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China kills its version of "American Idol" for being too much like Western democracy
By James Brady RyanSeptember 19th, 2011, 12:00 pmComments (7)
We think it's impressive when American Idol gets nearly forty-million viewers, but Super Girl, the Chinese talent competition that is basically the same thing except only with female contestants, had a viewership of four-hundred million at its peak. Pretty impressive, right? Of course, that didn't matter much in the end, because the Chinese government has just forced the show to shut down.
What could be so offensive about the wailing of wannabe pop stars, besides the wailing? According to the Financial Times, "State media said SARFT was punishing the broadcaster because the show had frequently overrun its allotted time slot."
Haha, that's cute, China. What's the real reason?
Super Girl, China’s version of Pop Idol, is to be dropped from television schedules in spite of attracting 400m viewers at its peak, following government pressure on a programme that some officials saw as subversive because the audience voting too closely represented Western-style democracy.
Li Hao, deputy editor and spokesman of Hunan Satellite TV, which broadcast the show, was quoted as saying the changes were under disciplinary measures by the State Administration for Radio, Film and Television, and the broadcaster would soon launch new programming on morals, security and housework instead.
Oh, China. Don't you realize that people care more about voting for American Idol than they do about voting in actual political elections? This could have been a real asset for you in your tireless fight against democracy! As Alexis de Tocqueville once said, "Reality TV breeds complacency." (I was going to fact-check that, but then I remembered I had an episode of Project Runway to watch.)
Commentarium (7 Comments)
Yeah, like being too much like Western democracy is the worst thing about "Idol"
My thoughts exactly. The first 3 or 4 seasons were alright but then after that, and after hearing everyone sing the same god damn Eagles songs... got old. Plus, they are all pretty much the same type of vocalists.
Chinese govt = living on borrowed time
With the Chinese people becoming more savvy about the western way of life, it's only a matter of time before they will buck against their overbearing govt. And we will witness the last mighty revolution of our time as the people overthrow the old guard. See Libya, Egypt, Syria et al. The people are restless.
Perhaps, but China still has awhile to stew before something like that happens.
The real ticking time bomb in China is that mass of 30+ million maturing men who have no hope of ever finding a female mate (thanks to the 1-child policy being married to a cultural bias for having/wanting male children/1st borns). It's simply not psychologically feasible all will switch to 'walking on the other side of the road'. One might even presuppose that pulling a show featuring nothing but nubile young women was (however much) because it was only feeding the (potential) frustrations of this group of unfortunates.
Good point. I hadn't tohhugt about it quite that way. :)