Debut in 101 Series Is Not a Way Out for Chinese Trainees
For the Chinese idol industry, 2018 was an exciting starting point. In that year, IQiyi and Tencent, two of the biggest Chinese streaming platforms launched its first idol selection series, borrowing the framework of Korean “Produce 101”, in which the audience's vote decides which trainees are going to debut finally as a C-pop group. The birth of the first two groups, Ninepercent and Rocket Girls 101 brings brand new energy to the idol market and lights up the expectations of the audiences. However, three years later, not only do they already debuted idols achieve no huge progress in their careers, the 101 series itself no longer maintains its performance as the first year. It seems like the debut night was not a starting point, but a climax in their idol’s careers.
An important reason why the first 101 series was that popular among the Chinese audiences was that the framework was quite fresh. Without any interventions from the judges in other kinds of talent shows, the audiences can simply vote on applications or pay for them in order to help them debut. Another thing is that the program not only features the performance, but also the daily lives of the trainees, which establishes and enriches the personality of the trainees that help to attract more fans. As a result, the distance between the trainees and audiences was very close. The fans got to learn more about the trainee as a real-life person other than just a stage figure, and are empowered to influence the trainee’s futures.
However, the charms have faded away in the Chinese 101 series during the past years. As the shows go on for years, audiences naturally become familiar with the pattern of the show: they now are able to realize that they are not as powerful as they think, but was guided by the editings and arrangements of the show. Though they are the ones who vote, the editing of the program was one of the biggest tricks that contain emotional cues that make audiences respond in an expected way. By simply giving a trainee more positive shots, such as training hard after midnight, that trainee will naturally be having a greater chance to attract more fans. However, the audience can never know the stories that are left out of the programs.
What makes the audiences more upset is the fading confidence in those idols’ future.
After the debut, the operating company only cares about earning money. For example, Ninepercent has to hold a large number of concerts continuously, which hurts their physical health. At the same time, the overall design of their album has not matched the audience’s expectations. Other than becoming C-pop superstars, most of them end up busy shooting endless commercials or attending variety shows. This was not in their fan’s picture on the night they debuted.
The larger problem leading to this embarrassing situation is the immaturity of the Chinese idol industry. In contrast to the boom of 101 series programs, there is not even a single program that allows idols to perform the comeback stage on a weekly basis. Other than having commercials and appearing in variety shows, it is hard to mention ways for them to stay in the public exposure. At the same time, the individual entertainment company is over-relying on the 101 series as they are still immature in packaging and operating their own idols. Therefore, attending the 101 series is the quickest and easiest way now for a Chinese trainee to debut as an idol. The company expects the trainees to accumulate stage experience and gain more fame so that they could bring the revenues back to the companies without having the company to do many things.
Meanwhile, there is also a lack of diversity in other types of talent shows, resulting in many participants who registered to be a trainee may not want to be an idol at all. Some of them are talented singers, but the existing talent shows selecting singers has been poor in view count, and will not earn any fame for them. The 101 series became a jumping board for many of the potential singers, rappers, actors, and even influencers to show up in the public in preparation. When the trainees do not consider the goal of debut seriously, it is no doubt that the audiences are becoming harder to resonate with the trainees and want to support their dreams.
Reviewing the past three years of Chinese idols programs, what they are doing is stepping at the same place without moving forward. Once the streaming platform discovers that 101 series is a lucrative business, they give up on taking risks and moving forward to complete the industry but instead stepping at the same place to ensure they earn money. In 2021, there will be 6 programs focusing on selecting future idols, squeezing the last juice out of the depleting market. It is nothing wrong to expect a great harvest, but before that, maybe we should take a break and patiently wait for the crops to mature at first.
