Hit Chinese variety show The Voice of China is set to whet the country's growing appetite for celebrity culture when a live spin-off from the series starts a national tour next month.

A selection of the program's performers, ordinary members of the public before competing and triumphing in its talent show format, will wow crowds in Haikou, capital of south China's Hainan Province, on Nov. 16 and then embark on a schedule taking them to cities across the Chinese mainland.

With the first season of The Voice of China concluding in late September after rave reviews and commercial success, insiders and observers have attributed its popularity to key social developments in China.

Chinese are becoming increasingly interested in famous people, the prospects of achieving fame of their own, and of individuals differentiating themselves after decades when China traditionally valued uniformity.

Jin Lei, The Voice of China's general director, recently told People's Daily: "The respect for personality, which is underlined in this show, touches a chord with people in this nation at this time."

The newspaper argued that more than 30 years after the introduction of reform and opening-up policies, the pursuit of "personality" is becoming more and more apparent in each generation born in China. The Voice of China appeals to these youngsters.

VOICE HEARD LOUD AND CLEAR

Introduced to the schedules by Zhejiang TV in east China's Zhejiang Province on July 13, its format sees music stars Na Ying, Liu Huan, Harlem (Yu Chengqing) and Yang Kun act as judges cum coaches to appraise the singing talents of applicants drawn from the public.

The show remained among the most frequently searched-for topics on Baidu, China's search engine giant, during its three-month run. And, its contestants' songs have topped Baidu's charts of newly released singles.

During its finale on Sept. 30, more than 52 million messages about the show were posted on Sina Weibo, a popular microblogging service.

The show was been successful in advertising revenues, attracting an ad spend of 250 million yuan (about 39.7 million U.S. dollars).

And now the arrival in town of such star dust is likely to mean gold dust for the hosts of each leg of The Voice of China's touring version. "We beat competitors from other cities to win the bid," said Li Xing, general manager of the film company which is the organizer of the Hainan concert.

"The competition is fierce, because the singers and coaches are the most popular teams in show business."

THE DREAM OF RECOGNITION

Hunan TV's singing contest Super Girl drew 400 million viewers for the finale of its four-month run in 2005 and helped contestants, including the winner, Li Yuchun, gain nationwide celebrity.

Super Girl was widely acclaimed for rekindling people's enthusiasm for music and allowing ordinary people to be stars. But it also drew official and public criticism for promoting "vulgarity" and encouraging youngsters to pursue instant celebrity.

There have since been an array of such televised national sing-offs, including Shanghai-based Dragon TV's China's Got Talent.

But The Voice of China has been praised for a fresh, innovative approach to judging, under which the four pundits sit on swivel chairs firstly with their backs toward the contestants, so as to listen objectively to their singing.

Beijing college student Bai Yuzhu, a big fan of the show, likes this aspect in particular as it gives contestants a level playing field on which to achieve recognition.

"Blind auditioning brings more equality and respect to the singing talents, because they are judged by their performance, not appearances," she said. "No matter who you are and what your style is, you are welcomed to this stage."