When the boy group R1SE is about to disband, the idol market is still moving forward in the mist.
Editor’s note: This article is from the micro-channel public number “entertainment thorn” (ID: yuci-er), author: Liu Ling Hay, editor: Zhou chu.
It has been two years since R1SE became a group in “Creation Camp 2019”. That fantasy adventure game about youth, growth and dreams began to have new protagonists.
With the continuous broadcasting of talent shows such as “Creation Camp 2021” and “Youth Have You 3”, more than 300 teenagers have once again flown into the kingdom of idol manufacturing.
Without exception, they will be tested and selected by the law of the jungle, scrutinized, squeezed, or shattered and rebuilt, and become the “kings” in the crystal castle, an experience that most people cannot imagine in their lifetime The whirlpool of fame and fortune.
The term idol once promised golden dreams for the teenagers, but soon they will find that the magic of the beauty industry is gradually disappearing, and the promised validity period will most likely end at the farewell party when the group disbands .
Leaving the castle, no one can give the answer to where the course of life should go, and the blue ocean of the idol industry that once carried the dream is also facing the test of the storm and the big waves.
In this adventure game, there is never a lack of protagonists. R1SE, which has entered the countdown to disband, is experiencing all this.
Leaving land
On February 20, 2021, “Creation Camp 2021” was officially launched. At this time, the limited men’s group RISE was disbanded, and only more than 100 days were left.
I came to the “Creation” series of audition variety show again, Zhou Zhennan has a different identity. As the initiator of “Creation Camp 2021”, he has a deeper understanding of the “twice-cooked meat” mentioned by the trainees.
Zhou Zhennan used job search and resume to describe the process of returning to the draft. He sees past setbacks as a matching “appropriate” experience. Starting from “Tomorrow’s Son”, growing up in “Chaoyin Wars”, and finally debuting in “Creation Camp 2019” fault C position, anchored himself as an idol.
In 2018, the first year of idols in China’s entertainment industry, idols are mass-produced on the assembly line, changing like fast-moving consumer goods. Some are lucky to succeed, and some fail unexpectedly. In this uncertainty, the draft idols continue to innovate and always flow. The new faces that have become hot this season will soon be forgotten when the next season arrives.
Time is not only their city, but also a high wall. They experience the cycle of fate and sudden changes in their fortunes in a short period of time. They can stand on the “sacred altar” in the blink of an eye, or they can fall like a meteor.
“It’s not ashamed to start over again”, this is Zhou Zhennan’s encouragement to the players on the spot, and it has also become his footnote to the past.
The day he decided to go to “Creation Camp 2019”, he called Yao Chen and said that he had finally made this crazy decision and stopped mentioning those long struggles and hesitations.
At this time, Yao Chen is also experiencing the most confused moment in his life, trapping himself between giving up and persisting.
In the past 6 years, in order to dream, he dropped out of school to train in South Korea, quarreled countless times with his parents, saw that he was about to make his debut, and unexpectedly failed… Back in China, he felt that he had become a black hole, and the company hired him In the two psychiatrists, he himself knew that this would not help much. “It doesn’t make sense to do anything without being on the stage.”
Yao Chen
At the same time, Liu Ye, who started dancing at the age of 12, stumbled on the road of “handing over his resume” for 7 years. “Everyone is watching you participate in various drafts back and forth, family and friends do not understand, wonder what you are doing, there is no way to enjoy the stage, this is the meaning of life.”
The night before the debut of “Creation Camp 2019”, behind the scenes was like a huge vortex, spinning wildly forward:
For the last rehearsal, stage director Chen Qiyuan shouted into the microphone, “Your current state is not qualified to do this.OK”, he has to wait for a satisfactory opening to match the strongest Chinese men’s team that will set sail from here.
The music played, and the theme song came again.
At the end of the freeze motion, Zhou Zhennan covered his stomach with his right hand and held the stage with his left hand. His whole body slid down, with pain on his face. The rehearsal ended. He sat on a chair with his head hanging down, his waist bent, his ears flushed. He hesitated to go to the hospital, and was annoyed that there was no time to shoot on the stage. Sudden gastroenteritis made the chaos even more anxious.
At the same time, He Luoluo’s vocal cords were congested and went to the backstage to do aerosol inhalation. Liu Yebing applied his knees wrapped in thick gauze…
In the past four months, everything has grown from weak to strong, pain, pulling, grievances, hardships…swept and swallowed in the dark, not being described or mentioned anymore. Before the stage, only the delicate makeup and the most glamorous moments are allowed.
A grand carnival has come to an end, but the real journey has just begun. They are about to leave the land and go to the hall of the idol boy group in their hearts.
Lost
All glamorous gifts have been secretly marked with prices.
One month after forming the group, Sun Li, the chief director of “Creation Camp 2019”, had a brief meeting with them. At that time, what she was most curious about was that RISE, as a representative of young people, the backbone of the future society, how they will be Define the idol boy group. Everyone talked about a series of idol standards such as talent, willpower, personality, and character.
It is surprising that these problems have been re-presented and sorted out in a nearly destructive way after the first anniversary of the R1SE group.
In August 2020, Zhou Zhennan’s fans complained of unfair group operations, which triggered discussions on the boundary between fans and idols; in October, idol love news aroused popular debate, and “idol disqualification” became the top topic of the list; in November, Zhou Zhennan’s family members It has been reported that a series of social issues such as the consolidation of class are also reflected in the starmaking industry.
A collective idol rebellion broke out in China’s immature idol industry system.
In fact, as early as half a year after the group was formed, some clues were left.
One night, Yao Chen asked Zhang Yanqi, “What do you think is different after we form a group?”
During that time, Yao Chen slowly realized some changes in his emotions, and for several nights, he started to sleep anxiously.
A few months ago, he exhausted all his energy and shouted “Think what I want, do what I want to do” at the seaside of the creation camp. He was moved and cried, “It’s so happy, then suddenly, from a The puppet becomes a human”.
Yao Chen
After participating in “Creation Camp 2019”, Yao Chen has never insomnia again. He feels that his past depression has been cured here. Unlike the previous Mu Ran, he is more willing to express himself, “Slowly know who I am? What should I do?” There is more and more happiness, and he is no longer entangled with “I can never complete himself.”
One month after the group was formed, life was full of spotlights, and the rhythm gradually accelerated. Yao Chen told Sun Li that the recent discomfort came from “I have to face people from all directions at once, people of different types of work, and things in different situations. It is a bit unable to cope with things”. Yao Chen still misses the pure days in “Creation Camp 2019”.
The sense of direction is an important thing for Yao Chen. Losing makes him feel anxious. It is like looking at the world through glass. The flowers are like a beautiful flower but there is no way out. It will slowly wear away some awe and awe. The question is becoming increasingly acute.
This kind of out-of-focus, blurred life is not a question of Yao Chen’s individuality. People on the path of idols have been the same as him, except that some people pretend to ignore them, but their footsteps leave clear traces; some choose to compromise and adapt to a confined framework; some choose to break through and try to build something unique Personality…
They were selected in idol manufacturing, and then they found their way in the fog, giving a part of the future to fate, using “lucky” and “opportunity” to wait for heaven’s arrangement.
To some extent, what was lost along with countless “Yao Chen” is the star-making system of the entire domestic idol industry.
In 2018, two idol talent shows and variety shows led the opening of the idol market, and artist agency companies were blooming overnight. According to statistics, there were more than 3,040 idol artist brokerage companies in China in 2017. This number has nearly quadrupled in 2020. At present, there are 11,300 idol artist brokerage companies. Most of them are coming to the idol market.
Under the pomp of competition, the order of the market, the links of the industry, the supply and demand of the platform…it is inevitable that there will be chaos.
Behind the idol economy, success or failure has a huge tilt. Following the “winner takes all” market rule, how can the idol system be more perfected? How can the complex and huge industrial chains work better? Current Chinese idolsThe market is still advancing and exploring.
Find
On December 31, 2020, the men’s group R1SE merged for the first time after 99 days to participate in Dragon TV’s New Year’s Eve concert.
The day before, Zhai Xiaowen finished in the crew of “Dear Parents” and returned from Xiamen. In the evening, He Luoluo also stopped work from the studio of “The Transformation of Heart” and rushed from Suzhou to Shanghai… The members gathered from all over until they had been very incomparable. Familiar group stage, after a long time to participate in rehearsal, recording, rehearsal, public photos, stage replays, detailed discussion… Fans have expressed emotion on Weibo and Moments. R1SE is a group for the last New Year’s Eve and cannot be accompanied on site. It’s probably regrettable.
When the New Year’s Eve bell rang and the stage ribbons were scattered, watching them huddled with each other, R1SE’s veteran fan Fox Yu even felt a sense of trance. The scene was very much like the night of the debut, everyone was covered in light. Standing at the end of the grand carnival.
She even remembered clearly that on the day of the finals, it suddenly rained heavily in Qingdao, and the aid they had prepared for the whole night was soaked. “If you don’t care about yourself, the aid is your fate.” She sat wet on the scene, carrying a big white SLR and waiting.
In the beginning, she was a fan of Liu Ye. The moment he heard that he successfully formed a group, Hu Yu hid behind the camera, crying and unable to breathe, her hands trembling all the time. Later, she blamed herself for failing to take more satisfactory Hualu photos at the most precious moments of idols.
“Sometimes I know that all this is just a dream, but the world is very exhausting. Only here is life, blood and sugar.”
After RISE became a group, she joined Twelve (the name of the RISE fan group) to learn how to play on the list to support, and began to understand the various forms of KPI assessments within Fanquan: How Fanquan Fans established their own business Logic, where is the station sister going to take pictures, how to use the first-hand material supply to obtain income, the various organizations within the support club: video, art, foreign affairs, control and evaluation, anti-criticism… how to collaborate and operate Control and guard the public opinion position of idol.
As an important part of the idol industry chain, the fan circle and idols try to obtain a so-called sense of security through “consumption” and “possession”, but to a certain extent, they are the future idol market The most important group in the payment terminal. At present, the development of China’s idol industry is still immature. Participation is the idol’s dream.The price is still in the 2B industry such as advertisers and film and television producers.
“Now that idols don’t act, it’s hard to find a way out.” Qin Zhouyi, CEO of Kunyin Entertainment, who is deeply involved in idol brokerage, analyzed the reasons in an interview with the media: “Drafts and variety shows have led to the idol economic market, which originated from Japan. The career of Korean artists is strictly differentiated from actors and singers. Actually, trainees need a lot of content to continue to support the idol industry after their debut. However, the market is still chaotic. In the past three years, idol talent shows have been very lively, but the idol industry The status quo has not improved much.”
Zhang Yixing in “The Name of the Youth”
In recent years, artists from idol groups who have been drafted for debut have different outlets after their disbandment. Some are active in variety shows, some turn around and plunge into the crew, some are eager to get rid of the identity of “idol”, hoping to “break the circle” , To gain another recognition from the market……
But in the complete and mature idol industry chain, the way out for idols is far more than that. Qin Zhouyi said: “In Korea, music copyright income is mainly used, such as online audition fees. Good music can have long-term high income. In addition, offline concerts and fans around are very profitable, and the C-end is very good at playing. However, singing and dancing idols lack a stage in China.”
In this regard, Long Danni mentioned in an interview with the media: “Booming shows give some people the illusion of false prosperity. Trainees can be popular overnight through the show, but there is no financial support behind these prosperity. The industry has not yet established a complete ecosystem, and users’ demand for idol products is much higher than what we provide. The Chinese market has the possibility of producing Asian idols and world idols, and a more specialized, industrialized and ecological system must be established. “
Under the state of capital abundance, everyone actively or passively contributes to the Chinese idol industry, but the current Chinese artist training model is not yet mature, and the upstream and downstream industries still have a large development space and prospects.
But chaos is also an opportunity. Looking beyond the domestic market, Asian regions such as the Philippines and Vietnam have already begun to produceOut of Chinese idols, many bloggers on Youtuber started to do the reaction of Chinese groups. On the battlefield of cultural output, the market gradually formed some systems and started to operate.
Perhaps in the future, what idols look forward to “becoming the strongest boy group in the world” is no longer an unattainable dream. From “Chinese idols” to “made in China idols”, they will have more choices in their way out. And the space of imagination.
When the men’s group R1SE is about to disband and bid farewell, the idol market is still moving forward in the mist, hoping that they can break the curse of “debut is the peak”, so that the glamorous “gift” of “idol” will no longer be priced. Is to be gifted.
No one can give the answer on the way forward for the idol market in the future, but going all out and fighting time patiently and persistently will make everything possible.
Reference Materials:
Tencent Documentary: Men’s Team;
The public account “Three Tones”: “Long Danni’s 2018”;
The public account “Shen Burn”: “Why don’t idols sing and dance, they have to go acting”.