Xia Chen 'an: The boiling point of idol group variety shows is coming

What many people may not know is that after leaving TV and having multiple identities and roles, Xia Chen 'an will still fight on the front line of program production and participate in all aspects of program production and operation.

As a recognized big shot in the television industry, Xia Chenan is still very busy recently. He is the president of a listed company, the executive director of a university research institution, and the doctoral degree of Communication University of China. This is Xia Chenan's currently widely known identity. But what many people may not know is that after leaving TV and having multiple identities and roles, Xia Chen 'an will still fight on the front line of program production and participate in all aspects of program production and operation.

On the evening of May 19, Xia Chen 'an posted a sigh in his circle of friends: "It is said that this is a blessed land." It was also equipped with a picture of Shanghai Baoshan Gymnasium, recording Dragon TV's upcoming summer A-level program: "Come on! Beautiful Girl." Four years ago, Xia Chen 'an, who served as director of Zhejiang Satellite TV, created "The Voice of China." This phenomenal program was also recorded here and became popular throughout China that summer. Baoshan Gymnasium is also what he means by blessed land.

"Come on! Beautiful Girl "is a project that Xia Chen 'an has recently focused on. After completing the first recording of the program, Xia Chen 'an decided to hold an exclusive internal viewing conference in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, inviting advertisers and partners from all walks of life to participate. There are still nearly 20 days before the program starts on June 11. Time point.

The reason why Xia Chen 'an had the confidence to invite all parties to inspect the goods was that he was "full of confidence" in this program. Xia Chen 'an, who came to Beijing, has been thinking about what will be the next "hit" or the next trend show? Song Ge, Xia Chen 'an's "right-hand man", judged that the next trend show must belong to the post-90s generation, and that the idol group variety show is the future.

Song Ge, who once served as director of the Strategic Research Department of Zhejiang Satellite TV and a member of the final evaluation of key projects, is good at judging the trend of satellite TV's pattern and trend programs. Xia Chen 'an recalled that one late night in March 2015, the two of them walked Hangzhou Wen' er Road from beginning to end. After a three-hour chat, they finally talked through the direction of the "Idol Group Comprehensive": Wu Yifan, Lu Han and SM The relationship between the company, YG's BIGBANG fans, the difference between AKB48 and "Girls 'Generation", the decline of the age group of TV audiences, and the desire of the young people for the China idol team...

Xia Chen' an said to Song Ge on the spot: You will be the producer, and I will be the chief producer. Let's start. More than a year of intensive work, team building, Dragon TV cooperation, communication with Korean partners, negotiation with naming sponsors, etc.,"Come on! Beautiful Girl "finally surfaced.

"Come on! Beautiful Girl "is produced and broadcast by Beijing Culture Investment and in conjunction with Dragon TV. The word" Come on "in the name inherits Dragon TV's" Come on! The spiritual connotation of the struggle and dream of "Good Man".

Positioned as the "Original Girl Band Inspirational Growth Program","Come on! Beautiful Girl "has a similar goal to several current programs of its kind, which is to use the power of television to launch a female idol group in today's China.

Since the second half of 2015, similar programs have been launched one after another, but the effects are not as explosive as expected. In an exclusive interview with "Watching TV", Xia Chen 'an said that all first-line satellite TV stations are doing such programs precisely because everyone has seen the market space and long tail effect of such programs. The direction is right, and it depends on who kills his way first.

Xia Chen 'an has experienced the process of "The Voice of China" becoming a hit from the popular singing programs at that time, so he told reporters that he was never afraid of competition. On the contrary, only by having more stores can the market prosper.

"This pot of water is already very hot, and we have a chance to boil it to the boiling point." This is almost the first time in recent years that Xia Chen 'an has been interviewed for a show. This may also be a footnote to his confident boiling point theory on this show.

Market demand determines the trend of the genre, and the idol group variety show is about to usher in the boiling point of

"Come on! "Beautiful Girl" is the second project that Xia Chen 'an has devoted herself to after arriving in Beijing. The first one is "Extreme Challenge", which cooperated with Dragon TV. Although Beijing Culture currently participates in the production and operation of variety shows in various ways every year. More than a dozen.

"This is our most important project this year." As a manager of a listed company, Xia Chen 'an will participate in all aspects of this program from planning to production, marketing, etc., and pay attention to every aspect of the program's selection, communication with mentors, and marketing.

Xia Chen 'an told reporters that this "Come on! "Beautiful Girl", he communicated with first-line satellite TV decision-makers from the very beginning of preparations,"China really lacks such women and men's groups right now." In Xia Chen 'an's view, China's entertainment industry needs new forces, and the post-90s generation needs to be replaced quickly. This kind of program is a very good channel and way.

It is this kind of market demand that has led to the emergence of such programs one after another. Xia Chen 'an also told reporters that from the perspective of the industry chain, such programs have a better long-tail effect, so major satellite stations have launched idol group variety shows one after another, and the direction is indeed right.

However, there are no amazing works in the current idol group variety shows. In Xia Chen 'an's view, it is true that many people are currently here to boil this pot of water, but the water has not yet reached the boiling stage. In his opinion,"Beautiful Girl" has a chance to be boiled to the boiling point in this pot of boiling water.

Where does confidence come from? In Xia Chen 'an's view, to do such programs well, you need to have the following factors: students, mentors, models, production, marketing, and platforms. Beautiful Girl "is at a high level in China in these several elements. He also frankly expressed his regret. In this field, compared with South Korea and Japan, we still have some gaps.

S-level tutors + S-level students, more than twice the lineup of tutors devoted to similar programs

seems to be one of the most proud elements of Xia Chen 'an. According to reports,"Come on! "Beautiful Girl" has a total of four mentors. Although the specific lineup cannot be announced yet, it is reported that members of a top South Korean men's team will participate in the program as mentors, and other mentors are also from the entertainment industry. Super celebrities in film, television and music.

Speaking of the joining of this Tiantuan-level idol mentor, Xia Chen 'an looked a little excited. According to reports, even in South Korea, this star has never participated in the recording of variety shows as a resident guest, and it is even his debut in China. And this S-level mentor, who had been found through great pains, did not disappoint the program team."The level is just different, and the entire stage can be blown up."

Compared with similar domestic idol group variety shows,"Come on! "Beautiful Girl" has a total of four mentors. Xia Chen 'an is convinced that such a mentor lineup will make the program more exciting, richer and more hierarchical in presentation, with each having responsibilities in music, dance, appearance and other aspects. The four mentors have different backgrounds and positions, and they have a more professional and multi-dimensional perspective on guidance and comments, covering the audience of the post-70s, post-80s, post-90s, and post-00s.

In addition to tutors, Xia Chen 'an is also proud of the students. In his view, for such programs to be successful, the level of the students is the most important and basic factor. In order to find better students, the program team spent a year and a half to screen more than 700 trainees from 80 art colleges in China, Southeast Asia, and South Korea, and comprehensively consider all aspects such as dance responsibilities, singing responsibilities, appearance responsibilities, and temperament responsibilities.

A total of about 54 players were selected when the program started."Some video websites also came to watch the live recording. They said that a considerable number of our players are S-level." Xia Chen 'an said. The 54 players will go through the entire process from selection to class placement, to mentor team pairs and mentor league confrontations, to live broadcasts of the finals in the 12 episodes. It is finally expected that the five-member women's team will be decided.

Xia Chen 'an introduced,"Come on! Compared with similar programs,"Beautiful Girl" has formed a group at the beginning of the program. After two periods, they will confront each other in a team manner, greatly shortening the group formation time and paying more attention to cultivation, allowing them to grow rapidly in it.

The rules set by the program are changed quickly. There is a new rule almost every two weeks, and supporting facilities such as stage lighting are also changed every two weeks. Therefore, Xia Chen 'an introduced that the program itself has a very large investment, and the investment is more than double the investment in general programs.

Confidence also comes from the entire team,"Come on! The chief producer of "Beautiful Girl" is Song Ge, who is responsible for the overall operation, marketing, promotion and production. The program production is jointly undertaken by Dragon TV and the Beijing Cultural Program Team. Among them, the team led by independent producers of Dragon TV Center Chen Hong and Zhang Minjie has conducted "The Voice of China Dreams" and Dragon TV's New Year's Eve Gala.

In Xia Chen 'an's view, the characteristics of the Shanghai team are that the production is particularly sophisticated and meticulous. The lighting, stage beauty, sound, costumes and other details are very particular, and their professionalism is among the best in the country. During the entire program preparation and production process, Dragon TV Director Li Yong, Editor-in-Chief Bao Xiaoqun and other leaders also came to the front line and led various types of work teams to provide full support.

The reason why he cooperated with Dragon TV was that he also took a fancy to the "urban temperament, youthful atmosphere, and big-channel atmosphere" of Dragon TV's platform. The program and the platform temperament were extremely consistent. Ten years ago, Dragon TV also successfully made Young idols such as Li Yifeng and Jing Boran debut and had the channel gene to create first-line stars.

Never be afraid of competition, participate without wasting your skills.

Since the second half of last year, idol group variety shows have appeared one after another,"Come on! "Beautiful Girl" was not launched too early, and Store Duolong City has always been a concept of Xia Chen 'an. In his view, competition is not terrible. It will be terrible if no one does it and this trend does not appear. The emergence of such programs together is also a manifestation of market demand itself.

China's performing arts industry is currently in a hopeless generation, and idol group variety shows may take on the responsibility of delivering talents to the performing arts industry.

In fact, since the launch of the project, the planning of the program in the industry chain has been launched simultaneously."We don't end it just after making one program, but we spend a few years turning the first batch of girls into real girl idols." Xia Chen 'an told reporters that when he was a "running man" at that time, he did not make any plans in the industrial chain as early as possible.

Now that I come to Beijing, just like Hollywood production methods, the development of all supporting industrial chains is synchronized. "Beijing culture has rich resources in film and television dramas, variety shows, artist agencies, Internet entertainment, etc., which can create more opportunities for them to grow." Xia Chen 'an told "Watch TV" that after the program, there will be a series of creations and plans for the long tail effect of the industrial chain.

As the president of Beijing Culture, Xia Chen 'an participated in the operation of this program as a "producer" and "chief planner". From the early planning meeting, to the interview and selection of students, to the program recording scene, he would participate in it. Xia Chen 'an felt that such a process was necessary."Although I am now the manager of a listed company, I can't waste my skills." In Xia Chen 'an's view, as a commander on the battlefield, he must not only take an overview of the overall situation, but also go to the front line to hear the "sound of artillery fire."

Beijing Culture is expected to participate in the investment and production of more than 10 variety shows this year. Xia Chen 'an told reporters that it is to cast a big net and catch big fish among them. Except "Come on! In addition to the second season of "Beautiful Girl" and "Extreme Challenge", there are also Beijing Satellite TV's "Cross-Border Singer King", Jiangsu Satellite TV's "Battle Male God", Anhui Satellite TV's "Our Rules", Shandong Satellite TV's "Huayang Dream Factory" and CCTV's "Come on! Towards the Future "," Dance Mom "," The Family Playing Music "and so on.

In these various variety shows, Xia Chen 'an told reporters: "Come on! Beautiful Girl "will become a boiling point for idol group variety shows."

Editor: queenie