Perhaps that was the problem though, a show that featured startlingly individualistic performers, out for themselves (and inevitably, their hard-pressed families) in a ruthless, elimination-style format.
When you’ve got a real banker – a certified, prime-time, rating winner – expect most television executives to do what comes naturally: flog the life out it.
Not in China however, where a hit is not always a hit – at least with the folks who really count (and I don’t mean the audience).
Take Hunan Satellite Television’s runaway smash ‘Super Girl’ – an Anglo-American style talent show that regularly drew audiences measured in the hundreds of millions.
This year, the final elimination round included the programme itself. It has been suspended for a year by the Chinese government censor – the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (SARFT) – for repeatedly exceeding the time-limit of 90 minutes on talent competitions.
That was the official reason given for the departure of the nation’s favourite – but leading Communist Party officials have vigorously attacked the programme on moral grounds. A former culture minister, Liu Zhongde accepted that ‘Super Girls’ was the ‘market’s choice’ but described the show as low-brow, corrupting and an enemy to socialist morality.
Revealingly, Hunan Satellite Television has now promised to fill its prime time slots with programming that promotes public safety, moral conduct and practical information about housework. A new show about finding a nanny debuts next week.
So, what does the ‘Super Girl’ affair tell us about China? Well, I suppose it tells us that the kids and the party leaders can’t agree on what to watch. More importantly perhaps, the bureaucrats aren’t about to let the ‘market’ choose when it comes to the production and distribution of popular culture – despite greater liberalisation in other sectors of national life.
A bit of a shame then for this year’s winner, the androgynous underdog Duan Linxi. She should be soaking up the breakfast television buzz and putting the focus very squarely on herself. Perhaps that was the problem though, a show that featured startlingly individualistic performers, out for themselves (and inevitably, their hard-pressed families) in a ruthless, elimination-style format.
Officially at least, that’s not very Chinese.