The finale of an American Idol-type pop star contest in China has broken TV ratings records, eclipsing the perennially top-rated Lunar New Year Festival gala for viewers, state media reported yesterday.
Millions of people tuned in to Hunan Satellite Television for the live three-hour finale of Super Girls on Friday night, the China Daily said.
The episode attracted more viewers than the hugely popular Spring Festival gala shown every year on China Central Television, though the paper gave no figures.
It was the first time a local TV channel has outrated the gala, it said. The broadcaster is headquartered in Changsha, the capital of Hunan Province.
Aspiring pop starlet Li Yuchun, 21, was named champion of the "Super Girls 2005" contest after garnering 3.5 million votes from fans all over China, according to the Beijing Youth Daily. Votes were accepted by mobile- phone text message and each phone number was allowed 15 votes.
"It's like a gigantic game that has swept so many people into a euphoria of voting and selecting, which is a testament of a society opening up," the China Daily quoted cultural critic Zhu Dake (朱大可) as saying.
But there was grumbling over the show's methods and its result.
"How come an imitation of a democratic system ends up selecting the singer who has the least ability to carry a tune?" the China Daily asked.
The daily said the lanky, shaggy-haired winner from Sichuan Province might have dominated the contest because of her "transgender appeal," which helped her win votes from both men and women.
Li just topped 20-year-old Zhou Bichang, who got 3.2 million votes, the Beijing Youth Daily said.
For weeks fans have been turning up at malls around the country shouting and carrying posters of their favorite contestants in a bid to rally votes in their favor.
On Friday the streets in Changsha were swamped with thousands of fans doing last-minute campaigning, with some supporters promising free pop-star photos to people who voted on the spot, the Beijing Daily Messenger said.
Enthusiasm for such shows can sometimes get out of hand. Security guards were called in last week at two local malls after Super Girls fans became unruly while lobbying shoppers to vote for their star, the Shanghai Daily reported.
"Super Girls fans give guards fits," the headline read.
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