|
Child Labour on TV
My daughter Perin, now 3.5 going on 35, is participating in a marathon talent contest hosted by CQTV and sponsored by a popular Chinese brand of formula milk called San Lu (Three Deer).
They put on an ad campaign and "interviewed" over 400 local children to participate in the show, and have narrowed the finalists to 20. Perin is one of them. I thought it would all be over after her first appearance on national TV the other day, but Jennifer told me that was only the first show, and that there are three segments left before it all wraps up July 1st. Both the TV station and San Lu stand to make big money for the advertising being bought during the show times, the publicity gained by the formula company, and the voting system also will make for some nice income.
Voters are encouraged to send text messages, 1 Yuan a piece, to vote for their favourite contestants. Perin already has over 1,000, but is far behind some of the better coordinated families who have simply paid their friends (and even strangers, I am sure) to send in their votes. One cell phone can max out at 15 votes.
No wonder the production is going on so long. While it is a good experience for Perin to be in the limelight for a while and will teach her to be more outgoing perhaps, the children (and their parents) are expected to rehearse almost daily, with long hours and long waits stage-side. Only in China! Some of the parents are so intent on getting their kids "discovered", they are staying in hotels next to the studio, and eating and sleeping this show. We are not into it that much, and just reflect that parents would not go for this kind of thing back in Canada. It is just too demanding for the little tykes. What a contrast with the Chinese mentality that if you think it is too hard, showbiz is simply not for you.
We will see where all this ends up in 3 weeks time!
last modified Jun 5, 2006 at 20:01
|