Among the dozens of reality talent shows that have appeared in China over recent years, The Voice of China is a big hit among the increasingly critical Chinese audience due to its complete focus on music.
Premiered on July 13, 2012 on the Zhejiang Television cable network, The Voice of China is part of the Voice franchise and is largely based on the Dutch program The Voice of Holland, a program whose format has been adapted to many other countries.
The show includes three phases: a blind audition, a battle phase, and live performance shows.
In the blind audition, the four judges/coaches choose teams of contestants - most of them are singers drawn from public auditions - without seeing them, and turn their chairs to signify that they are interested in working with that artist. Each team of singers is mentored and developed by its respective coach.
The competition then enters into the battle phase when the coaches pick two of their own team members to sing the same song together in front of a studio audience. After the vocal face-off, the coach must choose which singers will advance in the competition.
Finally, each coach will have his/her best contestant left standing to compete in the final live broadcasts, singing an original song. From these four, one will be named "The Voice"—and will receive the grand prize: a recording contract.
“The program focuses on the value of music and supports musical works that can stand the test of time and remain close to people’s lives.” said The Voice of China’s official website.
A large majority of Chinese Weibo users believe it is the best reality talent show ever introduced to China. They applauded the contestants’ superb musical sensitivity, the honest coaches without acid tongues, and above all, the beautiful, varied, and inspiring voices.
User 黄金窝窝 wrote：“I just watched the fifth episode. Fantastic! It is better than any other talent show. Now I am going to watch the other four episodes.”
User 偶是水水 wrote：“The creative ideas of the program are first-class. I watched all five episodes in one go. Sometimes it made me cry and sometimes made me laugh. I was totally carried away. The high-level program overtakes any other entertainment programs. Super Good!”
Despite its huge success and high audience ratings, one of the major traits of the Chinese version is the sometimes redundant attention on the contestants’ tragic family background, a widely-employed tactic to earn social sympathy and support, some argued. Some contestants even fabricated sad stories about their childhood and family members as a showcase of their bravery and persistence in the face of hardship.
It is indicative of the growing significance of people that come from a low socio-economic standing in the commercial media market, but it also has become a widespread problem in Chinese reality talent shows, which seem to miss the point of the show – the voices, experts of the mass media said.
“The show is not about their physical appearance, job and family background. We care about only their voices.” said Jin Lei, chief director of The Voice of China.
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China’s most-watched athlete Liu Xiang suffered another painful frustration at the London Olympics when he crashed out of the heats in the 110 meter hurdles on August 7, in a dramatic echo of his injury-induced withdrawal from the same stage of the Beijing Games four years ago.
The champion hurdler hit the first hurdle with his lead leg and tumbled to the ground. He rose and hopped toward the exit before returning to hop quickly up the track next to the hurdles on his left leg, symbolically finishing the race.
When he neared the finish, he crossed back onto the track and kissed the final hurdle in his lane. Then, he was taken off the track in a wheelchair amid the pain of disappointment.
Back in 2008, he came into the Beijing Games with an injured right Achilles. He appeared but never even raced, which dealt a huge blow to his legions of Chinese fans.
With four years of medical treatment and ongoing competition, Liu Xiang had rekindled the public fervor as the country expected an exciting performance out of the former world-record holder in London.
Though Liu’s failure dampened their long-term anticipation, most of the Chinese audience, especially the savvy Weibo users, gave their consolation and understanding to the great athlete plagued by chronic illness.
“Eight years ago, you brought us honor and sensation. Eight years later, you are still a hero in my heart. Don’t worry, time will pass and we are just tiny creatures in the world. Don’t worry, we will grow old together with you. Your name will be written down in the history. Liu Xiang, Thank you.” said Yao Chen, an award-winning Chinese actress. She has the most followers in Sina Weibo, about 23 million.
Another Weibo user _余小珠 wrote: "I was moved to tears when I watched the video. I know you will always be a hero. I heard your name on TV programs many years ago - Chinese flying man! You are our hero and stands on the world stage as a true hero. Liu Xiang, You are the best, China is proud of you! Don’t give up!"
But skepticism and speculation abounded online. Some questioned why he still competed despite the physical pains and whether he acted in a well-staged show of sportsmanship before millions of his countrymen.
“Liu Xiang deserves our respect anyway! But he seemed to lose the competition intentionally. Liu would not make such a simple mistake considering his excellent skills! It is not appropriate for a physically injured athlete to compete, but he had to. If not, he couldn’t account for the advertisers his team endorsed and the large number of the audience. So he had to end up in tragedy. Alas, a tragedy of Liu Xiang!” said 百年老树-_-。
User 雨萧萧-要自由不讲理 wrote: “He is a good actor. He has earned enough social attention and sympathy by falling to the ground in the Games. Probably, he will continue to endorse various products and make big money. Cheated are those innocent fans and audience.”
Topics about Liu Xiang will continue to dominate both the real and virtual world, but for Liu’s mother Ji Fenhua, she hopes for the country’s understanding and tolerance for her only child.
“Liu Xiang is the country’s son and will come back to me when he finishes the Olympic Games. If one day he isn’t an excellent athlete, please forgive him.” she said.
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The Chinese people are engaged in a fierce discussion about the opening ceremony for the 2012 Summer Olympic Games, which began in London on July 27, as they automatically draw a comparison with the home-grown opening ceremony in Beijing in 2008.
Called "The Isles of Wonder", the 2012 show encapsulated Britain’s economic and social development from a rural economy, through the Industrial Revolution to the 1960s, and presented contributions the UK has made to the world through innovation and revolution, including the woman's suffrage movement, the NHS and British popular culture.
The serious occasion featured many high-profile celebrities, such as Queen Elizabeth II, who opened the Games. Her Majesty also took part in a short film alongside Daniel Craig as James Bond. Mr. Bean played by Rowan Atkinson also appeared, comically playing a repeated single note on synthesizer while he lapsed into a dream sequence.
The Opening Ceremony reflected the key themes and priorities of the London 2012 Games, based on sport, inspiration, youth and urban transformation, said the London 2012 official website.
When the ceremony was broadcast through the airwaves, the savvy Chinese Internet users begun to make a comparative study of the ceremony and its predecessor orchestrated in China, both visually and culturally, on Sina Weibo, the Chinese version of Twitter.
User 庚着毛毛_M wrote："Of all the Games, I believe Beijing 2008 Games is the best. I liked its artist performances in the opening ceremony, as it perfectly expressed the essence of the Chinese culture. I feel proud as a Chinese person."
User 捞野团成员 wrote: "I was thinking on my way to work why《Hey, Jude》at London 2010 could strike a chord with the thousands in the audience. Britain is home to many world-renowned bands and they have produced songs that still resonate today. How wide-spread the British culture is! Look back, did the Beijing Games produce such a popular song?"
“The biggest difference between the opening ceremony for Beijing 2008 and London 2012 is that Beijing focused on the nation itself, while London focused on its people. Artistically and commercially speaking, Beijing was a grand production and most of its contents came from government-backed galas; a great majority of elements in the opening ceremony for London 2012 Games comes from British pop-culture, such as West End musicals which have run thousands of times with no government funding. ” said Raymond Zhou, one of China’s most famous film critics.
The debate also extends into China’s obsession with gold medals, which have long been viewed as the ultimate gauge of success. Despite acres of coverage of Chinese gold medalists in London now, people have begun to reconsider the definition of success at the Olympics.
User 俊锐仔 wrote: "Not only the gold medal-winners deserve respect; each person on the Olympic stage is respectable."
“This year, it is noticeable that the nation doesn’t seem that obsessed with gold medals, and more people now don’t associate gold medals with national pride. It is a remarkable progress. A nation will move into maturity only if it separates sports, culture and pride with the notion of the country, because the ultimate pride of a nation lies in the respect of its people.” said Qiu Zhenhai, a news analyst at Phoenix TV.
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Chinese Internet users reacted angrily after a relentless rain hit Beijing on July 21. The worst rains ever recorded in Beijing claimed the lives of 37 people, leaving seven uncounted for, and the flooding led to economic losses of roughly 10 billion yuan ($1.6 billion), according to the Beijing municipal government.
Of the 56,933 people evacuated in the city, 20,990 came from Fangshan, the worst-hit area in the southwest of Beijing. Two landslides were also reported by China Daily, a national English newspaper.
Major roads were gridlocked and some subway services were suspended. Cars were trapped in the streets, and about 525 flights in and out of Beijing Capital International Airport were delayed, leaving around 80,000 travelers stranded.
In Beijing, the second most populous city in China and host of the Summer Olympic Games in 2008, such a high death toll is a shame and crime, some critics said on their Weibo accounts, lamenting the modern city’s shabby drainage systems and the local government’s failure to respond adequately to the deluge.
The government failed to issue warning signs of trouble that might result from the heavy rain. Decades of rapid economic development has led to blind urban design and planning, some argued. In addition, the drainage systems have long been a subject of scorn, as it can be easily overwhelmed due to its low capacity.
Still, many users compared the death toll with that of another heavy rain in June 23, 2011, which caused serious water-logging and traffic congestion in the inner city.
“Last year, three people died in the storm. But one year later, no one pays serious attention to the disaster. Does the death toll really matter?” a Weibo user asked.
Ironically, in Beijing’s ancient sites, such as the Forbidden City and Beihai Park, the drainage systems built thousands of years ago still work efficiently in the deluge and no case of serious water-logging was reported, compared to the modern yet incompetent ones.
“For a while, China was seen as entering the ranks of developed countries. However, Chinese cities are apparently unpracticed in facing disasters such as Saturday's torrential downpour.” said Global Times, a major English newspaper in the nation, in an editorial published on July 23.
More to the point, many people asked the government officials to take their share of blame and be punished accordingly for their negligence, despite the wide media coverage of positive power - people who risked their lives to help those trapped in the rain.
“While we feel sorry for the victims, we have a rising outrage about the bureaucracy and corruption among the government officials. We don’t need any pretentious memorial speech; we should see someone held responsible for the accidents, on a moral, administrative, and legal level,” said 欢喜坨子.
“Repair the drainage system in earnest, I beg you. It is Beijing, the capital of China. 37 people died in a heavy rain, is it normal? Please renovate the city that I love.” said another user liv 索隆洗脑略严重.
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CCTV, China’s largest media outlet, ignited a national uproar when it blurred a major western sculpture from the Renaissance on July 9.
The sculpture, David, is a masterpiece by the famous Renaissance Italian sculptor Michelangelo and was created between 1501 and 1504. It is a 5.17-metre marble statue of a standing male nude and symbolizes the defense of civil liberties embodied in the Florentine Republic.
Together with another 60 art pieces, David was shown in the National Museum of China in celebration of the museum’s centennial. In its news program, CCTV blurred a ’sensitive part’ of the nude man - his external genitalia. Unexpectedly, the show received a great deal of criticism from the Chinese public and soon the producers removed the blurring mosaic in the replay.
The move has become an object of scorn among the Chinese internet users. They believe it was a move that lacked respect for western aesthetics. “If the sculpture Venus is shown in China, do we have to dress her first?” they asked, sarcastically.
But some argue the image was blurred by the staff in good faith and they were working in strict accordance with their professional ethics because western objects shown in the museum may be not for children’s eyes.
Indeed, in a tradition-bound China, any contents related to naked body may easily be seen as pornographic and few people would risk showcasing artworks that contained nudity in public places.
As the Chinese community grows increasingly permissive, the power of tradition to censor art is losing its ground, as we can see from the comments of Chinese Weibo users.
User 叨叨民 wrote:：“#CCTV Blurred A Western Sculpture# In a country like China, art may be considered pornography.”
User 股海溪流 wrote: “#CCTV Blurred A Western Sculpture# If sex education in China had moved forward, it would not be a problem.”
User 拿铁L摩卡 wrote： “#CCTV Blurred A Western Sculpture# Why did they blur such a good artwork? Did they group art with pornography? It is really unreasonable.”
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