The author | Shi Wenxin
Edit | Lone Pigeon
More is not necessarily better.
For talent shows, that's the case. According to Yien data estimates, in 2020, the scale of China's idol industry will exceed 130 billion yuan. More and more people are throwing themselves into this outlet, the number of shows is growing in a spurt, and 25 talent shows are expected to go online in 2021.
However, the trainees who are the core of the draft industry have not gained more opportunities because of the increase in stages. Most of the people who can participate in the show are "back to the pot meat" with a certain degree of popularity, so that the "show fans" can't help but sigh, "Come and have some newcomers!" ”
In China's huge pool of trainees, more than 90% of trainees have not been exposed after several years of training. In the "supermarket" of trainees, they are packaged as commodities, and the power to actively choose does not belong to themselves.
Among them, some are slash youth, feeding this expensive dream with unrelated work income; some are lonely and floating in the endless draft ocean; some people choose to give up under the pressure of reality after years of perseverance...
"Youth with You 3", "Creation Camp 2021", "Asian Super Star Cluster", "Go Online! Colorful Boy poster
"Blog World" interviewed three trainees to talk about what the talent shows that have erupted in recent years have brought them.
"Don't want to give up when you haven't seen anything"
The inner volume, as one of the top ten buzzwords of 2020, has departed from its original meaning in today's social context and has been given a new meaning - white-hot competition.
She has been a trainee for three years, but she has not yet appeared on any talent show. Although the number of talent shows has increased, the number of trainees is also increasing, the opportunities are still slim, and the road to the idol is a foggy mountain tunnel.
The phenomenon of "inner volume" has also appeared in the circle of trainees. "Everyone is practicing harder and harder, and there are not enough classes in the company, so they go outside to report for classes, take small classes, and find a dance studio." Halo egg said that for a "vegetarian" trainee like her, only hard work can hope to see the light.
Referring to the most desperate moments in the process, Halo Egg recalled that she was advised not to dance by her doctors because of lumbar spondylolisthesis, "either her body is good, and after practicing for a few years, she is broken, or she can't do it at the beginning, dragging her sick body and biting her teeth to practice." ”
However, sweat, pain, and years of endless practice did not dissipate the fog in this tunnel a little.
In the past two years, the brine egg has not even participated in the draft interview. The power to select people lies with the company, the trainees can only work toward an unknown standard, many have become numb, and the robot generally does repeated training day after day.
In this regard, the brine egg is very sober, "I think if you put me in it now, it will definitely be a two-wheel tour and a three-wheel tour." She felt that her abilities had not yet met the requirements, and at the same time had something to do with luck.
"Youth with You 2" is a group
Asked what kind of talent show he wanted to participate in, HaloGen quickly cited "Creation Camp" and "Youth with You", "Of course, their shows are rushing to get on." But then he woke up and laughed at himself: "What else do we pick like this, what do we have to do?"
Regardless of whether the program is in line with their own positioning, being exposed in front of the public is the only goal of most trainees. As for how to expose and how to expose, they don't care and have no choice.
The college major was hotel management, and he gave up looking for a stable job for a goal full of uncertainties. In her free time, she works part-time as a flat model to support her daily expenses. During the Spring Festival, she also plans to record some dance videos to upload to the video platform to "accumulate a little traffic and popularity for herself."
In previous programs, some trainees claimed that they practiced for no more than a week or a month. In this regard, the brine egg does not believe that in her heart, the payment and return must be directly proportional, and her return has not yet reached the time.
In this long tunnel, she chose to grope forward, "if I just give up when I haven't seen anything, I won't be willing."
This is also the common idea of the trainees who still insist, after all, the unknown splendor of the tunnel is too attractive.
"Kidnapped myself and my family"
Yang Jingwen has a clear goal for the dazzling talent show - "I just want to participate in "Youth with You". ”
"I said the same thing when I was interviewing, and I hope to be seen by them one day." In more than 20 drafts in 2021, he only participated in the interview of iQiyi's "Youth with You 3".
During the interview, he felt good about himself. "The director asked me if you had to meet with Creation Camp, which meant that you didn't have to go to the noodles after you passed." He and his agent are confident. But until the program recording had already begun, he still didn't wait to reply to the email.
"If I still have a chance next year, I will definitely choose youth to have you." He didn't want to give up.
Yang Jingwen participated in "In the Name of the Regiment". Photo/Courtesy of respondent
Previously, he also participated in other talent shows - Youku's "In the Name of the Group", and finally did not debut as a group. But in the show, he learned a truth: human design is much more important than strength.
"The director has to come out every day with a bunch of writers and directors, and after watching our stage, he said to us, you listen, here is not more than street dance, nor is it better than singing, you want to sing you go to 'good voice', you want to dance you go to 'this street', we are here to choose love beans." You can't find the persona, the screenwriter will help you find it."
He was a little confused. After that, he felt that the undesirable exposure was not as important as he thought, so he insisted on waiting.
On days when there was no show attendance, he went to the dance studio to work as a dance teacher. Some talent agencies brought together young, good-looking trainees who "didn't do anything" and were "physically very uncoordinated," and asked Yang Tony to teach them a finished dance in one afternoon and then go to an audition for a talent show.
Why is business ability ranking higher and lower among the trainee standards? Why do the audience prefer the masks worn by the trainees? Yang Jingwen couldn't understand it, and the audience couldn't understand it.
Yang Jingwen daily practice. Photo/Courtesy of respondent
"Senior show fan" Xiaopu said in an interview: "I don't know, it's that he likes me, I will vote for him." I actually hate the bad one, but when he attracts me, I can't help but ignore this standard. ”
WeLens once wrote in an article, "The draft conveys an expectation to ordinary people - maybe it doesn't need special talent and ability, it doesn't necessarily need how elaborate packaging, and if you accidentally hit the focus of public attention or a special sensitive point, you can also get the opportunity to become popular overnight." "This is exactly the psychology of many people at the moment, trying to give it a fight.
The standard of the talent show is becoming more and more contrary to the original intention of the industry, and Yang Jingwen also feels that the opportunity to get close to the center of the stage is illusory, but it is difficult to ride the tiger.
In these four years, he gave up the enjoyment of ordinary people's lives and put on the shackles of "trainees" for himself, "there is no freedom, and even tourism has become a luxury." With no stable source of livelihood, he could only rely on the financial support of his family, but the endless practice gave him only a few time to spend with his family.
"I kidnapped myself and my family in the name of my dreams." He said.
"Putting being an artist ahead of being an idol"
Liu Cheng chose another form of "abandonment" in the face of the possible future draft.
The day before the interview, he posted a long article on Weibo, "I don't know if I will still insist on being a boy band, but what I can be sure of is that I will insist on being myself, being a qualified artist, a qualified person." I don't want to pretend to be a 'boy band' in order to be a boy band draft, I have never been a qualified trainee at all. ”
He made it clear that he wanted to be a real entertainer.
Liu Cheng (middle) and his company's trainees. Photo/Courtesy of respondent
Previously, he participated in the interviews of three or four talent shows, but did not pass. "I've been pandering to it for the last two years, always doing (what they want), and when there's no work, I send it; when there's no popularity, I do the topic. However, in the end, he was not selected. "He was a little discouraged.
He felt that when all the trainees were pandering to the standards and aesthetics of the industry, it would be a bad thing for the industry. What trainees have to do is to diversify the standards, not to unify the standards. "So I was also thinking about whether I was not a good fit for myself, and then I thought why can't I give up?" Because it could be that the show wasn't for me, they didn't deserve me, not that I wasn't worthy of them. ”
This year, the slogan of "Youth with You 3" changed the cliché of "hard work" and "lucky" to "use your own way to live with the world". But the trainees all know that "their own way" is ultimately the way they prescribe.
Liu Cheng was a trainee with his company. Photo/Courtesy of respondent
China's idol draft industry is still far from reaching a mature stage. Idols created by false prosperity, after their debut, hurriedly issued several albums of uneven quality; participated in the evenings of various David TV, but the performance was ridiculed as the "scene of the car accident"; soon after the group members entered the group to shoot dramas, there were very few opportunities to appear in the name of the group...
Disbanded after a year and a half or two years, leaving behind not idols, but "screws" scattered throughout the entertainment industry. The path of trainees to idols is just a springboard and shortcut to enter the entertainment industry.
And Liu Cheng wants to skip the link of "being an idol" and directly become an artist. He felt that a particular stage wasn't that important, and that tying himself to a show wasn't a wise choice.
"If you're doing that for that stage of that show, then that stage is gone, and you're gone." This year's popular trainees, you can do it; if you are not popular trainees, you are still an accessory. ”
Liu Cheng to participate in the show. Photo/Courtesy of respondent
After learning that he did not have the opportunity to participate in the talent show this year, he immediately planned to set up his own company, ready to take all the initiative from the front of the curtain to the backstage.
Still, he has to admit that a beautiful talent show resume is an important stepping stone in an artist's career. In terms of participating in the event, it is not that there is no chance, but he may only receive 1 in 100 activities.
"To put it bluntly, this market is still dominated by these talent shows." That's reality, brutal and real.
(At the request of the interviewee, the egg is a pseudonym in the article)