28 year old singer Li Na (厉娜), one of top five finalists in the 2006 Supergirls talent competition and now a successful recording artiste with a huge following, has now become the first mainland Chinese celebrity to make an "It Gets Better" video. more ›

Wow. We never thought we'd live to see this day. With so many American Idol / Britain's Got Talent copycat shows around here, you wouldn't think that the real deal would come to mainland China some day, but apparently it has, and they're starting auditions soon: more ›

One of the most controversial entrants of the new Happy Girls, the reincarnation of that uber popular Pop Idol-like show Super Girls, has been Zeng Yike. more ›

Happy Girls, the new SARFT-approved edition of uber-popular singing show Super Girls, has kicked off with what the Wall Street Journal is calling China's “own Susan Boyle moment.” 79-year-old Wu Baiwei sang “On Songhua River,” a patriotic song about the Sino-Japanese War to a panel of judges that... well, quite honestly didn't look nearly as moved, shocked or impressed as Simon Cowell and friends. Maybe it's a culture thing. Still, she did earn a placement on the show so we'll be seeing more of Grandma Wu soon! more ›

• Kashgar's Old Town Bulldozed; Is Uyghur Culture in Danger? [FarWestChina - gfw] "Within the narrow alleyways of this Old Town lie thousands of years of Kashgar’s history. Aged wooden doors and cobblestone paths have witnessed the passage of innumerable donkey carts, small Uyghur children and, in recent times, many foreign tourists. On the outside, these mud-brick walls seem at peace with their place in history but just beyond the padlocked door a crippling truth emerges. Squinting through the cracks in the doorway it is possible to see that these walls no longer house Uyghur inhabitants. Instead, they hide the heartbreaking destruction of Kashgar’s Old City. Over two-thirds of the city has already been leveled. History has been replaced by rubble; donkey carts by bulldozers."
• Chinese Singing Show To Go On, With a New Name and Conditions [WSJ] "While hugely popular, the shows also triggered hot debates. Some celebrated them for representing the victory of grassroots culture over official or elite culture, while others believed the show just encouraged young people to seek out overnight fame. Along with popularity came increased government scrutiny. The State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (Sarft) released a series of specific measures to regulate entertainment programs (particularly talent shows) in 2007 and a planned 2008 season of Super Girls was cancelled. A spokesman for Hunan Satellite Television told the media late last month that a revival of the televised singing competition had been approved by the Sarft, though not without several conditions attached."
• Singapore promotes Mandarin [Danwei] "According to a survey conducted on incoming primary students by the Singapore Department of Education, the number of Chinese-language households in Singapore has been declining since the 1990s. Today, only 40% of households use Chinese as a primary language, while English-language households have climbed from 26% in 1990 to 60% today. To reverse this trend, the Singapore Promote Mandarin Council launched The Chinese Challenge on March 30, fun quizzes that let Singapore citizens and permanent residents personally experience the breadth and depth of Chinese culture, deepen their understanding of Mandarin, and improve their grasp on the language."

Are you ready to watch the nation go star crazy? Because, after two seasons out of the limelight, a new version of the hit China idol show "Super Girls" is coming! This time around, Hunan Satellite Television is calling its karaoke contest "Happy Girls" (快乐女声). more ›

In a society where the socioeconomic structure is becoming worryingly pyramid-shaped when everyone had hoped it would become olive-shaped, there is a glimmer of hope: Women are becoming increasingly S-shaped. The Shanghai Daily reports: more ›

We seemingly love Super Voice Girls here at Shanghaiist, and so does Shanghai. Tickets for the October 6 SVG show at Shanghai Stadium are selling at a record pace, according to the Shanghai Youth Daily via the AP. Tickets range from 50 to 580 RMB, and the price is right for thousands of local Yu Mi, Fen Bi and Liang Fen (it all makes sense if you read this story). All 6,000 floor seats were snatched up on Tuesday, the first day of sales, as were half of the 39,000 stadium seats. That's quite a bit better than Andy Lau and Jay Chou sold during their most recent trips to Shanghai. Thus, the Youth Daily proclaimed, "The draw of the Super Girls leaves the heavenly kings of pop in their dust." Oh, snap! more ›

If we're lucky! The Chinese TV sensation is launching a nationwide concert tour. The Saturday concert series kicks off Oct. 1 in Sichuan's Chengdu. The tour will hit 10 cities, focusing on cities that played host to regional qualifiers for the American Idol-esque show. Was Shanghai one of those cities? Shanghaiist has no clue. Perhaps a reader can help us out? Each concert is expected to cost around RMB 1 million. more ›