#chuang

[linghxr]

I watched all the Chinese idol survival shows so you don’t have to (but you should anyway)

About three years ago, I watched 创造101 Produce 101 China, and it kinda changed my life. Yes, really! This show dragged me down a rabbit hole that eventually led to me watching many more Chinese shows and listening to almost exclusively Chinese music. I’m even branching out to cdramas now. All under the guise of, um, improving my listening comprehension!

OK, so “all the Chinese idol survival shows” might be an exaggeration. I’ll be talking about these three classic idol group survival shows from the “golden age” period of 2018-2021:

>> 偶像练习生 Idol Producer/青春有你 Youth with You (iQiyi)

偶像练习生 Idol Producer

青春有你1 Youth with You 1

青春有你2 Youth with You 2

青春有你3 Youth with You 3

>> 创造101 Produce 101/创造营 Chuang (Tencent)

创造101 Produce 101 China

创造营2019 Produce Camp 2019

创造营2020 Chuang 2020

创造营2021 Chuang 2021

>> 以团之名 All For One/少年之名 We Are Young (Youku)

以团之名 All For One

少年之名 We Are Young

Here is the order I actually watched these 10 seasons in:

创造101 Produce 101 China

青春有你2 Youth with You 2

创造营2020 Chuang 2020

创造营2019 Produce Camp 2019

偶像练习生 Idol Producer

青春有你1 Youth with You 1

青春有你3 Youth with You 3

创造营2021 Chuang 2021

以团之名 All For One

少年之名 We Are Young

I started 创造101 Produce 101 China in late 2019/early 2020 and finished 少年之名 We Are Young on Christmas Day 2022. I was literally tearing up. Three franchises, ten seasons, something around 1000 contestants, and three years of my life.

In order to refresh my memory for this post, I rewatched almost all of the performance clips from these shows. I didn’t watch the initial evaluations or any practice room videos (it’s simply too much content). It was simultaneously fun and exhausting. I will go over why you should/shouldn’t watch each season and give any other notable remarks. Let’s get started!

*Please note that for any YouTube links below, there is a risk of muted sections, parts/entire episodes being unavailable, and missing/out of sync subtitles. For official links, whether or not a VIP subscription is needed may change in the future. Fansubbed content may have sections or entire episodes missing.

>> 偶像练习生 Idol Producer/青春有你 Youth with You (iQiyi)

iQiyi rebranded the series by changing its name from 偶像练习生 Idol Producer to 青春有你 Youth with You after the first season. However, they really didn’t change much about the format at all. From what I’ve heard, iQiyi doesn’t have as large a budget as Tencent, which you can see reflected in the show’s production quality. However, I’ve long felt that this franchise has a real charming quality that makes up for lack of flashy sets.

偶像练习生 Idol Producer

Watch on iQiyi (English subs, VIP needed) Watch via Idol Producer Subs (English fansubs, missing part of finale)

Why you should watch it: Though not China’s first idol survival show, this show was the first of a new era. It’s iconic! The theme song is a bop, 10/10. Also, I had heard of all of the winners before I watched this season, so there’s some real cultural relevance. I can’t believe it was nearly five years ago! The whole top 20 remains iconic to this day. In most seasons, there are at least one or two popular contestants who I don’t really like or don’t see the appeal of, but that wasn’t the case this season. This season is also a lot shorter than later seasons, so it’s easier for those who are new to survival shows.

Why you shouldn’t watch it: As I mentioned, there is a lack of flashy sets/stages here. The background of the stage often looks empty. There were some performances that were better than I remembered, but there were others that were...not. I’m pretty sure 黄明昊 Justin was 15 when the show began, which shocks me in a BAD way. And if you’re a Jackson Wang fan, I think he barely appeared in the second half of the show.

My picks: 郑锐彬 Zheng Ruibin, 周彦辰 Zhou Yanchen, 蔡徐坤 Cai Xukun, 王子异 Wang Ziyi, 朱星杰 Zhu Xingjie, 周锐 Zhou Rui

Favorite performance: PPAP A组 PPAP group A This was a powerhouse group. And it was hilarious to watch the boys’ reaction when they heard the whole song and realized the style was not at all what they had initially expected! They totally pulled it off though.

Iconic moments: 蔡徐坤 Cai Xukun’s outfit (and ego) in the initial evaluation, B-A-L-A-N-C-E, when we realized 朱星杰 Zhu Xingjie can sing too, 林彦俊 Lin Yanjun's platinum hair, one of the songs was called Mack Daddy which causes me great distress to this day, 周锐 Zhou Rui aka 周美锐 Zhou Meirui, I’m still laughing over 朱星杰 Zhu Xingjie’s resemblance to 胡巴 Huba.

Verdict: Though this was not my first idol survival show, I think it would be a great first foray for anyone. It’s iconic for a reason. You should watch it (and I might rewatch it). 

青春有你1 Youth with You 1

Watch on iQiyi (English subs, VIP needed) Watch via Qing Chun You Ni Subs (English fansubs)

Why you should watch it: This season is the forgotten child of the franchise, but it still had some great performances and a lot of talented contestants. The theme song is also probably my favorite out of all ten theme songs! It was love at first listen. Personally, I enjoyed this team of mentors more than the first season’s. I also feel that the vocal-based performances were stronger this season. For instance, there were great performances of 李荣浩 Li Ronghao songs.

Why you shouldn’t watch it: I feel that some of the magic of the first season was lost, and overall the contestants were not as memorable or charismatic in my opinion. There were also several contestants I found extremely irritating and some contestants who ranked much higher and last much longer on the show than I feel they should have based on their skill level...but I won’t name names.

My picks: 夏瀚宇 Xia Hanyu, 李振宁 Li Zhenning, 周士原 Zhou Shiyuan, 连淮伟 Li Huaiwei

Favorite performance: 隔壁泰山 A组 Neighboring Tarzan group A This is a very unusal song, but it’s so catchy and memorable. 夏瀚宇 Xia Hanyu really made this performance for me. And this song still gets stuck in my head months later!

Iconic moments: 冯俊杰 Feng Junjie and 夏瀚宇 Xia Hanyu trying to outdo each other, 胡春杨 Hu Chunyang looked angry 24/7 for no reason, they literally got 蔡依林! Jolin Tsai! as a mentor, 李汶翰 Li Wenhan was everyone’s older brother, their performance made me fall in love with the song 耳朵 Erduo, they kinda did a steampunk concept which I love.

Verdict: It’s not necessarily a must-watch, but I still enjoyed it. If you’ve fallen into the black hole of survival shows and want more, I think it’s worth your time.

青春有你2 Youth with You 2

Watch on iQiyi (English subs, VIP needed) Watch on YouTube (English subs) Watch on YouTube (no English subs, missing several parts/episodes)

Why you should watch it: As iQiyi’s first time with female contestants, this season was highly anticipated. iQiyi stepped it up with subtitles, got Lisa from BLACKPINK as a mentor (I saw people say they came for Lisa and stayed for the trainees), and made a lot of content available on YouTube. As a result, some of the performances from this season have millions of views. It’s well deserved—a lot of the contestants are overflowing with talent and charisma. And honestly, you should watch this for 蔡徐坤. He’s a great MC/mentor to the girls and was truly a highlight of the season for me.

Why you shouldn’t watch it: This is the only season that I watched week by week as it was airing. It was EXHAUSTING. iQiyi started pumping out two episodes a week, doubling the overall episode count. I was literally burnt out by the finale. So if you watch this, please take it slow. Also, I forgot how much they did that thing where they cut away from the performances to show other contestant/mentor reactions and then have to go rewind on the performance...it really drives me nuts. They overdid it for sure.

My picks: 刘雨昕 Liu Yuxin, 喻言 Yu Yan, 王承渲 Wang Chengxuan, 刘令姿 Liu Lingzi, 许馨文 Xu Xinwen

Favorite performance: 不奉陪 No Company This was a tough choice! I went with this performance because I actively sought it out for relistens. That’s so rare for 主题考核 theme evaluation songs for me. All the members got to shine yet they were a very cohesive team.

Iconic moments: Bad Guy was the ultimate dark horse, how no one knew the song 想见你想见你想见你 Miss You 3000, 王承渲 Wang Chengxuan defeated the evil quads, 乃万 Nineone basically replaced Jony J as rap mentor, seeing 刘雨昕 Liu Yuxin with a wig was terrifying, they let the girls wear shorts if they didn’t like skirts #feminism, I still think about 张钰 Zhang Yu and 王清 Wang Qing’s initial performance all the time.

Verdict: I don’t think I could rewatch this season due to its length, but if you can commit the time, I think you should watch it. I’m sad I’ll never get to see a second 青春有你 Youth with You female season.

青春有你3 Youth with You 3

Watch on iQiyi (English subs, no VIP needed) Watch on iQiyi (no English subs, no VIP needed) Watch on YouTube (no English subs, missing several parts/episodes)

Why you should watch it: This season was probably the one I felt most emotionally invested in. I feel like I got to know the boys and was in it together with them (parasocial relationships, I know). And the friendships between contestants were so touching. Like 青春有你2 Youth with You 2, this season was also extra long, but I watched this season after it aired, going at my own pace. There were so many charming contestants and memorable performances. The dancing especially shone, but we got some great vocal moments too. I think iQiyi did a really good job picking songs this season.

Why you shouldn’t watch it: Sadly, the finale never aired. Due to the infamous milk-wasting scandal, the show was cancelled (but a winning group still formed and debuted). Even though I knew this before watching the show, it was still quite sad to never see a conclusion. Additionally, I believe this show started with more like 120 contestants, and I felt that increased number. Lastly, there was some painful singing and lots of very uninspired rapping. I feel like the gap in skill between the contestants was larger, and some of the teams felt very unbalanced as a result.

My picks: 姜京佐 Jiang Jingzuo, 杨昊铭 Yang Haoming, 十七 Shiqi, 徐子未 Xu Ziwei, 张思源 Zhang Siyuan, 连淮伟 Lian Huaiwei

Favorite performance: 燕尾蝶 Wings of Love This performance was everything I could ever dream of. 徐子未 won the world over instantly. He has the voice of an angel. Love the song, love the concept, love everything about it.

Iconic moments: 罗一舟 Luo Yizhou and 余景天 Tony Yu Jingtians’s friendly rivalry, 徐子未 Xu Ziwei’s back-to-back victories, Yuta’s adorable accent, 王南钧 Wang Nanjun would not shut up about 竹 Bamboo, touch 梁森 Liang Sen’s head for good luck, 刘隽 Liu Jun dances like he’s possessed (in a good way), that 雨爱 Rainie Love stage was a trainwreck tbh.

Verdict: Despite the scandals and lack of a finale, it was worth the watch for me. I feel so fond thinking of this season. Truthfully, season three has surpassed season two for me.

>> 创造101 Produce 101/创造营 Chuang (Tencent)

I read somewhere that Tencent officially licensed the Produce 101 name from Mnet, making this franchise more “official.” For season two, they ended up changing the name to 创造营 Produce Camp. The Chinese name remained the same for seasons three and four, but the in English they started promoting the show under the name Chuang. I think they wanted to beat iQiyi in the contest to see who can have the most titles for the same show.

创造101 Produce 101 China

Watch on Tencent Video (English subs, no VIP needed) Watch on 腾讯视频 (no English subs, VIP needed) Watch on YouTube (no English subs) Watch on YouTube (no English subs, episode 7 here, episode 10 here) Watch via Produce 101 China Subs (English fansubs)

Why you should watch it: This is the only season I’ve seen twice, so that says something I guess! This season holds a special place in my heart as my first survival show, so I rewatched it earlier this year with some friends who hadn’t seen it previously. One thing that stood out to me about this season was that it felt like there were several dark horses who started to shine closer to the middle/end of the show. I liked this because it’s boring when the debut lineup is completely predictable! And if you’re not already a 孟美岐 Meng Meiqi fan, you will leave as a 孟美岐 Meng Meiqi fan, guaranteed.

Why you shouldn’t watch it: Not gonna lie, I was not a huge fan of this mentor team. I am fine with these people individually, but together it was not an ideal combo in my opinion. They collectively made some very odd decisions that I strongly disagree with. After my rewatch, I’m just kinda done with 黄子韬 Huang Zitao. I also realized there were a lot more instances of...rough singing than I remembered, so be warned.

My picks: 孟美岐 Meng Meiqi, Yamy, 刘人语 Liu Renyu, 许靖韵 Angela Xu Jingyun, 吴映香 Lucia Wu Yingxiang, 李紫婷 Mimi Li Ziting

Favorite performance: 别人家的小孩 Other People’s Kids This is one of the most iconic performances (and one of my favorites) ever from all of these shows! It’s so unique and really has everything you could want. It was truly a perfect collab performance.

Iconic moments: When they had to tap 杨超越 Yang Chaoyue so she wouldn’t miss the beat, 王一博 Wang Yibo’s blue hair was gorgeous, Triple A group reunion, Look What You Made Me Do with creepy marionettes was perfect, when 陈嘉桦 Ella went barefoot on stage, 黄子韬 Huang Zitao literally screamed at them all, I’ll never forget the iconic 乐华 Yuehua performance.

Verdict: Even the second time, this was a season filled with surprises. It’s not perfect, but I think it will manage to charm you anyway. There are some real hidden gems here.

创造营2019 Produce Camp 2019

Watch on Tencent Video (English subs, VIP needed) Watch on 腾讯视频 (no English subs, VIP needed) Watch on YouTube (no English subs)

Why you should watch it: This was the first ever male season I watched, and I remember being apprehensive. I ended up having a lot of fun! This season really tugged at my heartstrings with the touching friendships between the boys and the intense 导师推荐生 mentor recommendees segments. I felt like I went through the wringer with them as they were forced to repack all their belongings, endure the brutal F班 demotions, hike across the beach, and more. There were countless hilarious moments too. If I were to rewatch, it would be for 周震南 Zhou Zhennan AKA 南南 Nannan. He just dominates the stage (despite his short stature)!

Why you shouldn’t watch it: I’ll admit, this season probably has the greatest number of contestants that annoy me. Sometimes it’s for no good reason...I just look at them and go ugh. The first round especially has some pretty painful singing, so be warned of that as well. Also, my rewatch made me realize I remembered very few performances from this season, which probably isn’t a good sign. Also, a lot of the performances were very short, sub-three minutes, which personally bothers me.

My picks: 周震南 Zhou Zhennan, 高嘉朗 Gao Jialang, 姚琛 Yao Chen, 陆思恒 Lu Siheng, 李鑫一 Li Xinyi, 贺俊雄 He Junxiong

Favorite performance: 开门见山 Kaimenjianshan I’ll admit that this performance was not as good as I remembered it being (probably because now I’ve heard the original by A-Mei many times), but I picked it anyway to acknowledge the amazing 高嘉朗 Gao Jialang.

Iconic moments: 张颜齐 Zhang Yanqi giving away jars of 老干妈 Lao Gan Ma, we never saw 王晨艺 Wang Chenyi again, 姚琛来了~ (Yao Chen is coming), when 周震南 Zhou Zhennan had his hoodie on but his ears were sticking out omg, try saying 李昀锐 Li Yunrui's name ten times fast, they had 30+ year old men here, this was the OG 乘风破浪 chengfengpolang.

Verdict: Among so many seasons, I don’t think this season stands out that much, but I still remember it fondly. If you want a good laugh and some fun, check it out.

创造营2020 Chuang 2020

Watch on Tencent Video (English subs, VIP needed) Watch on 腾讯视频 (no English subs, VIP needed) Watch on YouTube (English subs, missing episode 3) Watch on YouTube (English subs, missing episode 3) Watch on Viki (English subs, no Viki Pass needed)

Why you should watch it: They went all out on the sets, the location, the accommodations, everything. The performance setup was that the seats were in the middle and various stages were located around the perimeter. The seats would rotate to face the stages!! Some of the stages were stunning. I also want to mention that there were some great vocalists this season and I feel like they got to shine, which always makes me happy. The best round by far was the second round (专业方向). We got some beautiful vocal performances and intense dance performances.

Why you shouldn’t watch it: This season felt messy to me. I think they tried to mix things up, but not everything landed. The beautiful sets almost got distracting…they were more interesting than some of the performances. Several very talented and promising contestants never even made it past the first round. And since the final group only had seven people, the finale was just a frustrating experience. I never want to hear that 小摩托 xiao motuo song or 夏天的风 Summer Wind again. I don’t feel this season lived up to 创造101 Produce 101 China (unless you wanted MORE comments about weight/thinness).

My picks: 王柯 Wang Ke, 华承妍 Hua Chengyan, 刘些宁 Liu Xiening, 苏芮琪 Su Ruiqi, 朱主爱, Joyce Zhu Zhu’ai, 王一桥 Wang Yiqiao

Favorite performance: Manta There were a lot of performances I liked, but I really struggled to pick a favorite. I ultimately went with this because it’s one of the most memorable dance performances I’ve seen on these shows.

Iconic moments: That thin waist contest was simply the worst, they were in a literal castle, we all went crazy for the band and 王柯 Wang Ke, 朱主爱 Joyce Zhu Zhu’ai won the collab stage, wtf stop filming 姜贞羽 Jiang Zhenyu, I want to ride that cute train up the mountain, 毛不易 Mao Buyi did not want to talk, pretend that 吴亦凡 Wu Yifan wasn’t there.

Verdict: This season was competing against 青春有你2 Youth with You 2, and I chose to prioritize 青春有你2 Youth with You 2. I would make the same choice now. If you decide to watch, just be warned it may be a frustrating experience.

创造营2021 Chuang 2021

Watch on Tencent Video (English subs, VIP needed) Watch on 腾讯视频 (no English subs, VIP needed)

Why you should watch it: I wasn’t sure I was going to watch this season because of its international theme. Having foreigners is nothing new, but such a large number was certainly going to alter the show’s dynamic. Well, I watched it anyway. Overall, I’m glad I did. There were some talented and lovable contestants that made this season all worth it. The mentor squad (mostly 宁静 Ning Jing, 邓超 Deng Chao, and 周深 Zhou Shen) were so entertaining. Lastly, compared to the 2019 season, there were more popular vocalists this season, which I 100% support. I’ll be honest, I didn’t remember a lot of the performances from this season, but I ended up pleasantly surprised by how many great ones there were!

Why you shouldn’t watch it: It felt like there was so much focus on Nine and Patrick, Santa and Riki, the Intersection boys, and eventually Lelush as well. The other foreign contestants honestly had very little impact. This didn’t ruin the show or anything, but sometimes I got a little sick of the Santa and Mika show, you know? Also, none of my favorites made it into the winning group unfortunately. While I acknowledge the talent of the winning members, for whatever reason I wasn’t really that invested in most of them.

My picks: 俞更寅 Yu Gengying, 井胧 Jing Long, 林墨 Lin Mo, 奥斯卡 Oscar, 张星特 Zhang Xingte

Favorite performance: Lover Boy 88 This performance was simply infectious! I even made my friends watch to it. 林墨 Lin Mo is so charming. And 张腾 Zhang Teng and 张星特 Zhang Xingte’s vocals were perfect. Just wish it had been longer!

Iconic moments: Mika and 曾涵江 Zeng Hanjiang = my last two brain cells trying to communicate, I still can’t believe Lelush went viral worldwide, 刘宇 Liu Yu broke the Produce curse, Nine and Patrick only learned Chinese for how long???, Caelan kinda does look like Leonardo DiCaprio, Oscar AKA 熊熊 Xiongxiong, the 网红 wanghong group was so talented actually.

Verdict: I think this season got more international attention than 青春有你3 Youth with You 3, and while I prefer 青春有你3 Youth with You 3, this season is worth a watch for its uniqueness and improvements over the previous year.

>> 以团之名 All For One/少年之名 We Are Young (Youku)

I watched both seasons of Youku’s shorter-lived franchise in 2022 only after (and only because) I had finished the other two franchises. I think Youku had a smaller budget and thus tried to stand out by shaking up the traditional survival show formula. I think they made some poor choices and some good choices. I don’t know the story behind the name change between seasons, but the seasons are so different from each other that it makes sense.

以团之名 All For One

Watch on Youku (no English subs, VIP needed) Watch on YouTube (no English subs)

Why you should watch it: I’m going to say a lot of negative stuff below, but I wanted to add at least a few positive words. During the finale, the remaining contestants sang S.H.E’s 你曾是少年 Wings Of My Words, and I don’t think I’ve ever gotten so emotional over a performance ever. 任家萱 Selina was a delight throughout. I also really grew to appreciate 奶茶 Naicha and what a great and thoughtful leader he was.

Why you shouldn’t watch it: As I mentioned, this show had some unique features that made it stand out. The contestants formed ten groups of eight, and the composition of the groups remained unchanged throughout. Entire groups got eliminated together. This created a dynamic where some really talented contestants went home too soon due to their group. It also meant that some groups were popular really just due to having one popular member. In the end, one group won...but I guess they realized this was a bad idea, so they formed a second winning group of the most popular contestants from the non-winning groups. I didn’t like this format and felt is really negatively impacted my viewing. Personally, seeing new team lineups form is one of my favorite parts of survival shows. And because the leaders were constant, they had there was too much focus on them. Also, the mentors were so harsh all the time. Maybe it was deserved, but it really bummed me out to watch them constantly talk about how disappointed they were.

My picks: 奶茶 Naicha, 田书臣 Tian Shuchen, 龙泓昊 Long Honghao, 赖煜哲 AJ Lai Yuzhe, 热亚提 Reyati, 赵品霖 Zhao Pinlin

Favorite performance: 饕餮 Taotie This was not one of the performances that stood out in my memory, but it stood out to me when I did my rewatch. I feel like they really nailed every element, and I don’t think the other teams could have pulled off this song.

Iconic moments: 何展成 Jonathan Ha gave up on speaking Chinese and 袁娅维 Tia Ray had to translate for him, the 王霏霏 Wang Feifei and 孟佳 Meng Jia reunion, 龙泓昊 Long Honghao’s beautiful dance to a Shawn Mendes song, I’m not sure why 奶茶 Naicha chose milk tea as stage name, AJ vs. the hidden snacks, they made 周艺轩 Zhou Yixuan perform a UNIQ song.

Verdict: Maybe you can skip this one. I definitely didn’t devote my full attention while I was watching it. And it felt like the show and the mentors were being mean to the boys all the time.

少年之名 We Are Young

Watch on Youku (no English subs, VIP needed) Watch on YouTube (no English subs) Watch via We Are Young Subs (English fansubs)

Why you should watch it: They improved on basically all the issues I had with the first season, and I was pleasantly surprised. Also, this is basically a 青春有你1 Youth with You 1 mini reunion with a few 偶像练习生 Idol Producer alums plus some future 青春有你3 You with You 3 contestants. It was so wonderful to see how the contestants I already knew had grown, and I loved seeing them get new opportunities to shine. There was surprisingly a lot of good raps/rappers on this show! Also, there were some truly incredible performances this season that aren’t like anything I’ve seen on other idol survival shows. And I enjoyed almost every performance—there were only a few that I disliked or thought were, um, not good. The mentors did not always agree...but I don’t care!

Why you shouldn’t watch it: Because they have to be different, when doing the initial evaluations, only about 50 contestants advanced to the next round. This was nice because it meant fewer names/faces, but wow, it felt so mean. Sometimes I wished they had stuck to a more traditional format. Besides that, I don’t have much else negative to say!

My picks: 郭震 Guo Zhen, 寇聪 Kuo Cong, 胡文煊 Hu Wenxuan, 左林杰 Zuo Linjie, 李希侃 Li Xikan, 崔少鹏 Cui Shaopeng, 杨超文 Yang Chaowen

Favorite performance: Don’t Start Now I don’t think I’ve ever seen this exact concept on one of these shows before. This performance was instantly a standout for me, especially because it had some of my favorite contestants!

Iconic moments: They literally had a corgi, 林 (Lin) MUA, everyone shipping 薛恩 Xue En and 程潇 Cheng Xiao, 胡文煊 Hu Wenxuan in a CROP TOP, 胡彦斌 Hu Yanbin told 寇聪 Kou Cong to wear less to show off his body what, 崔少鹏 Cui Shaopeng’s entrance through the pink smoke, 左林杰 Zuo Linjie really bungee jumped with his eyes closed, how 郭震 Guo Zhen, 左叶 Zuo Ye, and 胡文煊 Hu Wenxuan were in the same group four times without anyone noticing.

Verdict: This season ended up being better than it had any right to be! I think it’s worth checking out, especially if you are missing the boys from the 偶像练习生 Idol Producer/青春有你 Youth with You series.

>> Conclusion

If you actually read this entire post, I’m thoroughly impressed. If you, like me, have spent way too much time watching these shows, feel free to send me a message because I need someone to commiserate with. 

I honestly have this weird feeling that a chapter of my life is over. I have so many treasured memories from watching these shows—moments of laughter, tears, shock, pride, and more. They’ve provided a way to ground my language studies and engage with Chinese pop culture. They made me feel less alone during earlier COVID times.

Well, I’m off to find something to fill the survival show-size hole in my heart...maybe I’ll just rewatch 偶像练习生 Idol Producer.

[zhaozi]

jeffsatur: Sorry guys…but I just love summer dream.(really) 🙄

[sodomyaspraxis]

“The ruling class is a designator for a non-homogenous array of individuals who hold decision-making positions within these citadels of political-economic power, for whom the continuation of the status quo is of the utmost priority. But these individuals sit in highly structured positions, beholden to the built-in demands of shareholders (for higher profit) and political constituencies (for minimal levels of stability and prosperity—not so much the requirement that things get better but simply that they don’t get too bad too fast). There is thus no real malicious intent behind such decisions, nor is there the ability for such holders of power to truly transform or break free from the system itself. They are chained to it just as we all are, though they find themselves chained to its top.

The entire process is, therefore, one of contingent adaptations, rather than ruling class conspiracy. Its product is not that of a hidden, scheming council of elites, but simply the result of the continual experimentation through which different factions of the ruling class attempted to resolve the budding crisis and failed, their efforts then replaced by new, untested possibilities put forward by new leaders generating new outcomes that had to be dealt with in turn. The process is one of continual transformation in response to the local manifestations of the global decline in profitability. “Neoliberalism” is therefore not a fully conscious, casually malicious political program, as some authors would have it,[7] but simply a term attributed to a loose consensus that formed around numerous local solutions to the crisis that seemed to overcome short-term limits at the time. The prominence of an increasingly militarized state in this period is itself a symptom of the fundamental incoherence of this consensus, since the management of the ever-building, ever-deferred yet ever-present crisis grows more and more monumental. We have today finally reached the point at which this consensus is collapsing in the face of declining global trade and rising tides of populist nationalism, even while the massive military apparatus that accreted atop global supply chains remains, driven by its own inertia.”

-Red Dust

[bahoreal]

tian xuanning

[dialectrician]

Chuang argues that untill the nineteenth century there was essentially no such thing as China, the word didn't exist and neither did the concept. For example:

It seemed really hard to believe to me, that there was no concept for this huge state which had existed for nearly two thousand year in roughly the same location, and which, though it often changed dynasties or split apart, always ended up reforming.

But looking at the timeline of imperial China, the periods of division are much longer than I thought, the "ephemeral" divided states often lasted generations or centuries, and some Chinese dynasties only ruled the entirety of "China proper" for a very brief period of time.

The period considered "golden ages" are almost the same as the period of lasting rule of the whole of "China proper" by a native Chinese dynasty. That means the latter is quite rare.

Starting in 221 BCE we have the founding of the Qin Empire, which lasts only fourteen years, after five years of division comes the Han Empire, which except for a brief interuption by the Xin Dynasty rules continuously untill 22O CE.

Then we have the Three Kingdoms period which ends with the Jin unification in 280 CE. But though the Jin Dynasty would last longer, they only ruled the whole of China for a pathetic 24 years. Then there's the Sixteen Kingdoms period, followed by the Northern and Southern Dynasties period.

In 581 CE there's the founding of the Sui dynasty, which is replaced by the Tang Dynasty after only 37 years. The Tang would last 289 years.

In 907 CE the Five dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period begins. In 979 the Song dynasty is founded. I wasn't sure if the Northern Song should be counted as a united China. They ruled most of it, but there were still two other dynasties, the Western Xia and Liao. Ultimately I decided it didn't count because Xia and Liao, althought founded by non-chinese, seem to have been "Chinese-style" empires and controlled some territories in China proper (including Beijing!). By the Southern Song, The Liao had been replaced by the Jin (unrelated to the previous Jin dynasty) and the Song had lost contol of even more "core Chinese" territory. Then the Mongols show up, and do their usual thing.

This leads to the creation of the Yuan dynasty in 1279, which only rules for 89 years before beeing replaced by the Ming in 1368, which are then conquered by the Qing Dynasty in 1644, which rules China until 1912.

I think you can roughly periodize the imperial era as such:

There's the "Old Empire" from 221BCE to 220 CE, which is mostly just the Han dynasty. That's 441 years.

A "First Intermediate Period" of almost continuous division (the cringe Jin basically don't count) from 220 CE to the Sui unification of 581. That's an enormous 361 years.

A "Middle Empire"frome 581 to 907 (326 years total), which is mostly just the Tang dynasty.

A "Second Intermediate Period" from 907 to 1279 (372 years!) where again there is aways several states in China proper.

The "New Empire" from 1279 to 1912 (633 years), which lasts much longer than the other twos, but more than half of the time it is under a foreign dynasty.

(I am well aware of how presumptuous it is to make up my own periodization of Chinese history based off glancing at Wikipedia)

Overall, from 221 BCE to 1912 CE, (2133 years):

China is united under a "native" dynasty for only 1062 years (50% of the time).

It is united under a "foreign" dynasty for 357 years (17% of the time)

It is several states for 714 years (33% of the time).

There were only three "native" dynasties which ruled the whole of China for a non-trivial amount of time (Han, Tang and Ming), and one "foreign" dynasty (the Qing).

So I guess it's plausible than people would not have conceived of "mainland East Asia (as Chuang calls it) as one country which is periodically divided, but instead several countries which are occasionnally united.

[vyvesvi]

chuang asia (chuang 2024) has just announced their list of trainees! as usual someone made a quick facts thread for the 18+ girlies so here are some trainees i'll be watching based solely on vibes :)

my main picks at the moment are xueyao, yiyu, rjing, & akina, but i'm sure thing will shift, as they always do!

jessica (03) is a trainee under sole u entertainment, although it's unclear what her specialty is. i noticed her because she looks a bit more mature than is typical on these shows! ig: twinkletwinklejessica

zeng xueyao (01) is kinda my main pick right now, she was great on chuang 2020! it's always exciting when chuang trainees breathe lol

maliya (02) / maria - not much is known about her, but like jessica i like her vibe, we'll see though!

p.amp (02) / pam is an actress, not sure what her vocal/dance abilities are. i like her vibe! ig: ppammelar

yuan ke (03) deleted her ig lmfao but she went to shanghai musical theatre academy so im expecting Vocals. she's also done some modeling work which makes sense because she's gorgeous

pailiu (99) is a thai-vietnamese model & influencer who competed in Miss Thailand. not sure if she can sing or dance but she kinda slays anyways for now so let's see. ig: pailiuuur

anh sang (06) is a former sgo48 member. she plays piano & is an okay singer (like elyn she has a nice voice but likely minimal training). ig: nguyenlengocanhsang

yiyu (02) was on the great dance crew & is a confirmed member of A class (or whatever they're calling it this season). her dance videos are really great, it seems like popping is her specialty

r-jing (03) is a former sm trainee who left when aespa was finalized. she was on the voice kids & she's an amazing singer. ig: rjing_jeeranan

elynn (02) is a youtuber & influencer. she naturally has a really sweet voice but hasn't trained formally as far as i can tell. she plays the guitar & the piano though, which is cool. ig/yt: elynleonggg

ninnint (02) is a model & dancer. her singing voice is just okay but her vibe is so fun to me idky. ig: ninninttt

preemmy (04) is a model & a friend of p.amp's. idk what her performance experience is but she's sooo pretty idk. whoever styled her duting the pfp shot is an opp tho. she's also a huge fan of into1 so this myst be really exciting to her, lmfao. ig: p.preemmyy

akina (99) is the lead vocalist & main dancer of the jpop group faky! her vocals are fantastic and im looking forward to seeing how she does! i hope they never style her like in this profile again though 🙏 ig: akina_faky

ikema ruan (04) is the theme song center & competed on gp999. it'll be crazy if she has a miu arc (gp999 → theme song center (pdj s3) → in debut line for the whole show)

shye (02) is a singer & producer from singapore. i didn't know her before this but im really enjoying what im hearing from her! if i had to guess i'd say she's on this show for exposure since her style is a lot more alt leaning. since it introduced me to her though i guess the plot worked! ig: shye.mp3

pream (06) is a dancer and a confirmed member of A class. she was a member of the girl group celeste before they disbanded and she's currently under gmmtv record. based on celeste's only song she seems to be a rapper & a dancer. ig: im___.preme

the csr girlies need no introduction so i won't introduce them lmfao. i hope that this brings them some attention but i don't think any of them debuting would be good for their group tbh. don't really understand the decision but 🤷🏿‍♀️

[perestroika-hilton]

Following quote is from gleaning the welfare fields this is just a really nice succinct history of peasant revolt under communism

"Resistance to State Extraction during the Socialist Period (1959-1978)

The current character of rural resistance has its roots in the socialist era. This cycle of struggle begins in 1959, the first year of the Great Leap Famine, when a rupture occurred between peasants and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), which had developed widespread support in the countryside to various degrees over the previous three decades. Many members and even leaders of the party came from the peasantry, and the CCP’s guidance had proven successful at winning struggles against local elites that poor peasants had already attempted unsuccessfully on their own. Peasant support grew throughout the 1950s as CCP policies (such as land reform and cooperativization), coupled with the end of civil war, led to improvements in living standards.

All this fell apart with the return of famine in 1959, following the first year of the CCP’s Great Leap Forward campaign.[12] Many peasants soon began to regard the party-state as an alien, extractive and oppressive force, and to act individually or collectively against it by hiding grain from state collectors, stealing from collective fields, looting granaries, going to cities to demand food,[13] and in some cases taking up arms and engaging in local “power seizures.”[14]

The post-Leap retreat to more conservative agrarian policies (partial decollectivization, restoration of markets) mitigated peasant unrest, but the damage was done. Henceforth it would be more difficult to mobilize peasants for mass campaigns or even everyday work. The inefficiency that Dengists[15] and liberals alike attribute to the nature of collective production in general actually stemmed, in this case, from peasants’ resistance to state extraction and what they interpreted as alien, often irrational attempts to control the production process. In the 1970s (following more moderate recollectivization in the mid-1960s), many peasants again pushed for partial decollectivization, and others welcomed the Dengist state’s forced decollectivization in the early 1980s—less because of peasants’ inherent individualism or “petty bourgeois mentality,” and more because they wanted less extraction and more control over production.[16]

 

Resistance to Price Fluctuations during the Period of Transition (mid-1980s to early 1990s)

The early 1980s was a golden age for most Chinese peasants, comparable to the 1950s in optimism and surpassing it in terms of livelihood. Several decades of peace and gradual improvement of food intake combined with post-1968 improvements in rural health care managed to double life expectancy between 1949 and 1980. Meanwhile, two decades of collective projects to improve rural infrastructure (bringing new land under cultivation, expanding irrigation systems, building roads, etc.) and state modernization of agriculture (mechanization, production of agrochemicals and high-yield varieties of seed and livestock) finally came to fruition in the late 1970s.[17] This was coupled with the first significant state increase in prices for agricultural products, supplemented by subsidies for peasant entrepreneurs who reorganized their household farms and privatized collective equipment to specialize in certain commodities, leading to the most rapid increase in agricultural productivity and income that China had seen since the Ming Dynasty—especially for those able to benefit from the entrepreneurial subsidies available from 1978 to 1984.

By the mid-1980s, however, a combination of new factors caused these increases in productivity and income to decline. The increase attributable to modernization on tiny plots of land soon reached its limits. The state then decreased its subsidies and price controls for agriculture as part of its general strategy of marketization, and in order to balance the budget and lower the price of food for urbanites. These changes spelled disaster for peasants who specialized in certain cash crops when prices fell below the cost of production, leading to the first significant round of peasant unrest in China since the Great Leap Famine,[18] beginning in the late 1980s.

There is little data available on this sequence of struggles due to media censorship and the preference of researchers to focus on either decollectivization or anti-corruption struggles, but it is memorialized in Mo Yan’s novel The Garlic Ballads.[19] Based on news reports and interviews, the novel recounts a 1987 uprising against the falling price of garlic and the government’s refusal to buy the surplus, after local officials had encouraged peasants to specialize in garlic and then pocketed the state subsidies, alongside fees they had charged for farming a cash crop instead of grain. If this case is any indication, the marketization of agriculture at this time was already intertwined with local state corruption, which became the focus of peasant resistance in the 1990s.

 

Resistance to Local State Expropriation in the 1990s and early 2000s

It was during this period that many young peasants began migrating to coastal cities for temporary jobs, incentivized by expropriation in the countryside and increasing employment opportunities in the Special Economic Zones, both occurring just as returns from modernized small-plot agriculture had reached their limits. The struggles of peasants thus bifurcated into the rural struggles dealt with here, and the struggles of ruralites as proletarians, including conflicts in the wage relation and riots against social exclusion discussed in “No Way Forward, No Way Back” (also in this issue).

Despite frequent news reporting and a sizable academic literature, the only attempt at a comprehensive history of rural struggles in China since the 1980s is a pair of articles by Kathy Le Mons Walker published in the late 2000s.[20] The following sections center on summarizing information from those articles, supplementing it with other sources and engaging critically with Walker’s analysis.

Among the many targets of peasant resistance from the late 1980s to the early 2000s, most could be characterized as direct expropriation. These included:

the issuing of IOUs in lieu of payment of cash for crops by local officials, who used the funds for speculative real estate and business deals[…]; cadre diversion of state-allocated inputs for agriculture; the pocketing of TVE [“collective” township and village enterprise] profits by local and mid-level cadres; the imposition by local cadres of a host of ‘illegal’ or ‘unaccounted for’ fines, fees, and taxes to pay for ‘development’ projects and/or for personal use; the forcible confiscation of the land, belongings, and food of peasants who could not or would not pay the extra taxes and fees; the expropriation of arable land without adequate compensation (for highways, real estate development, and personal use, or to attract industrial investors through the creation of ‘development zones’); the issuing of inferior and fake chemical fertilizers, pesticides, seeds, and other supplies by corrupt cadres; and finally the pollution of local water supplies by development projects, which has not only angered peasants but affected agricultural production as well.

This expropriation was not mere “corruption,” as both the Chinese state and liberal critics usually describe it.[21] In some cases it resembles proto-capitalist “primitive accumulation” in Marx’s classical sense, because it played a key role in the transition to capitalism.[22] In others, especially more recently, such expropriation might be better understood as specifically capitalist “accumulation by dispossession” in David Harvey’s sense—Walker’s preferred category of analysis.[23] It transferred products of peasant labor into capitalist enterprises and the infrastructure necessary for its operation. It also took the form of capitalist rents, as opposed to the tributary and socialist rents in rural China prior to marketization. Investment in this period often took the form of “collectively-owned” TVEs, but many of these functioned as profit-oriented joint-stock enterprises, while others were eventually appropriated by their managers or cheaply purchased by capitalists. During China’s reintegration into the world market in the 1990s, these privatized TVEs became the initial vehicle through which Chinese and transnational capital exploited local and migrant peasant-workers—the vehicle of their expropriation often becoming the source of their exploitation."

[seokmattchuus]

My favorite part of survival shows is being delusional and picking a lineup of pure faves that has zero chances of being the final lineup

For example, my current top 9 for chuang:

[worldviewmazovian]

"These remaining state owned enterprises, alongside their private counterparts, would thereby increasingly operate according to capitalist imperatives, and the Chinese workforce would be defined by the combination of a new migrant proletariat staffing the privately owned industries of the Sunbelt and a freshly proletarianized workforce,"

Chuang Vol 2 "Frontiers" — from the piece "Red Dust"

[truonguyennha]

WEEK 4: DIGITAL COMMUNITY AND FANDOM: REALITY TV CASE STUDY

The rise of social media has been seen in recent years (Mcbride, 2015, p. 1), leading to changes in how audiences and viewers engage with reality TV content when reality TV now relies less on the TV itself (Milne, 2024). Regarding Benedict (2013, p. 1, as cited in Mcbride, 2015, p. 1), reality TV and the broadcasters are now using social media to increase the engagement of audiences and innovate the way in which audiences can engage with the content.

INCREASE AUDIENCES’ ENGAGEMENT AND INNOVATE THE WAY IN ENGAGING WITH REALITY TV

L’Hoiry (2019, p. 2) highlights that audiences can now become co-producers of the reality TV show when they are now given the chance to engage with the show through voting. The Korea reality competition show "Queendom" gave its audiences the chance to “co-produce” the show by integrating social media voting. Audiences can decide the winner of the show by voting on social media, and the contestant with the highest vote will become a “Queendom”. (Figure 1)

Figure 1: Voting

To increase audience engagement, reality TV has privileged its “liveness” and social media, a type of “second screening”, has significantly impacted the “liveness” of reality TV (Stewart, 2020, p. 354). In specific, reality TV now broadcasts their show live across various social media platforms to enrich the “liveness” of the “television viewing” experience of audiences (Stewart, 2020, p. 354). In particular, it creates a “virtual loungeroom” (Stewart, 2020, p. 354), where audiences can simultaneously watch the show and engage with the show and other audiences, who share the same interest with them, in real-time (Deller, 2019, p. 157) through online discussion, tweets, etc. (Figure 2)

Figure 2: "Liveness" and "virtual loungeroom"

Furthermore, reality TV can leverage social media to extend the show’s life (Deller, 2019, p. 159). Firstly, by publishing the content on social media, reality TV shows can keep their old audiences engaged with the show when audiences can re-watch their favorite shows every time they want, as well as recruit new audiences (Deller, 2019, p. 159). Secondly, audiences prefer humorous discussions, whether online or offline (Deller, 2019, p. 158). Thus, numerous jokes and memes are created by the reality TV brands, which post them on social media and use jokes and memes as a social media strategy in order to increase the audiences’ engagement with the reality TV content (Deller, 2019, p. 159). The more reality TV memes and jokes are used, the longer the reality TV show exists.

Lastly, reality TV also gains benefits from social media to gain the audiences’ engagement when the audiences are given opportunities to create and expand the reality TV shows by creating content that shows “what happened next” and posting it on social media (Deller, 2019, p. 163). For instance, Chuang 2021, a Chinese reality TV show, has received numerous fan-edited videos and discussions about the “real” relationship between two contestants, Santa and Rikimaru. They create social media content that shows the thing that will “happen next” for these contestants is that they will fall in love together and become a couple (Figure 3).

Figure 3: Social media give audiences opportunities to engage with the reality TV show by creating content showing "what happened next"

References

Deller, R. A. (2019). Reality Television in an Age of Social Media. Emerald Publishing.

L’Hoiry, X. (2019). Love Island, Social Media, and Sousveillance: New Pathways of Challenging Realism in Reality TV. Frontiers in Sociology, 4(59), 1–13. https://doi.org/10.3389/fsoc.2019.00059

Mcbride, J. (2015). Social Media & Audience Participation in Regard to Television Part of the Communication Technology and New Media Commons, Social Media Commons, and the Television Commons. https://ideaexchange.uakron.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=&httpsredir=1&article=1053&context=honors_research_projects

Milne, E. (2024). Digital Community and Fandom: Reality TV Case Study [Lecture slides], Canvas@Swinburne University of Technology. https://swinburne.instructure.com/

Stewart, M. (2020). Live tweeting, reality TV and the nation. International Journal of Cultural Studies , 23(3), 352–367. https://doi.org/10.1177/136787791988775

[kep1er-net]

huang yuqing update ☆ weibo post: "与小友的几个平常周末 《一组库存》"

[zhaozi]

jeffsatur: i was in LA

[poetry-protest-pornography]

Help

Jeff: So, Daddy, amirite?

Jackson: I'll play along

Ten: No! No thank you!

[fanfrelon]

Anthony Chuang

[vyvesvi]

saw all the ep 3 performances but not the actual ep lol.

voting list (week 3)

all of these girls are criminally low compared to how they performed imo.

first round commentary (copied from my twitter 🫶🏿)

1. team: hard

my winner(s): like 6/7 but emma jaoying & P.AMP stood out, it's a shame geumhee was hidden for her high note

this team is great but who decided the concept/outfits 😭

2. team: 7 rings

my winner(s): WANG KE (and vita)

the other girlies didn't stand a chance against wang ke this was legit brutal 😭 i do wonder if they were all comfortable with the concept though, this doesn't seem like something liliana wouldve chosen?

also rei is my girl but this performance doesn't play to her strengths at all im devastated 😭

3. team: one more last time

my winner(s): DUNA, rose

duna's experience really shone through, plus she fits this concept super well. very glad she got center. rose also did super well, i only wish she had the second main part 😭 praying this saves her

devi also did great, but i don't think this'll be enough unfortunately:/

4. team: i like you

my winner(s): zoi, TEGAN, tk

i had to think about this team bc once again, so insanely hard to pretend this is live. zoi was just good onstage, tegan has that voice, and tk surprised me. they clearly want preemy gone tho i hate it hereee

5. team: kick back

my winner(s): QIAO YIYU

honestly i love love love this team composition but i don't think the stage really showed their strongest points...i think a different wayv song would've made all the difference tbh

6. team: booty bomb

my winner(s): yeham, coco, MAO XIUTING

tbh there are some people here with lots of screentime who i don't understand the hype for, although both of them did better than their auditions. anyways yeham!!! she barely got screentime apart from her lines but i loved her voice with this concept tbh, it added a much needed freshness? brightness? to the performance. i need to see a full stage ver with no cuts though

7. team: love destiny 2

my winner(s): PANGJANG (everyone did well though)

pangjang just has the voice, what is there to say really. i feel soooooo bad for ninnint, she did well but this was really not the song for her. fly high girlie 😔✊️

8. team: play with me

my winner(s): YEAN, elyn, caith

seoyeon has greater ability than a lot of the contestants but her energy really isn't there to the point where i can't help but wonder if it's on purpose...?

9. team: i'll do it how you like it

my winner(s): ?

the chaba krista rjing vocal meal in the beginning was so sick omg

the rest of the performance didn't really click even though no one was bad at all. need maliya to be saved though like that's a Face

picking a winner is tough for this team because you have some singers who can't dance/perform & some dancers who don't sing as well. in truth pream, rjing, xueyao, and maybe maliya are the most balanced, but xueyao in particular didn't really stand out. pream stood out because of her center time, but this is far from her best (her presence is usually a lot stronger). maybe id go with rjing? but id need to see a full stage with no cuts

10. team: pieces of love

my winner(s): KITTIE

you have to suspend your disbelief a bit with these shows but i couldn't even pretend this was live & it's so distracting 😭 yuan ke & jessica are my next picks but i need them to focus more on facial expressions

my top 9?

honestly i've had a really hard time coming up with a group, if only because i genuinely like 47ish of the contestants (others i dont like or simply don't know). also, i do think it'd be nice for most of the group to be thai. i scrolled through the contestants and just picked the first 9 that i saw who made me go "yeah, you" lmfao and this is what i ended up with:

yean feels virtually indispensable at this point. she can dance, she's a great pop vocalist, and she can fit any concept. the show is also very on her side.

wang ke's performance in 7 rings convinced me of her star power (honestly she's been hit or miss to me until this point). wang ke didn't need to be the best singer or dancer to stand out on stage, it's her energy that really sets her apart and that's a hard skill to learn.

tegan...she's just a surprisingly strong contestant. i wasn't really a fan of how she acted during the theme song arc (all 7.5 minutes of it, lol) but i do understand that she was trying to lighten the mood. from the theme song to round one she showed that she really could hold her own on stage if she put her mind to it. other factors: star quality, demographic appeal, growth idolism, unique tone/strong vocals

rose is my underrated pick. she has a great voice and i think she can be styled to fit a number of concepts. she hasn't gotten much screentime, but i really hope she makes round 2, just to force the show to show more of her strengths. in some ways she's a little bit filler here, but i think she's necessary for the group to gel

ruan, our summer dream center...idk i just like her a lot. she suits different concepts and is super super hardworking & serious about this, while also being really kind. i want to see her learning/speaking more thai and english hopefully!

qiao yiyu is a talent & demographic pick (and one of my overall main picks at this point) she's another member who i see as indispensable. she's a main dancer who can fit multiple styles (but she's also for the girlies). in this pic she kinda looks like yuqi? lmfao

p.amp, my other totally biased pick 🥲 she's so gorgeous onstage and has so much presence i don't understand why the masses aren't seeing her 😭. she's a filler visual here but hot take, we don't need a wannabe gangsta rapper who can't dance self proclaimed quote unquote "real rapper" in the lineup when so many gg raps are pre-written and last for max 4 lines. p.amp can do it while dancing, being charming, and looking hot. i rest my case

geumhee is my pick of the csr members, although duna's rank is the best & seoyeon is the one getting a storyline. geumhee would be slightly filler here, but her singing ability would make her a lead vocal, and he experience and preexisting intl audience would make her indispensable. tbh she's the first member i personally noticed in csr, but i think that csr could live for a couple years without her and then benefit from her return.

mingming is good, although im generally on the fence about her. she has great lead vocal potential and is very likable. i kind of think the mindy members will be fine if none of them make it, but i do feel her voice is a little wasted there.

nationalities: 4 thailand, 2 china, 1 usa, 1 japan, 1 south korea

other contestants to consider:

pailiu! i really like her (and she's currently rank 2) but im not seeing a group that she fits into in the top ranks. maybe if maliya, jessica, xueyao, yuanke, p.amp, jaoying, etc were a bit higher. it's too soon to tell though i suppose

elyn's (#1) fanbase is really showing out for her considering the relatively minimal screentime she's had. her vocals aren't as strong as rose's, but she could potentially replace her in the lineup and add more (in terms of fan loyalty & demographic appeal).

emma not making my off the top of my head top 9 was really unexpected! i make the top 9 and then went wait where's emma? i think i would replace mingming with her, although honestly? emma's a star and should probably try to go to a company with some power, like perhaps yuehua china. for a survival show group, it's good that she stands out as an individual but in terms of cohesion...eh. she couldn't be filler, but she also probably couldn't be the star with the rest of this lineup. it's tough

absolutely LOVE krista's voice, but the reason i stopped voting for her is that she is kind of an absolutely miserable dancer. the great part is that she's super young, and can train to work on her dancing & her stage presence + facial expressions. krista (and others) make me wish that chuang was like produce japan, where the funding company (there lapone, here ryce) takes on trainees from the show for future permanent or temporary groups. krista would be a great candidate for that.

kitty, natty, & jaoying i noticed for the first time this round. i don't have much to say but they would be very solid filler members (not a drag, btw). im looking forward to seeing more of them!

yuan ke & wan yan jiayi are growing kind of indispensable if they want to have a foothold in china it seems. my personal pick would be yuan ke, but i think jiayi is moreso on the rise.

TBH i have 21 more contestant photos saved but let me just move onto another potential top 9

all i did was replace rose & mingming with elyn & emma, which brings the nationality count to: 2 thailand, 3 china, 1 japan, 1 usa, 1 malaysia, 1 south korea. see but now i'd say they need at least one more thai member! now sort of i want to put jaoying in over elyn lol. oh well 🤷🏿‍♀️