Behind the insults of Li Min's 28-year singer career, the internal entertainment variety show has been kidnapped for many years

Entertainment 丨Issue 13

Wen 丨 Xu Yunze

Editor丨Ellow

• 1

  In the opaque rules and systems of domestic entertainment variety shows, it is common for artists and programs to play games with each other. However, the balance of the interest game of all parties will also be broken by factors other than interests, and in a sense, Li Min is an international superstar who represents an idealized pursuit outside that sense.

• 2

  The variety show is an important guarantee for the major variety shows to pass, pass the line, and go on smoothly. While ensuring that the program runs on the preset track of all parties, it also defines the entire process and chain of variety shows. What Li Min's recording shows may be precisely the factors that the "script" cannot and should not manipulate, that is, the participants' real and idealized demands, and a completely different understanding and pursuit of "program effect". Under the "dog whistle effect", the coffee position is as big as Li Min, and may also become a "tool man" for program recording.

• 3

  Among the major variety shows in domestic entertainment, "hot search" has become the most important indicator for program parties and artists. Everyone who enters the entertainment industry is carefully marked with the value of traffic, and it circulates between carriers, such as programs, dramas, and self-media topics. Many malicious clips are actually intentional by the program team, in order to create topics and breaking points, a little priority under the editor's hands is likely to shape a completely different fact.

The live video exposure of Li Min's complaint against "The Voice of China" before his death (Source/Weibo Du Ruoyi)

A 9-minute recording of the deceased singer Li Min in July was exposed. In the recording, Li Min made a sad and indignant accusation against the program group of "The Voice of China", and she mentioned the biggest insult she had suffered since "28 years, being a singer", which aroused a strong reaction from public opinion.

On August 18, the five-year share price of Starsky Huawei, the parent company of The Voice of China, plummeted 23.43% at the close, losing nearly HK$11.6 billion in market value. Countless netizens poured into the official accounts and live broadcast rooms of the major sponsors of the program, asking merchants to stand in line and express their position. The hole torn open by a recording is being violently torn larger and larger in the anger of the crowd, and some commentators analyzed that the time has come for another round of rectification of the entertainment industry. At the same time, the behind-the-scenes depth of variety show production is becoming more and more widely focused, and we took this opportunity to have a conversation with a number of insiders who are deeply engaged in variety show recording, and they revealed to us the secrets of variety shows in recent years.

 The share price of Star Chinese, the parent company of The Voice of China, plummeted (Photo/CFP)

The show of the inner roll, the artist of the inner roll

In 2021, the internal entertainment variety show experienced the strictest regulation and control in the post-epidemic era, and the number of production and broadcast declined, industry data shows that 193 variety shows were broadcast in 2021, and by the first half of 2022, a total of 116 seasonal variety shows were launched, 5 fewer than the same period in 2021. The average broadcasting index in the first half of 2022 was 25.7, which was significantly lower than the data of the same period in 2021.

Under the circumstances of many uncertainties in policies and markets, variety shows began to roll in. The usual hits, such as trainee group drafts, or were stopped, or overdrafted, the healing department and slow variety shows grew separately, exploring new spaces occupied by the market.

Gu Jia is the manager of a small cultural company, responsible for the management and publicity of the company's artists. She also remembers that in the early years, China bought the copyright of South Korea's "We Are Married" to launch a local version, the production team was all Korean, and the show invited the hottest and most famous artists in China to create a top cast. The reality plot survival challenge reality show "All Staff Accelerating" is also a star-studded variety show, with 12 guests in each episode occupying popularity, national popularity and topicality.

In Gu Jia's view, the relationship between variety shows and star artists is a two-way choice. The head variety show hopes to take the head artist as a signboard, and the N generation of the variety must continue to create freshness on the basis of ensuring continuous output; In terms of artists, it is necessary to comprehensively consider the word-of-mouth of the program, the fit with their personal image, and the matching of the publicity cycle. Artist coordination plays a very important role in this, artists in the publicity period need to be on the show, daily need to be on the announcement to maintain a certain exposure, stars with their own topic are naturally sought after by many programs, but artists with a sense of variety and strong sense of art are also quite popular.

"The domestic entertainment market, especially the variety show market, is still very different from Japan and South Korea," Gu Jia said in a conversation with "Entertainment Jian", "Star artists in Japan and South Korea are more volumed, because they have few platforms, maybe three or four (TV) stations in the country, but in China, dozens of satellite TVs, as well as online video platforms, the difference between supply and demand is too big, and the competition for artists on variety shows is relatively not so fierce." But she also said that the head resources of variety shows are still very scarce, "There are not many really good programs, like the previous "Happy Camp" and "Ace to Ace" and other programs, programs with good reputation, quality and data performance, are still very attractive to artists." ”

Sisiyuan is a makeup artist in the film and television industry, because he is well known in the circle, he is usually active on social media, speaks "terrier", can play, and is often introduced by friends to variety shows and participated in recording as an amateur guest. In her observation, it is very common for the program group to "watch people put down dishes". "Some top stars record programs, 15 million a day, this is what I have seen, normal artists have millions, hundreds of thousands a day, like us amateurs, 800 yuan," Sisi said, "The price is different, the value is not the same, of course the treatment is different." ”

In the case of the general environment and the general climate tends to shrink, it is difficult to evaluate who is more volatile in the program and the artist. Gu Jia believes that the show is Party A, the artist is Party B, as an artist publicity and agent, she has felt too much warmth and coldness in the world, but she also said, "If you ask the program party, they will also feel that they are Party B and the artist is Party A; The program side also has a lot of careful ingredients, everyone is a little internal friction, this is the current situation of internal entertainment. ”

Between all kinds of programs and artists large and small, there is a complex, overlapping, and extremely spanning spectrum, which also leaves room for many gray operations. Sisi said that at least once I have heard from core people in the industry that a situation similar to "spending money to buy seats" has also become an unspoken rule, and the opacity of the price system has provided some practitioners with the opportunity to accept bribes and improper income.

"We still count the circle of contacts and relationships are relatively good, everyone drinks and chats with each other can almost inquire, what shows how much, what is the situation, but in fact, so far the price system of this industry, including contracts, is not transparent, everyone talks back to back, every time is like gambling a game," Gu Jia said, in the opaque rules and systems, artists and programs play with each other, you are afraid that he will take advantage, he is afraid that you will poke Louzi, and there is no bottom in each other's hearts.

But at the same time, the balance of the game of interests of all parties may also be broken by factors other than interests, in a sense, Li Min is an international superstar who represents an idealized pursuit outside that sense.

However, for most people, the tens of billions of variety show market still attracts countless people with star dreams to enter the game. "There may still be many people who want to be popular and want to be popular, and think that being on the show is a good opportunity, so they are willing to pay for themselves to participate," Sisi said.

Written scripts, controlled programs

With the development of the market, the production of variety shows has entered industrialization. The three major themes of culture, emotion and life have always been the mainstream, and downward, language categories, interviews, performing arts, romance reality shows, workplace/life experience categories, competitions, sports and other program types have basically blossomed in an all-round way, and have also presented a variety of styles in style and rhythm.

The other side of typification is that the program specifications, formats, structure and even the main content are also carried out according to a relatively fixed template. From buying copyright to replicate overseas programs such as Japan and South Korea in the early years, to racing horses with competitors of the same type, the trend of variety show typification to homogenization is more than that of film and television dramas. The script has become an important guarantee for the program to pass, pass the line, and smoothly launch.

"Without a script, it will be extremely nervous, because anything can happen in the recording scene, and the best guarantee is that the book in your hand can allow you to win steadily, and it is very likely to encounter uncontrollable situations of artists or guests, which is very embarrassing." Senior variety show director S once said.

"They must all have scripts," Gu Jia also said, when contacting artists for variety show projects, the script itself is the most important consideration. "The character image in the script is in line with the main character that the artist wants to push at this stage, which is very important," Gu Jia introduced, "For example, in romance programs, first of all, you can't push a star or artist who is completely unworldly, and no one in the audience wants to watch Xiaobai, it must be hoping to see the emotional stories of people with certain experience, but on the other hand, in the specific program, to what extent, will it affect the artist, whether it will be easy to have scandals or even negative, need to be specifically analyzed, Sometimes we will bring characters similar to screenwriters and choreographers to follow the group, and change the script on the spot in any situation. ”

After the popularity of amateur shows, the amateur part is of course carried out in accordance with the basic script framework, and star artists are more in the role of observers and other roles at this time, and the reactions they show, including some comments, are in fact scripted. Different from the imagination of ordinary audiences, Sisi introduced that among the variety shows she has participated in, language and talk programs, the restrictions on the script are less, and the program prefers to leave the guests with space to play themselves, or let the guests write their own lines, while sports competitive programs, in addition to stipulating whether to win or lose, some even what the loser says after losing and how the winner reacts, are very specific to write, let the guests act accordingly. "The first issue of the Taiwan instinct has 15,000 words, and if you lose, you say 'I'm so angry', and the other party says 'can't afford to play' and so on, which is surprising, the script is really written very carefully."

While ensuring that the program runs on the preset track of all parties, it also defines the entire process and chain of variety shows. Pre-set explosive points, pre-arranged golden sentences and jokes, pre-reserved promotional marketing entries, and pre-inserted advertising needs, and even some sensitive points and negative points buried in advance. "I have participated in many variety shows to know that sometimes we see who breaks the news on social media, who shakes out the inside story, maybe these are even arranged by the program party for the popularity and topicality," Sisi said. There are topics, there are controversies, there is continuous heat, which is a clearer law than security in the current public opinion environment.

Having served many artists and engaged in entertainment publicity work, Gu Jia has shown a deep understanding of the interests of all parties in this market and industry. "Most of the time we will choose to give the program party full trust, as long as the program has a bonus to the artist's image and resources, and the early communication reaches 60%, some important details can ensure that the star artist and the program team are relatively pursuing the same goal," Gu Jia said, "The interests and goals of the program side are also very clear, they are very good at the problem, amplify the characteristics of the artist, even if it is acting, it cannot be too different." ”

The "balance" that begins with the game of interests will always be broken because of things other than interests; The script and track determined under the checks and balances of interests of all parties will always have bugs. To some extent, the contradiction and conflict between Li Min and the program group of "The Voice of China" before his death is likely to be a factor that the "script" cannot and should not manipulate, that is, the real and idealized demands of the participants, and the completely different understanding and pursuit of the "program effect".

After experiencing too many recording scenes, the phenomenon of rumored celebrities playing big names and competing for coffee positions is not uncommon, on the other hand, the program group treats guests differently, and even PUA guests, Sisi has also seen it.

"It's a dog whistle effect!" (Editor's note: The dog whistle effect refers to the impression left by people in the first interaction, formed and dominant in the other person's mind, this effect is the first impression effect.) Sisi said bluntly that some program groups treat guests who are not cooperative enough and cannot create results, "Some are methods." "The scene is basically not allowed to bring mobile phones, the early communication is also one-on-one, opaque, once there is something on the scene, in fact, other people do not know what really happened, only you and they know, in this case, the truth is too easy to be distorted, the most important thing is that there are too many things on the scene to kidnap you, they can say, now it is being recorded, everyone is waiting for you alone, everyone is cooperating, you alone delay the overall situation, blabla" Sisi said, "For the effect of the program, This kind of collective unconscious kidnapping is really too difficult for the individual, in that case the brain may be completely blank, and you can only cooperate. ”

The metaphysics of being kidnapped and kidnapping everything

After experiencing the banning of bad artists, the rectification and governance of rice circles, the suspension of broadcasting, and the PS frame by frame... Internal entertainment variety shows have come to this day like thin ice, the laws of the market often fail, the economic order is often invisible, after an internal roll, the only thing that everyone sees and has to believe in is the logic of traffic.

Daren, who works as a project PM at a video website commercialization center, explains that his job is "to quarrel and persuade between brands, sponsors and program groups. Similar to the content type, the commercialization path of variety shows has also been very mature, which makes it easy to talk about how to use every minute of variety shows, in other words, how to "sell". "Sometimes, even if the specific number of seconds, how many seconds of the advertisement is inserted, how big the ad appears, and who will broadcast it are all stipulated, the brand will still require that the product or logo be exposed a little further in the middle, or closer to the position of the main coffee," Daren said, in fact, no one knows how effective this is, but as long as there is space, they are all scramble.

Personal safety, counterfeiting, malicious editing, doping, hype... For variety shows, there is never a lack of negativity in the public opinion field, and a considerable part of the topic degree and discussion degree come from here, which is converted into heat, and then very simply converted into the basic unit of traffic: hot search, delivered to the desk of representatives of all parties.

"Finalizing a heavyweight coffee is definitely a must," Gu Jia said, "Those who look at the cast list, isn't so-and-so a movie coffee, how to participate in this variety show, the program side needs a guest from the town to explain to the capital." ”

Heavy is equal to traffic, this is the first article on the "traffic password manual", in turn, there are small fresh meat, rising stars, topic queens, comeback male gods, and so on, everyone who enters the entertainment industry is carefully marked with the value of traffic, circulating between programs, dramas, self-media topics and other carriers.

Variety show director S, who has been in charge of the whole process of variety shows many times, said, "In the process of doing variety shows, for example, we will preset fifteen topics will carry out some hot search alternatives, they are all standby, we think that good may not go up, but we think that the general or not so good it will go up, so it is also metaphysics for us." ”

"Later, we basically focused on Weibo hot searches," Gu Jia said, "In the past, there were no hot searches, so we focused on the topic list, and now all of them are concentrated on hot searches." "The place where soldiers must fight, Gu Jia described the hot search like this." In terms of programs, station leaders, platform leaders, watch hot searches, brands, sponsoring manufacturer bosses, including the head of the market, are watching hot searches, how many hot searches have this show we sponsored, so hot! Everyone is the same logic, we do artist publicity and brokerage, of course, we are even more focused on hot searches, artists on a variety show, how many hot searches come out, who has the most artists, what are the entries, staring particularly tightly, in fact, it is quite collapsed, but this is the status quo. ”

The number and position of hot searches mark the selling price of the program, and the tonal temperament of the hot search entry also marks the quality of resources in many aspects such as artist advertising, endorsements, film and television. All of this is pre-embedded in every specific line and plot of the variety show. In addition to professional "data women" and marketing companies, editors also play a key role in the hot search of the program. "Artists entering the program group is basically closed, until the recording is completed and played, we outside people have no idea what is happening inside (but at the same time, a large number of artists will have staff to follow)" Gu Jia said that many malicious clips are actually intentional by the program group, in order to create topics and explosive points, a little priority under the editor's hands is likely to shape a completely different fact. "Sometimes I have to fight (with the program), mainly because I don't know the logic of their editing, maybe it all comes down to creating heat." Gu Jia said.

In Sisi's view, no matter how many pounds of guests and how big the wrist, when they enter the recording scene, they actually become the "tool people" of the program group. "The biggest problem of stars is that the cultural level is not high, to some extent, many highly educated elites in the program group, those chief directors, chief directors, are actually biased against star artists, although their income is far from catching up with stars." Sisi said, "Sometimes, the artist is a nine-leaky fish, and the director will deliberately create a situation to amplify the more ignorant side of the artist, and the point of the nine-leaky fish is also particularly explosive, which can especially meet the complex mentality of netizens when watching public figures; For example, an actress from a grassroots background, unable to distinguish professional terms, very carefully asked the choreographer what it meant, and they were actually quite sad to be ridiculed. In addition, sometimes, the director knows some of the artist's weaknesses, some sensitive things, the show will arrange people to deliberately cue, and even deliberately provoke the artist, many artists are not good enough emotional management, the scene has a tantrum, or can not be handled well, a burst point will come out. ”

The internal entertainment variety show market has come to today, presenting such a complex scene, it is extremely mature but often out of norm, all-round exposure is not transparent enough, entertainment to death but every pore is full of capital for profit. The late diva Li Min and the various internal affairs of "The Voice of China" unveiled may just be an entry point to peek into the ecology of internal entertainment variety shows, and things are still fermenting, and the piles and piles that have been exposed continue to shock the public at the same time, but they have confirmed our speculation and imagination about variety shows and the entire entertainment industry again and again.

Dreams, glory, spotlights, fame and fortune, capital, discourse power, the entertainment industry is like a huge fireball, colliding between multiple poles, shaping one group of people, destroying another, and then reshaping the next batch. In the past few days, Sisi has browsed relevant news on the Internet, and will frequently take screenshots and send them to friends in his circle, "Scolding is so right!" She said. But she also said that she will most likely not be affected, whether it is out of a natural love for recording programs, or for rewards, she will still seize every opportunity to be on the show. Gu Jia also said that most of the time, the program group is good and has enough professionalism, "This industry has its professionalism, and most people still love this work." ”