period of copyright import and localization, she says.

Chinese television needs more than reality shows, since originality and diversity are important for a healthy industry, Chen says.

"Big-budget reality competition series is like a sumptuous meal, but if it is served again and again, people may feel bored and apathetic," she adds. "Small-budget entertainment shows with good creative thinking can also achieve a big success."

She cites the popularity of the light-hearted Dragon TV program "Talk About It," which targets the post-1980s generation.

In each episode, an energetic on-site DJ performance is combined with the young talk show nova Wang Zijian's witty comments on current affairs, cultural events and fashion trends. It's expected to become a long-running show for young people who learn about the world from novel perspectives.

Professor Wu Gang, a TV expert from East China Normal University, says that trying new things is always risky, but being afraid of risk can lead to copycat programs and lack of originality.

"That's why plenty of technical clones stem from China," he says. "Entertainment TV is a good platform for people to use their imagination. It's not a good sign that it is dominated by a single genre (talent), and this may cause aesthetic fatigue."

Even purchasing a successful foreign format cannot guarantee success. Domestic producers still have a lot to learn from foreign shows.

In the West, almost all the successful TV formats have a professional R&D design team working on every detail, such as scenes, positioning, lighting and production, he says. "The judges are very professional. What attracts the audience are the real talent of contestants and judge's astute comments and expertise."



? "So You Think You Can Dance"

Sundays, 9pm, Dragon TV

? "Master Chef"

Wednesdays and Thursdays, 10pm, Dragon TV

? "I Am A Singer"

Fridays 10pm, Hunan Satellite TV

? "Dancing My Life"

From April 14, 8pm, CCTV-1

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