Shenran (shenrancaijing) Original author: Li Qiuhan, Editor: Wei Jia, head of FIG. Source: “Creating Camp 2021”
“Do you want to end internal entertainment?”
This is the evaluation of the hot search by fans after the first episode of the idol development show “Youth with You 3” and “Creation Camp 2021” was broadcast. Although a few weeks later, competent players were released one after another, and the voice of “internal entertainment is about to end” faded, but as all the players have revealed their true faces and the ceiling of the show has appeared, the domestic players who can bring surprises are indeed numbered. number.
“There is no one in the draft.” This is the first year of idols in 2018, and every year there will be spitting, but it is surprising that in 2021, the dilemma of trainees not picking up will be enlarged on the screen. To the point of being so naked. The group performance “Candy Super Sweet” that took the cute route was complained as “Candy is salty.” The group players danced unevenly, sang out of tune and broke the sound, which became the material for netizens to ridicule.
“It’s getting uglier.” Senior show fan Xiaoding complained to Shenburn, “There are not many who have the strength, and many of them are returning from previous players.” She has stopped chasing talent shows this year. According to her observation, my friend The number of draft picks in the circle is also decreasing. Although the popularity and topics of the “Youth Have You” and “Creation Camp” series have always exceeded other ordinary variety shows, the reputation and popularity of the programs themselves have shown a decreasing trend.
Fans still have to gather their wool, and the show has to continue to be recorded. Iqiyi expands the diversity of contestants, and Tencent Video attracts overseas contestants to support the field, but this can’t conceal the stretched situation of the domestic idol economy market. On Douban, the hot review of “Youth with You 3” ranked first, “Can the media that is ugly by the internal entertainment boy group apply for a work injury?” And on “Creation Camp 2021”, the comment with the highest number of likes The first sentence is, “The annual absurd variety show is here again.”
Source / Douban Screenshot
When “The Name of the Youth” started broadcasting in 2019, the instructor Zhang Yixing lamented that the show should no longer be held in a hurry, “I have finished so many waves before, you(Now) One more round of scouring, how can there be good seedlings?”
From the selection of contestants, the recording of the program to the fans of the audition, the current idol economy industry is a capitalized “inner volume.”
Digging trainees are included in the broker’s KPI
In “Youth with You 3” and “Creation Camp 2021”, there are many trainee faces that senior agent Zhang Ke is familiar with. “Some practiced in our company for a period of time, and then terminated the contract; some originally wanted to sign, but did not clarify with the previous company’s lawsuit, and went back to participate in the show; some also talked to us at the beginning, but the contract was not negotiated. Close up.” Seeing the missed players have a good performance on the show, she is still very sad.
Compared with the fatigue that the program brings to the audience, the practitioners feel more obvious. The trainee market is extremely involuntary, and it is already on the table to fight against each other.
The most obvious phenomenon is the robbing of players with overseas practice backgrounds. When talking about this group of players, Zhang Ke raised his voice a few times, “Of course I have to grab it! They have practiced abroad for two or three years, and they have even come back after plastic surgery. They are complete products. They only need simple packaging and money. In marketing, at least 80% of the cost can be saved.” She said.
Yu Jingtian, who participated in “ProduceX101” in South Korea and won 19th place, when the news of returning to China to participate in the draft was released, “there are many companies competing.” Zhang Ke revealed. At this time, the company can give more funds and resources, and sign a shorter contract period, which have become powerful conditions for attracting mature trainees.
In the end, Yu Jingtian chose to sign a contract with Xingyu Shuangle, which was just established in November 2020, and Tianyan Check showed that the relevant boss is Ren Yue(Wu Qilong agent)< /span>, Wang Chong(Huang Jingyu’s agent), has abundant film and television resources, which is also the reason why he can participate in short dramas when he returns to China .
For the talented players who participated in “Youth Have You 3” this year, Lao Qiu’s agency had contacted them. After a month of talks between the two sides, the conditions were not agreed, and then the player went to a houseMore influential companies in the industry. He told Shenran that such a snatch is like a gamble, “We bet that he can appear in a high position to bring us brand and economic benefits, and he bet that we can give him money and resources.”
There is also a phenomenon of “involution”, which is “digging the wall”, which has been included in the staff’s assessment KPI.
“Every one of us has to talk about the good seedlings of other people’s families, especially the young artists who have just debuted but have great potential. Each person has 1 or 2 indicators per year.” The agent Lao Qiu told Shen Ran, this is Part of performance. The situation of Scout Wheat’s company is similar, “We are digging at least 2 mature trainees every year.” She said.
In addition to using various methods to recruit mature players, brokerage companies are also spreading the plates for new trainees. According to Wang Han, a trainee selection staff member, online, through Weibo, Douban, Douyin, WeChat and other channels, I see amateurs with good appearance, and they will exchange private messages and invite them to the company for interviews. Offline, art schools, trainee training schools, and companies will make regular selections.
But more than one trainee recruiting staff complained to Shen Ran that the difficulty of selection is getting more and more difficult year by year. “The young internet celebrity who had an appointment last month has already been signed away by other companies before the interview time.” Wang Han said.
“This line has specific requirements for people’s appearance, height, weight, and talents, especially if they are not tall enough, unless they are very beautiful, there is no chance at all. There are really very few who meet all the conditions. “Wheat exclaimed.
The external environment is also a major influencing factor. “In fact, many children of the right age are not very interested in being idols, especially short videos are very popular. It’s so hard as a trainee, and the phone will be confiscated for practice,” said Xiaolan, the agent of Kunyin Entertainment’s BC221 Second Group.
There is also a difference in the ratio of men to women. Mai revealed that she can collect five or six interviewees a month, with a male-to-female ratio of 1:4. In contrast, “women are more influenced by Japanese and Korean culture, and there are more people willing to be trainees”, but In the idol market, men’s teams are more popular. In the past, You Aiteng preferred to do the men’s team drafts. This year, the three players are targeting the men’s teams at the same time, which has also intensified the involution of the trainee market. Under competition, suitable male trainees are even more difficult to find.
“China is so hard to find good-looking amateurs.” Wang Han revealed that they were helpless because the newcomers originally needed to go through at least two or three years of training before they can enter the market, but now the show is recorded. The demand is high, the brokerage company is impetuous, and many good seedlings participate in the show in advance, and it is not good to promote the show.
There are still not enough people, and the platform’s requirements for players are also decreasing. Perhaps the overseas players have already taken the lead. After contacting Tencent Video’s casting staff, Wang Han’s message was, “Just be handsome.” Although “Youth Have You 3” focuses on developing a sense of development, this season also emphasizes the portrayal of personal skills. From the “Youth Has You 2” period, it has enlarged the inclusion of Internet celebrities and actors.
“In the first two years, we went to talk with the program group. They actually didn’t want the selected people to come to the circle and then go back to act. They would not choose such a person. In the past two years, they lacked people. I have to choose.” A head of the idol company who had contacted the program group said in an interview with the media.
In addition to face value, height is also a hard indicator of idol drafting. According to public statistics, the average height of “Idol Trainees” players is 179.5cm, the average height of “Youth Has You” is 181cm, and “Youth Have You 3” players The average height is reduced to 178cm, getting shorter and shorter.
What should I do if there are too many semi-green and unfamiliar players?
There is still a way for the platform. “Youth with You 3” opens up a newcomer class, puts the stubborn problems of the worrisome quality of the players on the table, intensifies the shaping of the personality and the sense of cultivation, and tries to retain the audience with character, group portrait, and group spirit; “Creation Camp 2021” The style of play is even more tricky. Please come to foreign aid, use foreign players to support the scene, and use competition and gunpowder to ensure the viewership of the show. And in order to radiate a wider audience, the two programs have made great efforts in variety and comedy elements.
But none of this can conceal the fatigue of the show. There are commentaries and ridicule. The current draft is divided into four types: Twice-cooked meat, singable, danceable, and sing-a-dancing. The chain reaction caused by this is the broadcast of the program. The volume and attention are declining.
According to public statistics, the broadcast volume of the “Creation Camp” series dropped from 5.07 billion in 2018 to 3.91 billion in 2020. In terms of the Baidu Index, the idol talent show for three years, and the popularity of information and media has shown a significant decline. The media index of “Youth with You 3” is even less than half of the period of “Idol Trainee”.
Source / Baidu Index
The phenomenon of fan scrolling is more obvious. After three years of idol audition, today’s head idol still comes from the original idol audition show and has not been replaced. According to CBNData’s “2020 Annual Draft Idol Consumer Influence List”, the top four male idols on the list are occupied by Cai Xukun, Wang Linkai, Huang Minghao, and Fan Chengcheng who participated in the debut of “Idol Trainees”. The fifth place is still the C-place debut of “Creation Camp 2019” Zhou Zhennan. The time for fans to chase stars is also shortening. The Aiman data report shows that in 2018, the number of fans who chased stars within 2 hours per day was 30.7%. By 2019, the number has expanded to 36.9%.
Source / Aiman Data
Fans have even accepted this status quo. “Internal entertainment itself does not have such a system for creating idol. There is no huge crowd of show fans. The exhaustion of talents is inevitable. This is reflected in this year. Treat it with a normal heart. When a happy comedian sees it, whether it is Qing 3 or the creation camp 2021 .” A fan answered on Zhihu.
“300 fans on the whole network(referring to the same group of people chasing the talent show)” is not a joke, just because the circle has not expanded, The platforms are all trying to compete for the audience from the other side. When the gimmick of the program is greater than the content and the form is greater than the strength, the program is beginning to “false fire”.
What about the next draft?
Idol Economic Building has not yet been completed, and idol brokerage companies are “digging walls” with each other. Film and television companies and MCN agencies all want to share a piece of the pie across the track.For the sake of traffic, they simply invited foreign aid to reduce dimensionality. The trainees wanted to gain popularity through the show to act. Every aspect of the idol industry was broken.
According to the data from Tianyan Check, the number of artist agency companies increased by 14,963 in 2017, and the number has soared year by year. By 2020, it will reach 78,226, a five-fold increase. Changes can also be seen from the number of companies participating in the program. According to statistics, 51 brokerage companies participated in “Youth with You 3” this year, and 53 companies participated in “Creation Camp 2021”, which were higher than the 46 and 47 companies that participated last year. .
Source / Yien Data “China Idol Industry Development Report 2020”
In addition to idol brokerage companies such as Lehua Entertainment, Wah Chiw Wah, and Kunyin Entertainment, Huace Film and Television, Ciwen Media Film and Television Co., Ltd. participates. Worry-free Media MCN agency cross-border output, estar e-sports club that has no connection with idol Also got involved.
“In fact, many companies here are joining in the fun, thinking about what if there is a beautiful waste?” Wang Han sighed. Trainees are already investing heavily in costs. Under vicious competition, it makes it more difficult for idol brokerage companies that follow the Korean trainee model to find a way out.
This year, “Creation Camp 2021” invited foreign aid, and the number of foreign players accounted for more than a quarter of the overall players. According to the long article posted by director Youku on Weibo, Youku is also inviting foreign aid to cooperate with overseas companies in depth. The overseas idol market has more mature industries and stronger players. Domestic idol brokerage companies and trainees, which were still in the early stages of development, were hit by dimensionality reduction, and the development space became smaller.
Obviously, the platform’s thinking is very clear. What it wants to do is a variety show with popularity and flow, and it has no obligation to support the development of the domestic idol economy market. From the feedback after the broadcast, “Creation Camp 2021” Japanese players Zando, Riki, etc. have received good attention and seem to quench their thirst, but this is essentially a shortcut to drinking poison to quench thirst, and it is not without hidden dangers.
Since December 2016, Korean-related film and television, variety shows, Advertising endorsements have been greatly reduced. Stepping on this gap, “Idol Trainees” and “Creation 101” turned out to ignite the fire of the domestic idol economy. Now, the bonus period is counting down, and the more mature Hallyu culture is attacked again. Come, how much space is left in the domestic idol market?
“As long as we send high-quality overseas trainees, Chinese idols don’t have much advantage. If you don’t work hard, what should Chinese idols do?” Xiaolan was a little worried.
“This year’s draft is like this, I don’t know what else to do next year?” An industry insider exclaimed.
*At the request of the interviewee, Wang Han, Mai, Zhang Ke, and Lao Qiu are pseudonyms in the article.