On October 7, 2005, Benjamin Joffe-Walt reported for the U.K. based the
Guardian from Shanghai on the recent phenomenon of Chinese idol, the
21-year-old Li Yuchun.
Read the story in
http://www.guardian.co.uk/china/story/0,7369,1586968,00.html
An outline of the article:
* Li Yuchun is not an outstanding singer or dancer.
The title of the show, sponsored by a dairy company,
is The Mongolian Cow Sour Yogurt Supergirl Concert.
* 400 million Chinese tuned in for the show -- more
than the population of western Europe.
* China's young women are in the midst of a "Supergirl
rebellion". Unlike most Chinese TV, the outcome was
not scripted - fans voted for the winner.
* "Women are very explosive today," said Chen Shangjun,
professor of humanities and literature at Fudan
University. "People have abandoned the traditional
beauty figure, and the positioning of female characters
- extroverted, non-tender and outgoing women - is new
for mainland China and different from the state-run
beauty contests."
* "It's vulgar and manipulative," said one statement put
out by China's government broadcaster.
* It is that she was popularly elected in a process
that attracted the masses and made them feel included.
Viewers could vote up to 15 times by text message.
* Regarding the voting process, a wry statement in the
government-run China Daily read: "How come an
imitation of a democratic system ends up selecting
the singer who has the least ability to carry a tune?"
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