Sohu Entertainment Special Article (Lin Zhenxin/Text) Another "Ring the Continent" draft ushered in the finals.
On the closing day of the Thai version of the "Creation Camp" "CHUANG ASIA" (hereinafter referred to as "Creation Camp Asia"), the nine-member limited group Gen1es was born, among them, Qiao Yiyu occupied the C position with the number of fault votes, and successfully debuted with Wang Ke, Zeng Xueyao, Ouyang Didi, and Zhu Yimeng.
The draft has not been restarted, but the news of idols is floating everywhere in domestic entertainment, and the call for "draft return" is endless.
All indications show that the myth of star-making has not yet ended, and domestic entertainment still believes in the draft.
Who is still in the draft?
The last time a Chinese player made his C-position debut was in "BOYS PLANET" in early 2023.
Zhang Hao, a trainee under Lehua Entertainment, became the first Chinese to make his C-position debut in the history of the Korean draft, debuted with the limited group ZEROBASEONE (hereinafter referred to as "ZB1"), released a number of mini albums, and his popularity at home and abroad should not be underestimated.
A while ago, Zhang Hao and Shen Quanrui, another Chinese member of ZB1, appeared together at a domestic brand event, which attracted large-scale attention.
The soaring data and the hot searches on the screen once again confirm the success of the draft star-making.
Friends who are familiar with the draft market should know that since the talent show variety show has broadened the idol industry into a gold nugget track, the huge traffic and commercial value of local idols have also been discovered. The idols of the draft, not only fans can "play", but brand business cooperation is also overwhelming.
This strong commercial value, from 1.0 to 3.0, has been verified from generation to generation, and has also become an important source of motivation for contestants to "go forward and follow" to the talent show.
If "Supergirl" and "Fast Man" are the period of the internal entertainment draft 1.0, and the "even youth department" and "creation department" are the draft 2.0, then a group of showmen represented by Zhang Hao and Shen Quanrui are the latest generation of idol reserves who seek development by participating in the "Ring the Continent" draft during the domestic entertainment draft 3.0 period.
"Girls Planet 999", which will be broadcast in August 2021, is the first stop for many domestic entertainment fans looking for the "Around the Continent" draft meal replacement. Among the 33 players from China, many are from domestic companies such as Lehua Entertainment, Jiaxing Media, Siba Culture, Guoran Entertainment, and TOPCLASS Entertainment.
Among the Chinese contestants in the subsequent broadcast of "BOYS PLANET", Wang Nanjun, Xuan Hao, Chen Jianyu, Chen Yugeng, and Zhang Shuaibo all participated in "Youth with You 3"; Wu Muti once made his debut with Cai Xukun in the SWIN men's group; Wang Zihao, sent by Zhang Yixing, was also the first trainee to appear in the talent show under Chromosome.
You must know that since September 2, 2021, domestic entertainment talent shows have temporarily withdrawn from the variety show market.
Temporarily filling the vacancy is the "Around the Continent" draft broadcast on the international/overseas version of the app. Due to the restrictions of online viewing channels and voting methods, the fans of domestic entertainment are not highly involved in these drafts.
"I love the draft because it provides companionship and emotional value, and I'm willing to pay to go to the stage in person. But the 'Around the Continent' draft was unappealing to me, there was no immersion, and voting was complicated. Show fan Sunny told Sohu Entertainment.
So, in the case of declining attention and participation in domestic entertainment, what are the Chinese players who continue to participate in the "Around the Continent" talent show?
Wang Shengxi, Zhang Xiangyi, Mao Xiuling, and Mao Xiuting are the Chinese players sent by TOPCLASS Entertainment to "Creation Camp Asia".
As we all know, in the domestic talent market, players under the age of 18 cannot participate in the show. But in the "Around the Continent" talent show, they with an average age of only 17 years old also got the middle and upper reaches.
"Although there are very few stage opportunities in China now, I must prepare everything before the opportunity comes. Wang Shengxi, who ranked 22nd in the show, told Sohu Entertainment that their original intention of participating in "Creation Camp Asia" was to train themselves, experience "better stage equipment", and accumulate experience for themselves.
The domestic entertainment draft is stranded
Idol brokerage company sentient beings
"At first, the company notified us and helped us sign up. Wang Shengxi told Sohu Entertainment that with the help of the company, she came into contact with the program "Creation Camp Asia" very early.
The brilliance of the domestic entertainment talent show has once made a large number of idol brokerage companies popular.
After the closed-loop of "cultivating trainees - participating in talent shows - debuting" was helplessly interrupted, domestic entertainment idol brokerage companies also entered a "cold winter".
For example, Kunyin Entertainment, which successfully delivered four popular players to "Idol Trainee", received tens of millions of Pre-A round of financing in 2018, and now, there are only three "Kunyin Four Sons ONER" who failed to debut in a group, and the two trainees who have been released in the second generation have participated in "Creation Camp 2019" and "Youth with You 3" in a row, but they have not been able to debut or get out of the circle.
The tide has receded, and the old companies that were once optimistic about the draft market such as Yaoke, Emperor, Huace, Ciwen, etc. have withdrawn, and MCN institutions such as Chenfan Entertainment and Likes and Communication have also returned to the company's main business.
"The center of gravity has shifted. According to the internal staff, the "Creation Camp" series of scenery has been infinitely beautiful, and now the attention that can be allocated to the "idols" has been greatly reduced. "Many of them have expired through the draft sign-in company, and they have gone and terminated, leaving only a trainee club with an average age of about 16 years old, Xiaowa Music Club. ”
However, there are also players who continue to stick to the idol economy track.
Lehua Entertainment has a very high presence in the talent show of the 3.0 stage. In the program "BOYS PLANET", Lehua Entertainment Korea sent 8 players to compete, and in the TVB talent show "Asian Super Star Cluster", Lehua Entertainment had 10 players participating in the competition and 4 players debuting.
"The content of the mentors and contestants in "Asian Super Star Cluster" is too high, which makes me feel that it is a company draft of Lehua, and the audience should be Lehua's fans. Sunny said.
If Lehua Entertainment is a representative of a large company and a large spend, then TOPCLASS Entertainment is one of the few new generation companies that have eaten the dividends of the "Ring the Continent" draft.
Before "Creation Camp Asia", TOPCLASS Entertainment also sent players Shen Xiaoting to "GIRLS PLANET", who was the first C in China and the only Chinese player who debuted in a group.
"We believe that the best age to cultivate idol reserves is in high school. In 2019, we reached a cooperation with the key secondary school in Shanghai to carry out targeted professional training, and more than 200 trainees have signed contracts in the past five years, on the one hand, we have learned from the experience of Japan and South Korea, on the other hand, we have integrated China's national conditions, met the needs of young people for academic qualifications, and comprehensively improved their ability and quality from the comprehensive training of singing, dancing, acting and speaking. ”
Ni Ruizi, head of TOPCLASS Entertainment, told Sohu Entertainment that they have set up a full scholarship for seed players to support more Chinese teenagers to complete the L1-L2-TT rating step by step through the company's unique teaching system, and finally meet the audience on the screen.
The expansion of the new media sector is also a new attempt by TOPCLASS Entertainment and some other idol brokerage companies.
"Of course, what we're doing now isn't just passively waiting for the talent show and the stage. Ni Ruizi mentioned that the trainees of TOPCLASS Entertainment have opened social platform accounts, created new media courses, released daily training videos and materials, and also attracted the attention of many fans, and the total number of fans has exceeded 10 million.
AFFECTED BY THE EPIDEMIC, THE HIGH-QUALITY TRAINEES ACTUALLY CULTIVATED BY TOPCLASS ENTERTAINMENT ARE FAR LOWER THAN EXPECTED, BUT NI RUIZI IS STILL FULL OF CONFIDENCE IN THE COMPANY'S MODEL AND DEVELOPMENT DIRECTION: "IF THERE IS ENOUGH TIME AND MORE TALENT RESERVES, WE CAN ALSO CULTIVATE THE NEXT SHEN XIAOTING." ”
The domestic entertainment draft makes stars
How many possibilities are there?
For a long time, the draft star making was "mythical".
In 2018's "Idol Trainee", the finale alone brought 2.8 billion views to the platform. Zhou Zhennan, the C position of "Creation Camp 2019", increased his followers on Weibo by more than 9.3 million in the year of his debut. Yien data estimates that the total scale of China's idol industry in 2020 has exceeded 130 billion.
The contestants became famous overnight, the brokerage company emerged, and the string of astonishing numbers after the names of the contestants debuted in a group were behind the vast idol economy.
"After the absence of talent shows, every reality show is trying to apply the model of the talent show. Variety show director Alice told Sohu Entertainment that although there are no talent shows in the domestic entertainment market, there are shadows of talent shows everywhere.
Team selection, stage performance, group portrait and CP line ...... constantly appears in various acting variety shows, music variety shows, and life variety shows.
Ten Qintian, who successfully came to the public eye through "Let's Farm the Land", is more or less related to the "resurrection of different places" of draft elements.
Does this also show to a certain extent that domestic entertainment variety shows have not evolved a model that attracts audiences more than the draft?
Gu Yan, the director of a certain music variety, gave an affirmative answer to this. He revealed that until now, their director team will still mention "Youth with You 2" when they meet. "I will review how "Youth with You 2" became popular, and I want to use the experience of that show. ”
So, how many possibilities are left for the domestic entertainment draft to make stars after being hit hard?
According to people familiar with the matter, the relevant persons in charge of several major video platforms are still in contact with major idol brokerage companies, and will also go to inspect and communicate when they organize the performance stage.
"Every time we organize the on-campus performance assessment of trainees in Shanghai, almost every platform will have a special person in charge to watch and comment. In the end, the feedback was also very positive, and we believe that the domestic market is still very large, and we are still waiting for the birth of the next new opportunity for domestic entertainment. Ni Ruizi revealed that the reason why the company was able to win 4 contestants in "Creation Camp Asia" is not only due to the reputation and talent reserve in the industry, but also related to their close contact with the platform.
At present, Youku and Tencent Video have launched overseas versions of talent shows. iQiyi, which has not moved for a long time, will also take action this year. "The person in charge of our variety show mentioned at the internal conference at the beginning of the year that the show will be restarted this year, and it is already in preparation, and it is still in the form of an overseas version. Internal staff mentioned.
The traffic bubble subsided, and variety shows no longer selected people in a hurry, which is equivalent to giving the domestic entertainment idol market a precipitation period, which may be able to avoid the problem of uneven quality of contestants caused by "seedlings growing".