While the Chinese reality show "Super Girl 2016" was recently mired in controversy over the firing of judge Mindy Quah, the original “Super Girl” singing contest would be revived by Hunan Satellite TV.
In a press conference on Tuesday in Changsa, Hunan Province’s capital, the producer revealed that about 610,000 people have applied to audition for the show, reported CRIEnglish. The singing competition is open to female applicants aged 18 and above.
Similar to “American Idol” and “The Voice,” the contestants would be scored by the judges and the public by votes. On June 18, 20 finalists would be selected.
The show, which premiered in 2004 and had 200 million viewers for the three-hour finals of “Super Girls 2005” paved the way for the contestants to become stars and singers. The 2005 winner, Li Yuchun, a student then of the Sichuan Conservatory of Music, eventually was cover girl of Time Asia Magazine as one of the Asian Heroes of the Year and her face was featured in stamps issued in her honor.
Still performing on stage are Zhang Liangying and Shang Wenjie, while Ye Yiqian married Tian Liang, a Chinese diver who got gold medals in the Sydney and Athens Summer Olympic Games.
The show was suspended for three years and re-launched in 2009 as "Happy Girl," but in 2011, the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television ordered Hunan TV to stop broadcasting the show, according to VOA. The official reason was the show was too long, but the buzz was that China’s censor frowned on the use audience text voting to decide the winner and young women singing pop songs were considered vulgar by some Chinese officials.