''Super Girl'' or ''Super Voice Girls'' (; literally: "Super Female Voice", as it is

homonym In linguistics, homonyms are words which are either; '' homographs''—words that mean different things, but have the same spelling (regardless of pronunciation), or '' homophones''—words that mean different things, but have the same pronunciat ...

with "Super girl") was a Chinese singing contest for female contestants, organized by

Hunan Satellite Television Hunan Television or Hunan TV () is a state-owned provincial satellite TV station launched on September 29, 1970. It is currently China's second-most-watched television channel, second to China Central Television's CCTV-1, although Hunan TV has oc ...

between 2004 and 2006. The show's official name was ''

Mengniu Inner Mongolia Mengniu Dairy (Group) Limited by Share Ltd. () is a Chinese manufacturing and distribution company of dairy products and ice cream. The company is headquartered in Hohhot, Inner Mongolia and manufactures dairy products under the '' ...

Yoghurt Yogurt (; , from , ; also spelled yoghurt, yogourt or yoghourt) is a food produced by bacterial fermentation of milk. Fermentation of sugars in the milk by these bacteria produces lactic acid, which acts on milk protein to give yogurt its tex ...

Super Girl Contest'' until 2009; later it was known as '' BBK Music Phone Super Girl Contest'', after the company that sponsored the series. It was generally described as the unofficial

mainland Chinese Mainland Chinese or mainlanders are Chinese people who live in or have recently emigrated from mainland China, defined as the territory governed by the People's Republic of China (PRC) except for Hong Kong ( SAR of the PRC), Macau (SAR of the PRC) ...

version of the global television franchise ''

Pop Idol ''Pop Idol'' is a British music competition television series created by Simon Fuller which ran on ITV from 2001 to 2003. The aim of the show was to decide the best new young pop singer (or "pop idol") in the UK based on viewer voting and pa ...

'' (2001) and became one of the most popular entertainment shows in the country. Despite ''Super Girls major popularity and success, the show was heavily criticised by

Liu Zhongde Liu Zhongde (; 5 May 1933 – 25 May 2012) was a politician of People's Republic of China, he was a standing committee member of the 9th and 10th Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, and a member of the 14th CCP Central Committee ...

, a member of the

Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference The Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) is a political advisory body in the People's Republic of China and a central part of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)'s United front (China), united front system. Its members adv ...

. He essentially claimed ''Super Girl'' was

poison A poison is any chemical substance that is harmful or lethal to living organisms. The term is used in a wide range of scientific fields and industries, where it is often specifically defined. It may also be applied colloquially or figurati ...

for the youth. The program was relaunched in 2009. The Chinese title was changed to ''Happy Girls'' () though the official English title remains unchanged as ''Super Girl''. In 2011, the Chinese government banned Super Girl from airing, claiming the program to be too long. The

State Administration of Radio, Film and Television The National Radio and Television Administration (NRTA) is a ministry-level executive agency controlled by the Central Propaganda Department of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Its main task is the administration and supervision of state-own ...

(SARFT) told the Hunan station that Super Girl broke time rules for this kind of show. They should be no more than 90 minutes long, but episodes of ''Super Girl'' can last more than three hours. More than 2.5 billion people watched the show. Huanan announced a third incarnation of the show on October 30, 2015. Auditions for the series closed on April 16, 2016.

Outline

Partly inspired by the many spinoffs of the UK show ''

'', the competition was open to any female contestant regardless of her origin, appearance, or how she sings. The almost unrestricted

audition An audition is a sample performance by an actor, singer, musician, dancer or other performer. It typically involves the performer displaying their talent through a previously memorized and rehearsed solo piece or by performing a work or piece gi ...

sessions drew contestants of ages ranging from 4 to 89 years old. The 2005 season attracted more than 120,000 applicants during the preliminary selection rounds, held in the five provinces of

Hunan Hunan is an inland Provinces of China, province in Central China. Located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze watershed, it borders the Administrative divisions of China, province-level divisions of Hubei to the north, Jiangxi to the east, Gu ...

Sichuan Sichuan is a province in Southwestern China, occupying the Sichuan Basin and Tibetan Plateau—between the Jinsha River to the west, the Daba Mountains to the north, and the Yunnan–Guizhou Plateau to the south. Its capital city is Cheng ...

Guangdong ) means "wide" or "vast", and has been associated with the region since the creation of Guang Prefecture in AD 226. The name "''Guang''" ultimately came from Guangxin ( zh, labels=no, first=t, t= , s=广信), an outpost established in Han dynasty ...

Henan Henan; alternatively Honan is a province in Central China. Henan is home to many heritage sites, including Yinxu, the ruins of the final capital of the Shang dynasty () and the Shaolin Temple. Four of the historical capitals of China, Lu ...

and

Zhejiang ) , translit_lang1_type2 = , translit_lang1_info2 = ( Hangzhounese) ( Ningbonese) (Wenzhounese) , image_skyline = 玉甑峰全貌 - panoramio.jpg , image_caption = View of the Yandang Mountains , image_map = Zhejiang i ...

. Many applicants travelled long distances to take part in the competition hoping to become a star. Each contestant was allowed 30 seconds to perform in front of judges and find out if they were selected for the preliminary regional rounds. To prevent another overwhelming audition season, a minimum age of eighteen was later set during the 2006 season. Following the selection of contestants in the five regions, the competition began with the preliminary rounds. Preliminaries were held in each of the five locations where auditions were located. Television viewers were able to watch each of the preliminaries and vote for their favorite singers. Voting was conducted by

telephone A telephone, colloquially referred to as a phone, is a telecommunications device that enables two or more users to conduct a conversation when they are too far apart to be easily heard directly. A telephone converts sound, typically and most ...

and

text messaging Text messaging, or texting, is the act of composing and sending electronic messages, typically consisting of alphabetic and numeric characters, between two or more users of mobile phones, tablet computers, smartwatches, desktops/laptops, or ...

. The regional preliminaries were followed by a weekly broadcast

knockout competition A single-elimination knockout, or sudden-death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of a match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final match-up, w ...

held in

Changsha Changsha is the capital of Hunan, China. It is the 15th most populous city in China with a population of 10,513,100, the Central China#Cities with urban area over one million in population, third-most populous city in Central China, and the ...

province. Viewers called in to vote for their favourite singers, and the weakest two—as voted by the judges and the audience's weekly

SMS Short Message Service, commonly abbreviated as SMS, is a text messaging service component of most telephone, Internet and mobile device systems. It uses standardized communication protocols that let mobile phones exchange short text messages, t ...

— faced-off subsequently in a ''PK'', short for ''Player Kill''. The term is derived from kill-or-be-killed multiplayer

online game An online game is a video game that is either partially or primarily played through the Internet or any other computer network available. Online games are ubiquitous on modern gaming platforms, including PCs, consoles and mobile devices, a ...

s. The singer with the fewest votes was then eliminated. Unlike ''Pop Idol'', the last event was contested between the final three, rather than the final two contestants. Unlike ''

American Idol ''American Idol'' is an American Music competition, singing competition television series created by Simon Fuller, produced by Fremantle (company), Fremantle North America and 19 Entertainment, and distributed by Fremantle North America. It a ...

'', judges for the competition were selected from different backgrounds in society, but they were all still Chinese. A few dozen "audience judges" were selected in addition to several professional judges.

History

The original version of the show was known as ''Super Boy'', and aired in 2003 on Hunan Entertainment Channel, a local broadcaster based in

province in

South Central China South Central China, South-Central China or Central-South China ( zh, c = 中南, p = Zhōngnán, l = Central-South), is a List of regions of China, region of China. It consists of eight provincial administrative regions, namely Henan, Hubei, ...

. The show was a success and its counterpart, ''Super Girl'', aired at the beginning of 2004 with the slogan, "Sing as you want, sing out loud," and became the most viewed show in Hunan. However, the programme's impact was limited as the channel does not broadcast outside the province. On May 6, 2004, ''Super Girl'' was introduced to a national audience by its producer Liao Ke through

. In addition to broadcasting the original episodes created by Hunan Entertainment Channel, the network also developed this show in other 3 cities:

Wuhan Wuhan; is the capital of Hubei, China. With a population of over eleven million, it is the most populous city in Hubei and the List of cities in China by population, eighth-most-populous city in China. It is also one of the nine National cent ...

Hubei Hubei is a province of China, province in Central China. It has the List of Chinese provincial-level divisions by GDP, seventh-largest economy among Chinese provinces, the second-largest within Central China, and the third-largest among inland ...

province,

Nanjing Nanjing or Nanking is the capital of Jiangsu, a province in East China. The city, which is located in the southwestern corner of the province, has 11 districts, an administrative area of , and a population of 9,423,400. Situated in the Yang ...

Jiangsu Jiangsu is a coastal Provinces of the People's Republic of China, province in East China. It is one of the leading provinces in finance, education, technology, and tourism, with its capital in Nanjing. Jiangsu is the List of Chinese administra ...

province, and

Chengdu Chengdu; Sichuanese dialects, Sichuanese pronunciation: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: ; Chinese postal romanization, previously Romanization of Chinese, romanized as Chengtu. is the capital city of the Chinese province of Sichuan. With a ...

province. This show attracted an average of 10,000 contestants in each city and received nationwide attention. Hunan Satellite Television introduced a second season of ''Super Girl'' on March 19, 2005. The preliminary rounds were filmed in five cities:

Hunan province Hunan is an inland province in Central China. Located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze watershed, it borders the province-level divisions of Hubei to the north, Jiangxi to the east, Guangdong and Guangxi to the south, and Guizhou and Chon ...

Guangzhou Guangzhou, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Canton or Kwangchow, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Guangdong Provinces of China, province in South China, southern China. Located on the Pearl River about nor ...

Guangdong province ) means "wide" or "vast", and has been associated with the region since the creation of Guang Prefecture in AD 226. The name "''Guang''" ultimately came from Guangxin ( zh, labels=no, first=t, t= , s=广信), an outpost established in Han dynasty ...

Zhengzhou Zhengzhou is the capital of Henan, China. Located in northern Henan, it is one of the nine National central city, national central cities in China, and serves as the political, economic, technological, and educational center of the province. Th ...

Henan province Henan; alternatively Honan is a province in Central China. Henan is home to many heritage sites, including Yinxu, the ruins of the final capital of the Shang dynasty () and the Shaolin Temple. Four of the historical capitals of China, Luo ...

Hangzhou Hangzhou, , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ; formerly romanized as Hangchow is a sub-provincial city in East China and the capital of Zhejiang province. With a population of 13 million, the municipality comprises ten districts, two counti ...

Zhejiang province ) , translit_lang1_type2 = , translit_lang1_info2 = ( Hangzhounese) ( Ningbonese) (Wenzhounese) , image_skyline = 玉甑峰全貌 - panoramio.jpg , image_caption = View of the Yandang Mountains , image_map = Zhejiang i ...

, and

Sichuan province Sichuan is a Provinces of China, province in Southwestern China, occupying the Sichuan Basin and Tibetan Plateau—between the Jinsha River to the west, the Daba Mountains to the north, and the Yunnan–Guizhou Plateau to the south. Its capita ...

. By the middle of the season, the competition captivated a nationwide audience and became one of the most watched television entertainment shows in

mainland China "Mainland China", also referred to as "the Chinese mainland", is a Geopolitics, geopolitical term defined as the territory under direct administration of the People's Republic of China (PRC) in the aftermath of the Chinese Civil War. In addit ...

with tens of millions of viewers.

Cultural impact

Positive impact

The final episode of the 2005 season was one of the most popular shows in Chinese broadcast history, drawing over 400 million viewers, more than the China Central Television New Year's Gala earlier that year. The final peaked at 280 million viewers at a given time, dwarfing the 12-million-viewer figure for the finals of ''Pop Idol''. Despite the show being condemned by

China Central Television China Central Television (CCTV) is the State media, national television broadcaster of China, established in 1958. CCTV is operated by the National Radio and Television Administration which reports directly to the Publicity Department of th ...

as being "vulgar and manipulative", a third season of the show was launched and finished in early October 2006. On January 18, 2006, China National Philatelic Corporation released a

postage stamp A postage stamp is a small piece of paper issued by a post office, postal administration, or other authorized vendors to customers who pay postage (the cost involved in moving, insuring, or registering mail). Then the stamp is affixed to the f ...

issue featuring 2005 winner

Li Yuchun Li Yuchun ( zh, c=李宇春, p=Lǐ Yǔchūn; born March 10, 1984), also known by her stage name Chris Lee, is a Chinese singer, songwriter, DJ and actress. Her musical style is mainly based on electronic dance music and Chinese pop songs. She laun ...

. The set was released ahead of Li's 22nd birthday in her commemoration. On May 11, 2009, ''

The Oprah Winfrey Show ''The Oprah Winfrey Show'' is an American first-run syndicated talk show that was hosted by Oprah Winfrey. The show ran for twenty-five seasons from September 8, 1986, to May 25, 2011, in which it broadcast 4,561 episodes. The show was taped i ...

'', a worldwide famous television show, invited Zhang Liangying, who ranked 3rd overall in the 2005 contest, to make an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

television singing debut. The subtitle of the show was "The World's Got Talent" and Zhang Liangying was the only East Asian singer in the show. Some who were not chosen as winners have also been able to enter the recording industry through other means.

Ji Minjia Ji Dandi (; born June 30, 1982), formerly known as Ji Minjia (), is a Chinese singer from the city of Chengdu, Sichuan. In the TV show Super Girl, season 2004, Ji finished fourth in the Chengdu qualification round. In the following 2005 season ...

, who ranked 5th overall in the 2005 contest, worked in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

in 2006 to help with production of the title song for Japanese

anime is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...

series ''

The Galaxy Railways is a Japanese anime television series produced by Leiji Matsumoto, creator of ''Galaxy Express 999'', and is about flying trains set in the far reaches of outer space. It began airing on October 4, 2003. Funimation licensed the anime for rele ...

''. On March 15, 2007, Japanese recording group

Hello! Project is a Japanese musical collective consisting of all female recording artists and groups under Up-Front Promotion, a subsidiary of Up-Front Group. The name was initially used as Michiyo Heike and Morning Musume's fan club name in 1999, but ...

announced Li Chun, one of the top 50 contestants in the 2006

regional, as one of two new members of

Chinese Chinese may refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people identified with China, through nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **Han Chinese, East Asian ethnic group native to China. **'' Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic ...

ancestry of its pop group

Morning Musume , formerly and commonly known as and colloquially referred to as , is a Japanese girl group, holding the second highest overall single sales (of a female group) on the Oricon, Oricon charts as of February 2012, with the Oricon record of most to ...

. The contest has also inspired television producers to create other talent search shows, including ones based on American shows such as ''

The Apprentice An apprentice is someone who is in training for a trade, profession. The Apprentice or Apprentice may also refer to: Television * ''The Apprentice'' (American TV series), the original reality television series * ''The Apprentice'' (franchise), ...

''. The show was the feature of a 2007 documentary titled '' Super, Girls!'', produced and directed by independent Chinese filmmaker Jian Yi during the 2006 contest season and released at the

Cambridge Film Festival The Cambridge Film Festival is the third-longest-running film festival in the UK. Historically, the festival took place in early July, but now it occurs annually during autumn in Cambridge. It is organised by the registered charity Cambridge ...

. An ARTiSIMPLE Studio production, ''Super, Girls!'' is the only independent feature-length documentary ever made about the "Super Girls".

Democratic expression

One of the main factors contributing to the show's popularity was that viewers are able to participate in the judging process by sending

text messages Text messaging, or texting, is the act of composing and sending electronic messages, typically consisting of alphabetic and numeric characters, between two or more users of mobile phones, tablet computers, smartwatches, desktop computer, des ...

with their

mobile phone A mobile phone or cell phone is a portable telephone that allows users to make and receive calls over a radio frequency link while moving within a designated telephone service area, unlike fixed-location phones ( landline phones). This rad ...

s to vote for their favorite contestants. During the 2005 regional contest in

alone, 307,071 message votes were cast for the top three contestants, each vote costing 0.5 to 3 yuan. This was, according to Jim Yardley of

International Herald Tribune The ''International Herald Tribune'' (''IHT'') was a daily English-language newspaper published in Paris, France, for international English-speaking readers. It published under the name ''International Herald Tribune'' starting in 1967, but its ...

, considered as one of the largest "democratic" voting exercises in mainland China. Over 800 million text messages were sent during the third season of ''Super Girl'', and

fan club A fan club is an organized group of fans, generally of a celebrity. Most fan clubs are run by fans who devote considerable time and resources to support them. There are also "official" fan clubs that are run by someone associated with the pers ...

s began to appear throughout the country. While some culture and media experts praised ''Super Girl'' in blazing "a trail for cultural democracy" and breaking

elitism Elitism is the notion that individuals who form an elite — a select group with desirable qualities such as intellect, wealth, power, physical attractiveness, notability, special skills, experience, lineage — are more likely to be construc ...

in China's entertainment industry, others were quick in pointing out that the show represented a

superficiality In social psychology, superficiality refers to a lack of depth in relationships, conversation and analysis. The principle of "superficiality versus depth" is said to have pervaded Western culture since at least the time of Plato. Social psychology ...

in society, "propelled by behind-the-scenes manipulation and state-of-the-art pomp and circumstance".

Criticism

Liu Zhongde of the

criticised both the show and its negative influence on society, saying the audience watches the program under a distorted mentality and in an unhealthy condition. He claimed that the government departments oversee culture and art, and they should not permit something like ''Super Girl'' to exist. He admitted it was the choice of the market while claiming it as low culture. He said it was not as bad as the 1983

Anti-Spiritual Pollution Campaign The campaign against spiritual pollution, () or Anti-Spiritual Pollution Campaign, was a political campaign spearheaded by conservative factions within the Chinese Communist Party that lasted from October 1983 to December 1983. In general, its a ...

, but the elements are there: cultural invasion, suspicion of market forces, spiritual health, preservation of national culture, and allegations of popular entertainment spreading corruption among the youth, all facing off against a new concept of socialist morality. In the end of 2011, China's State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (SARFT) has suspended the show from future production. While the official reason for such decision is the fact that the show exceeded its airing time throughout the season, many believe that the moral issue was behind this act. This claim is reinforced by Hunan TV news spokesman, Li Hao, who admitted the network will incorporate more "positive" content in its 2012 programs.

Economic impact

Mengniu Milk Group reportedly paid ¥14 million to Hunan Television for rights to sponsor the show's broadcast outside

province beginning with the 2005 season. According to one of China's leading

thinktank A think tank, or public policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Most think tanks are non-governm ...

s, the 2005 contest was estimated to have drawn in a total of ¥766 million (

US$ The United States dollar (Currency symbol, symbol: Dollar sign, $; ISO 4217, currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and International use of the U.S. dollar, several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introdu ...

95.75 million). Indirect business impact of the competition was estimated at several billion yuan.

Television advertisement A television advertisement (also called a commercial, spot, break, advert, or ad) is a span of television programming produced and paid for by an organization. It conveys a message promoting, and aiming to market, a product, service or idea. ...

slots cost an average of ¥33,400 for 15 seconds in 2006, compared to the average of ¥28,000 in 2005. Advertising sales were expected to reach ¥200 million (US$25 million), nearly double that of the previous year.

Season summary

2004 season

The first season of ''Super Girl'' aired from May 6 to September 22, 2004. Although the winners of the competition were not promised recording contracts, the top three winners signed such deals.

Qualifications

Final contest

# Angela An Youqi ( 安又琪) # Katy Wang Ti ( 王媞) # Baby Zhang (Kristy Zhang Hanyun) ( 张含韵) # Strings # Jenne Sun Yibo ()

2005 season

The second season of ''Super Girl'' aired from March 19 to August 26, 2005. The announcement of

as the season's grand champion came under scrutiny as she had been leading voting results despite having the weakest voice among the top finalists. Despite the heavy criticism that arose during the competition season, the three 2005 finalists have been considered the most successful singers from the entire show.

Qualifications

Final contest (July 15 – August 26)

2006 season

The third season of ''Super Girl'' aired from April 2 to September 30, 2006.

Shang Wenjie Shang Wenjie (, born on December 22, 1982 in Shanghai, China), also known as Laure Shang, is a Chinese singer, songwriter, actress and entrepreneur. She won the third season of the Chinese singing competition ''Super Girl (TV series), Super Girl' ...

's selection as grand champion over

Tan Weiwei Tan Weiwei (; born 8 October 1982), also known as Sitar Tan, is a Chinese singer and actress. She was the runner-up of the third season (2006) of '' Super Girl'' (), a singing contest in China. In 2015, she participated ''I Am a Singer'' (sea ...

, who is a professional vocalist from

Sichuan Conservatory of Music The Sichuan Conservatory of Music (SCCM, ), founded in 1939, is an interdisciplinary music institution in Chengdu, Sichuan, China. SCCM is one of the select conservatories authorized by the State Council to confer graduate degrees to its music and ...

, raised questions over each candidate's public appeal. Speculations arose that Shang, who appeared to be a copycat of

's image (somewhat androgynous), was voted grand champion due to the appeal of her

Cinderella "Cinderella", or "The Little Glass Slipper", is a Folklore, folk tale with thousands of variants that are told throughout the world.Dundes, Alan. Cinderella, a Casebook. Madison, Wis: University of Wisconsin Press, 1988. The protagonist is a you ...

story.

Qualifications

Final contest

2009 season

E Media CEO Long Danni stated that through this competition, in addition to singers, the judges would also be looking for budding actresses and those that excel in other areas. Some of the Super Boys would also be co-hosts for the regional contests of Super Girls. The finale took place in August.

Regional contest

;National Top 20 Qualifications Qualified Eliminated

Final Contest

: Champion : ELLE cover girl : Challenges succeed to switch rank : Eliminated : Retired

Overall Final contest total votes

2011 season

The 2011 season was won by Jeremy

Duan Linxi Duan Linxi (; born 14 October 1990 in Baoshan, Yunnan), English name Jeremy, is a female Chinese singer, famous in China after winning the nationwide singing contest '' Super Girl'' in 2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, ...

from Yunnan. The runner-up was Cici

Hong Chen Hong Chen (Chinese: 洪辰, also known as Cici Hong) is a Chinese singer who finished as the runner-up in 2011 Super Girl television singing contest. Biography Her first contact with music took place with an album dedicated to the victims o ...

References

External links

Hunan TV 2011 ''Super Girl'' official site

Super Girl economics
(2005 season)
Watch Online ''Super Girl All Seasons''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Super Girl (Contest) Singing talent shows Chinese music television series Mandopop 2004 Chinese television series debuts 2011 Chinese television series endings Chinese television shows Mandarin-language television shows

Outline

History

Cultural impact

Positive impact

Democratic expression

Criticism

Economic impact

Season summary

2004 season

Qualifications

Final contest

2005 season

Qualifications

Final contest (July 15 – August 26)

2006 season

Qualifications

Final contest

2009 season

Regional contest

Final Contest

Overall Final contest total votes

2011 season

See also

References

External links