Results tagged “hunantv”

Well, it's all over the news. Hunan TV is going to do a Chinese version of the hit US TV show Ugly Betty. According to a report from the BBC, the lead character—the Chinese Betty—has already been chosen. A Chinese article that we read, dated March 7, says that Hunan TV wants to hold nation-wide auditions to find the ugliest girl possible. So we're not sure what the case is, but in any case, whoever is chosen will soon have their identity known to the world, because the show is supposed to start shooting in April. The plans are to stretch the show out over ten seasons, with about 40 episodes each, for a total of 400 episodes. However, unlike in the US, there aren't going to be longish breaks between seasons (and presumably, no writers' strikes either).

While the rest of the world is wondering how George W. Bush will further fuck up Iraq and where Becks and Posh are going to settle in L.A., we came across a report about a concert event in Las Vegas:

Stirred by the unprecedented success of Super Voice Girls for Hunan TV, Zhejiang TV and Yahoo are jumping on the bandwagon. Yahoo -- or should we say, Yahoo! -- is duking it out with Baidu and Google, and their latest ploy is this contest, which involves three famous directors: Feng Xiaogang, Chen Kaige and Zhang Jizhong. The contest is called Sou Xing ("searching for stars"), and it's subtitled 让你红的发紫, which literally means that you'll be so red (i.e. popular) that you'll turn purple. Sounds better in Chinese. Anyhow, there's internet voting, all kinds of lists, PK speculations, and, like any good Chinese site, has countless pictures of soulless good-looking-in-that-cookie-cutter-pop-star-way people. The first part was conducted online during March, and the final parts will be shown on Zhejiang TV later this month, when the final 12 contestants for each director will square off against each other. The final prize is an acting contract and the chance to use those "acting" skills for the directors when they make their commercials for Yahoo!.

Popular Chinese internet search engine Baidu.com recently announced the 10 most popular search queries for 2005, reports the Star Daily (via the Shanghai Daily China news blog). Here they are, in order of popularity (we think):

Following the sensational success of Super Voice Girls (Chaoji Nu Sheng or 超级女声), Hunan Province Satellite Television Station planned to organize another American Idol-style TV program called -- surprise, surprise -- Super Voice Boys (Chaoji Nan Sheng or 超级男声), the TV station announced the news to media cheerfully in early September. However, Xinhua reports (in Chinese) the plan was called off by The Central Propaganda Department and The State Administration of Radio, Film and Television. (Whew.) The official line is Super Voice Girls had a lot of "negative" inside stories involved with both the judges and the candidates when it started to become popular. Rumors of blackmail swirled while contestants were labeled concubines and, of course, lesbians (not that there's anything wrong with that).

Shanghaiist first heard of the Korean TV drama Dae Jang Geum (大长今) or Jewel in the Palace from mom, who used to recapitulate every episode on the phone, which, as anyone who really loves watching TV, knows is impossible. Our interest was further piqued when Shanghaiist's Chinese literature professor remarked that he too was glued to the television every night. So, is the target demographic 60-something Asian eggheads? Evidently, Hunan TV doesn't think so, because the folks down in Changsha wouldn't want to follow up their smashing success with Super Voice Girls with a dud.