Super Boy (TV series)


Super Boy or Happy Boy was a Chinese singing contest for male contestants. It was organized by Hunan Satellite Television in 2007, as a spin-off of its popular Super Girl series. It's a talent show aiming to uncover tomorrow's new male stars.

Outline

Partly inspired by the many spinoffs of the UK show Pop Idol, the competition was open to any male contestant regardless of their origin, appearance, or how they sang. The restricted audition sessions drew contestants over the age of 18. Many applicants travelled long distances to participate in the competition, hoping to become the next pop star in China and elsewhere.
The competition began with the preliminary rounds, following the selection of contestants in the six regions. Preliminaries were held in each of the six locations where auditions were held. Television viewers could watch each preliminary and vote for their favorite singers. Voting was conducted by telephone and text messaging.
A weekly broadcast knockout competition follows the regional preliminaries in Changsha, Hunan province. Viewers call in to vote for their favourite singers, and the weakest two—as voted by the judges and the audience's weekly SMS— face off in a PK, short for Player Kill. The term is derived from kill-or-be-killed multiplayer online games. The singer with the fewest votes is then eliminated. Unlike Pop Idol, the last event is contested between the final three, rather than the final two contestants.
Unlike American Idol, judges for the competition were selected from different backgrounds in society. A few dozen "audience judges" and several professional judges were selected.

Democratic expression

One of the main factors contributing to the show's popularity was that viewers could participate in the judging process by sending text messages with their mobile phones to vote for their favorite contestants. According to Jim Yardley of the International Herald Tribune, this was considered one of the largest "democratic" voting exercises in mainland China.

Reaction

The contest selected many stars, such as Chen Chusheng, Jason Zhang, Chen Xiang, Vision Wei, Hua Chenyu and so on. It gives young boys who love music a way to achieve their dreams. But it also caused some criticism. Some people think it contributes to the atmosphere of daydreaming about becoming a star. Many young people change their attention from study to music and singing, without considering whether they have this gift. In sum, it once became a fashion.

Season summary

2007 season

The first season of Super Boy aired from May 25 to July 20, 2007. Although the competition winners were not promised recording contracts, the top three winners signed such deals.

Qualifications

Final contest

Final contestants

  • Chen Chusheng - Champion
  • Su Xing - 2nd place
  • Vision Wei - 3rd place
  • Jason Zhang - 4th place
  • Ji Jie - 5th place
  • Yu Haoming - 6th place
  • Wang Yuexin - 7th place
  • Amguulan - 8th place
  • Zhang Yuan - 9th place
  • Wang Zhengliang - 10th place
  • Yao Zheng - 11th place
  • Guo Biao - 12 place
  • Lu Hu - 13th place

    2010 season

Final contestants

  • 06. Well Li Wei - Fuzhou Area - 1st place - Champion
  • 09. Liu Xin - Changsha Area - 2nd place
  • 02. Philip - Changsha Area - 3rd place
  • 11. Jaki Tan Jiexi - Guangzhou Area - 4th place
  • 12. Chen Xiang - Chengdu Area - 5th place
  • 04. Li Hangliang - Guangzhou Area - 6th place
  • 03. King Wang Ye - Shenyang Area - 7th place
  • 13. 8090 - Kuai Le Tian Tuan - 8th place
  • 10. Zhang Jianbo - Hefei Area - 8th place
  • 07. Wu Junyu - Chengdu Area - 9th place
  • 05. Umut 玉米提·帕日哈提 - Changsha Area - 10th place
  • 01. Delay - Chengdu Area - 11th place
  • 08. Zhao Fan - Chengdu Area - '''12 place'''