An Interpretation of thePopularity of the Voice of China: Constructions andDeconstructions of Celebrity Power

Abstract

This essay examinesconstructions and deconstructions of celebrity power in theVoice of China to explain the show’s attractiveness for Chineseaudiences. Due to the lack of relevant theories in Chineseresearches, this essay mainly borrows Western literatures toanalyze the changing power relationship between celebrities and themasses in Chinese culture. It examines the role of reality TV inconstructing celebrity power by illustrating the enhancement ofcelebrities’ music charisma and economic value in the Voice ofChina. It also shows the deconstructions of celebrityaristocracy and superiority in the program, which then destabilizeand democratize celebrity power. It proves that the democratizingtendency of celebrity power noted by Western academics, which isfeatured by easier access to celebrity status and increasingaudience involvement in star productions, also exists in China,thereby filling the gap in Chinese celebrity studies.

Introduction

The appearance offoreign-produced reality TV in China has reshaped Chinesetelevision industry and TV celebrity culture. Among these shows,the Voice of China, adapted from the original Dutch version,received noticeable popularity. Its first season obtained recordhigh ratings and positive feedbacks in 2012 (Tan and Tan 2012), andthe second season continued prospering with more than 10% audienceshare averagely (Lu Ling 2013). As Turner (in Hellmuerller andAeschbacher 2010: 9) argues, the media are now not merely“mediators or translator of cultural identity” but also “authorsthat produce their own texts”. Reality TV, by demystifyingcelebrities and self-producing celebrities, has altered the powerrelationship between celebrities and audiences. However, Chineseresearchers have not paid much attention to this changing powerrelationship. The essay fills this gap in Chinese celebritystudies. It borrows Western theories to examine the Voice ofChina and interprets the show’s popularity from acelebrity-power angle, which will provide a starting place forChinese scholars to develop systematic celebritytheories.

This essay argues that theVoice of China both reinforces and deconstructs celebrity powerin its format and content, and that this reshape of celebrity powercontributes to the show’s appeal for Chinese audiences. The essayconsiders coaches as already-famous celebrities, contestants asprospective celebrities with rising fame, and audiences as themediocre masses. Following the traditional hierarchy, coaches ownthe highest celebrity status, with contestants in the middlehierarchy and audiences at the bottom. This essay explores thedestabilization of the power relationship defined by this hierarchyin the Voice of China.

The first section illustrateshow celebrities’ music charisma is strengthened due to the show’smusic professionalism. It shows that both coaches and contestantsgain stronger charisma in the program through their expertise inmusic, and that coaches’ charisma is more enhanced compared tocontestants by being music teachers for the latter. The secondsection analyzes the constructions of celebrities’ economic powerin coaches’ attention-attracting behaviors－exaggeratedperformances and self-branding. Then, it introduces the challengesto celebrity power due to the deconstructions of celebritysuperiority in the blind auditions, disclosures of backstage scenesand celebrities’ personalities, and demystifications of celebrityproductions. It agrees with Marshall’s argument (1997) thatcelebrities, who used to be rooted in aristocracy, have nowencompassed ordinariness and are increasingly connected to themasses. This further leads to an explanation of a democratized formof celebrity power as the program enables the masses to gaincelebrity status and makes celebrities subject to audiences’choices. The essay concludes by claiming that the effects of thischanging power relationship on popularizing the Voice ofChina may not last long, and suggesting that the reshape ofcelebrity power needs to be further investigated with reference tomore cultures and media formats.

Methodology

This essay uses the first andsecond seasons of the Voice of China to conduct textualanalysis and semiotic analysis. These two research methods arechosen since the different cultural environments in which consumersgrow up necessitate the celebrity study with reference to specificcultural context (Hellmuerller and Aeschbacher 2010: 4). This studytherefore entails the interpretations of specific cultural textsand signs. It analyzes the representative behaviors of coaches andcontestants in the show to demonstrate how their celebrity power isconstructed or deconstructed relative to audiences. It calculatesthe occurrence frequencies of certain words, discourses and actionsthat indicate this changing power relationship. The essayundertakes qualitative analyses of these frequently-appearingelements to explain their connotations within the show’s context.It also interprets the show’s format, including the blindauditions, the inclusion of contestants’ personal stories, thedisclosure of backstage scenes and the audience voting. To explain the show’s appeal for Chinese audiences,secondary data that illustrate audience perspectiveson the program are cited to prove the effects of reshapingcelebrity power on improving the show’s ratings.

Constructions of MusicCharisma

The Voice ofChina,by emphasizing music professionalism, strengthens celebrities’music charisma. In Weber’s definition, celebrities have charisma todraw attention to themselves, which bestows the extraordinary,exceptional, leading and exclusive powers on an individual (VanKrieken 2012: 68-70). Turner (2010: 3) argues that Weber’s accountof individual charisma implies the charismatic leader’s power to“confound and surpass expectations－tobe extraordinary”. In the Voice of China, the charismaspecifically lies in the extraordinariness of coaches andcontestants in singing. The Voice of Chinaconstructs celebrities’ music charisma through the elimination ofpublic auditions from broadcasting, the use of blind auditions andthe music expertise of coaches.

First, although contestantsentering the blind auditions are drawn from public auditions, thepublic-audition rounds are not broadcasted. The public auditions,in which participants vary considerably in quality, encompass amixture of talents and mediocrities. Lei Jin,director of the Voice of China, described the program as ahigh-quality reality show focusing on music talent (‘Director ofthe Voice of China: This is not a Grass-root Reality Show’2013). By broadcasting directly from the blind auditions, themediocrities are eliminated from the public eye and there onlyexist competitions between ‘the talented’ and ‘the more talented’.In fact, more than 25 contestants in the Voice of China arealready professional musicians before they participate in the show,such as Zhiwen Jin (music producer), Zhe Guan (singer), HexuanZhang (music teacher) and Beina Yao (champion of the national youthsinging competition in 2008). By keeping the public auditionssecret and only broadcasting high-quality contestants to theaudience, the show concentrates the audience’s attention on thetalented contestants and thus strengthens the charisma of thesecontestants relative to the mediocre masses.

The blind auditions furthergive prominence to contestants’ music charisma. The success of acelebrity is largely dependent on the overall presentation of anindividual (Rojek, in Chuang and Ding 2013: 152). However, the useof blind auditions subverts this notion. Facing opposite the stage,coaches can only assess the voice of a contestant without judginghis/her appearance beforehand (Li and Xu 2013). This avoids anybias to contestants’ physical features and highlights their vocalquality. Some contestants, who used to be rejected by other musicshows, perceivethe Voice of China as a fair competition toshowcase their music talent. Weizhen Li, team member of CoachHarlem Yu, recounted his experience of being despised because ofhis short height and the unsightly moles on his face, but heappreciated the blind-audition format for minimizing his feeling ofinferiority (S01 E01). Another contestant Yuxia Zhang, successfullypassed the blind audition although she is vision-impaired (S01 E01). The sole concentration on singingensures that the participants’ music charisma can be discovered,fairly judged and thus well-established regardless of theirphysical disadvantages.

In addition, the Voice ofChina enhances the music charisma of celebrity coaches bygranting them ‘double roles’ as both judges and music teachers.Traditionally, celebrities only work as judges for musiccompetitions, but the celebrity judges in the Voice of Chinaare also required to pass on their music knowledge to thecontestants through offstage trainings. On the one hand, the musictrainings benefit the contestants, which are essential for singersto master “the melody, rhythm, tempo and singing techniques” assuggested by Chuang andDing (2013: 165). On the other hand, the coaches’ teaching rolesignifies their leading status compared to the contestants.The stage of the Voice of China is indeed aplace where the coaches present their training results to thepublic. Moreover, the coaches are endowed with team leadership todirect, arrange and lead singing performances. In the opening showsof the semi-final competitions, the coaches performed theirrepresentative songs together with their team members and led thesinging (S01 E11-13; S02 E11-14). In these performances, thecontestants lose their prominence on stage but serve as backingsingers to enhance the charisma of their coaches.

Also, to highlight thestrength and reputation of coaches, the show tags each coach with alabel that stresses his/her music achievements. For example, CoachHuan Liu is labeled as “the godfather of Chinese music” and CoachYing Na is described as “an evergreen tree in Chinese music market”(S01 E01). The coaches are believed to represent the music elitesin China and they constitute “the best team of judges in Chinese television history” (Hu et al. 2013).Besides, the coaches represent different music styles, whichdiversify the show’s content. Take the second season for instance.The four coaches, Feng Wang, Ying Na, Harlem Yu and A-Mei Zhang,specialize in rock and roll, love songs, experimental music and popmusic respectively. According to the survey of Hu et al. (2013), “high-quality music performances”,“friends’ recommendations, “blind auditions” and “professionalcoaches” are the first four main reasons for audiences to watchthe Voice of China. The professional coaches with high musiccharisma not only convince the audience of the show’s musicprofessionalism, but also expand the show’s target audience beyondstar-struck teenagers to a wider range of people who are interestedin music (Yuan 2013).

Constructions of EconomicPower

While music charisma makescelebrities stand out from the ordinary public, the attention thatcelebrities obtain due to their charisma enables them to actuallyaffect the audience, which then contributes to their economicpower. In Van Krieken’s definition (2012: 8), celebrityhas

“a quality or statuscharacterized by a capacity to attract attention, generating some‘surplus value’ or benefit derived from the fact of beingwell-known (highly visible) in itself in at least one publicarena”.

For celebrities produced fromreality TV, this status is not achieved but is attributed by themedia (Rojek, in Cashmore 2006: 204). Through participation inthe Voice of China, both coaches and contestants gain highermedia exposure and more attention that can increase their economicpower. Especially for thecoaches, their economic power is improved as they continuouslymarket themselves in the program through exaggerated performancesand self-branding.

The exaggerations appear incoaches’ discourses, facial expressions and body languages. Redmond(2006: 34) believes famous people are always in performance asmedia beings. According Wei Lu (in ‘Coaches Scramble for TalentedContestants in the Voice of China’ 2013), publicity directorof the Voice of China, there are 29 cameras in operation torecord every act of coaches and contestants from different angles.When contestants are singing, coaches usually make exaggeratedreactions, and these reactions are specially captured by close-upshots. Redmond (37-38) defines these close-ups as “seeing in theflesh”, which disclose “something deeper and very personal” tointerest the audience. Even if facing opposite the stage, thecoaches are typically shown in the close-ups singing along with thecontestants, swaying to the rhythm, hesitantly whirling their handsaround the chair-control button or excitedly jump up dancing. Afterrotating their chairs, the coaches applaud, yell or even cry forsome contestants they like. For example, after Junyi Jike(second-place runner of the first season) finished singing in theblind audition, Coach Harlem Yu shouted “Jesus! Jesus!” to acclaimfor her singing (S01E05). Another coach, Huan Liu, subverted his widely-known imageas a calm and steady singer by admitting that he could not resisthis impulse to hug Jike after hearing her voice, and Liu excitedlycheered with open arms after Jike decided to join his team (S01E05). The coaches’ exaggerated performances are too conspicuous tobe ignored and thus put them under the center of attention of theaudience. This in turn bestows higher public recognition on thesecelebrity coaches, which contributes to their increasing power tomake money in the lucrative celebrity career.

Besides, the coaches usebranding strategies to raise their economic power. Kurzman et al.(2007: 360) argue that fame embedded in the celebrity status isprofitable, which can directly translate into financial benefit.Driessens (2013: 547) believes that celebrities themselves areproducts of the cultural industry that aim to attain audiences andmarkets for themselves and for the brands attached to them.In the Voice of China, the coaches impressthe audience by self-branding, which is particularly exemplified byCoach Kun Yang’s advertising of his nationwide concert tours. Inthe blind auditions, Yang promised that the contestants choosinghis team could become the guests at his concerts. In this context,Yang mentioned his 32 nationwide concerts for 42 times in the show.Also, in the later competitions, Yang’s team members all wore aT-shirt imprinted with the number ‘32’ (S01 E10). In such manners,Yang publicized his concerts and then his personal economic valuewas increased by 10 times (‘Who are the beneficiaries of theVoice of China?’ 2012). In the second season, the self-brandingof coaches appeared more pervasive. The four coaches started toname their teams with personal labels. These names were frequentlymentioned in the show, including “Harlem’s Gym” (15 times), “Na’sHouse” (28 times), “A-Mei Family” (45 times) and “Wang’s DreamClass” (14 times). As Stever (2013) claims, frequent exposure to a media figure can forma sense of familiarity thatcontributes to and strengthens attachment to that figure. Suchnaming strategy promotes the public awareness of these coaches andtheir economic power that is built upon public visibility isfurther enhanced.

Interestingly, whilecelebrities utilize the mass media to attract attention and buildstronger economic power, the media also depend on the employment ofcelebrities to increase their market value (Hellmuerller andAeschbacher 2010: 24). Brands can gain prestige and higher recallby employing celebrities to create attention according to Erdoganand Tom et al. (in Keel andNatraajan 2012). The celebrity coaches, with established fangroups, can turn the Voice of China into “a powerful objectof leisure involvement for some fans” (Lee and Scott 2013).Driessens (2013: 546) admits that the media employ celebrities togain more ratings and incomes. The strengthening of coaches’economic power in return adds to the show’s brand value andgenerates more loyal audiences that contribute to itsratings.

Deconstructions of CelebrityAristocracy

The constructions of celebritypower grant celebrities an aristocratic status to lead, affect andattract the masses, but the Voice of China also creates acounteracting effect that deconstructs this aristocracy. Accordingto Zhang (2011), there is an “alienation phenomenon” of idols.Alexander (2013: 329) explains this alienation as a protection forcelebrities from “pollution by the profane”. Conventionally,stepping into television signifies the entry to a form ofprivileged reality (Couldry in Holmes 2006: 47). However, contemporary celebrity culture emphasizes intimacyand ordinariness to “paper the gap” between media and ordinaryworlds, providing a compensation for the imbalance of power betweenmedia-fabricated celebrities and the ordinary public (Littler, inHolmes: 62). Lewis (2008: 135) argues that television hasbecome the preeminent site that ordinarizes celebrities. Especiallyin reality TV, stars has been pulled down from the sacred superiorposition and are recognizable as ordinary human beings just like us(Cashmore 2006:193). The aristocracy of celebrity is deconstructedin the Voice of China as celebrities are ordinarized,personalized and demystified to the lower-classmasses.

First, there is an equalizationof status between coaches and contestants, which can be seen fromthe shift of selection power between them and their intimateinteractions. Most music reality shows put judges and contestantsin a binary position (Li and Xu 2013), between whom there is littleconnection except for ‘judging and being judged’. Instead, theVoice of China designs “a two-way selection” (Li and Xu), inwhich the contestants have power to choose their favorite coach ifmore than one coach rotates the chair. This is called “powerreversion” by Li and Xu, which leads to a more equal status betweencoaches and contestants. In addition, Gu (2013) argues that theVoice of China creates and controls social interactions thatcould ensure the equality. For instance, when competing for acertain contestant, the coaches show every connection that theycould possibly have with the contestant to win his/her favor, suchas “My experiences are similar to yours” (S01 E04), “We are fromthe same city” (S01 E01), “I have the exactly same feeling as youdo (S02 E04)” or even “We have the same surname” (S01 E04). Suchdiscourses dissolve the coaches’ images as higher-class aristocratsbut portray them as the ordinary people who share emotionalcloseness with the contestants.

This intimacy is furtherenhanced by the shrinking physical distance between celebritycoaches and grass-root contestants. In the first two seasons, morethan 10 contestants admit that they participate in the show inorder to gain close contact with the coaches that they admire. Atypical example is Wen Qi, an expectant mother and a fan of CoachYing Na. Though Qi failed the blind audition, she was offered anopportunity to sing a duet with Na on stage (S01 E02).Before the duet, Na hugged Qi, stroked Qi’s belly and gave ablessing to Qi’s baby (S01 E02). This series of actions signifies abreakdown of the physical gap between celebrities and ordinarypeople, where the celebrity Ying Na enters the personal life of herfan (Wen Qi). The collapse of celebrities’ superiority also appearsthe other way round, when contestants access the personal life ofcoaches due to private music trainings. This feeling of intimacy isalso delivered to audiences as the program discloses thesebackstage music trainings in the broadcasting, so that the publiccan witness the close connections between coaches and contestants.Through both onstage and offstage interactions, celebrity coachesgradually build friendship with grass-root contestants, rather thanstay distant from the lower class (Yuan 2013).

Furthermore, the programpersonalizes, ordinarizes and demystifies contestants to connectthem with the audience, thereby increasing its appeal for thepublic. John Langer (in Marshall 1997: 122) argues that televisionprefers personalizing celebrities rather than creating stars. Whilethe contestants in the Voice of China are gaining risingcelebrity status, the disclosure of their personal stories in theshow “makes real people out of stars”. Contrary to traditionalcelebrities’ antipathy towards the privacy intrusions by the media,these contestants are willing to expose their privacy by makingtheir love relationships and family histories public. Ke Zhu and Liwen Kan, two single fathers, bothinteracted with their daughters frequently in front of camera toimpress the audience with their positive images as responsiblefathers (S02 E01-02). Another contestant, Zhiwen Jin, proposedmarriage to his girlfriend under the coaches’ witness, amplifyinghis romanticism as a loving boyfriend (S01 E04). Redmond (2006: 28)argues that reality TV convinces the audience that the participantsare sincere, honest and open just like us. In the revelations ofcontestants’ personalities, the Voice of China shows aneffort to develop the audience’s empathy with the contestants,which Zhou (2012) believes is the key to popularizing a televisionprogram.

Marshall (1997: 47) argues thatsuch celebrities emerging from “a legitimation process that isconnected to people” are constructed as a culturaldomination which can lead and represent the public opinions, butthe audience can actually interpret the meaning of celebrity andmake it fit into their everyday experience. While the contestants’ personal stories in the Voice ofChina emphasize the attachment of these potential celebritiesto the masses, 37% audiences doubt the authenticity of thesestories (Huet al. 2013). This demonstrates the audience’s growing power inactively interpreting celebrities and in resisting beingmanipulated by the media. According to the survey of Hu et al.,only 21% of the respondents believe the stories are real and areencouraged by them, and 20% just feel entertained by the stories.Lu (in Si 2013) argues that, by creating competitions,unpredictable plot development and emotional personal stories,reality TV deliberately presents collisions and contradictions toexcite and attract the audience. Ellcessor (2013: 51) believesthat “the growth of ‘authentic’ materials, amid audience awareness ofstar constructedness, even have led to new pleasures in thecontradictions of authenticity”. In result, despite the audience’s distrust of the contestants’ personalstories, the show still achieves high entertainment value that candraw the public attention.

Democratization of CelebrityPower

The stronger power of audiencesnot only narrows the power gap between the masses and celebrities,but also signifies “a democratizing trend of celebrity culture”(Cashmore 2006: 189). The concept of celebrity is “linked to thedevelopment of mass democracies and concerted efforts to containthe power of the masses in those democracies” (Marshall 1997: 241).Van Krieken (2012: 8)further elaborates on this democratization by interpreting itas more people “gain the capacity to become celebrities” and morecelebrities are produced to “supply the audience’s demand”. TheVoice of China, on the one hand, provides the grassroots withopportunities to become celebrity singers. On the other hand, itemploys the audience voting system to decentralize celebritypower.

Traditionally, there arerestrictions for low-status people to enter high-status groups, andWeber (in Kurzman et al. 2007: 349) describes this phenomenon as“high status groups ‘usurp’ status honor from low-status groups”.However, Kurzman et al. (2007: 362) argues that the celebrityindustry requires a constant supply of new recruits rather thanerects barriers to entry. In the Voice of China, theobstacles to acquiring celebrity status have crumbled. In the blindauditions, each contestant is first introduced to the audience viaa short video featuring his/her personal statement. After thesinging, the contestants are further interviewed by the coaches toelaborate on their personal experiences. These self-introductionsemphasize the commonalities that the contestants share with themasses, such as their low-class professions (e.g. Yin Cao as atruck driver, Hongyu Zou as a peasant and Kesen Ding as a vendor),the frustrations in their life and the desire to realize theirdreams. Zhao (2007) believes that contestants in Idol-type showscan become popular in a short time because they better reflect thedesire of the masses—tobe recognized by others and to become grass-root elites. Hence, thecontestants’ dreams are considered as representative. Actually, theshow repeatedly mentioned the word “dream” for 392 times tohighlight its nature as a democratic platform for the grassroots tofulfill their dreams. The revelations of contestants’ roots in themundane world indicate that the Voice of China opens a doorfor the masses to elevate their social status. The success ofcontestants in obtaining celebrity status implies that everyindividual possesses the power to change his/her life (Marshall2007: 246).

According to Zhang (2013),while the current social environment of China, featured by thesolidification of social stratum, increases the difficulty forlower-class Chinese to raise their social status, reality TVprovides them with an alternative way to gain social power. AsDriessens (2013: 543) argues, being in the media endows a personwith more power compared to those outside the media. Byparticipating in the show, the masses outside the media are now onthe public stage to influence others. To underline the significanceof the Voice of China for improving the grassroots’ power,the word “stage”, which signifies a transformation from anonymityto publicity, is mentioned in the show for 757 times. This movementfrom backstage to forestage is especially symbolic for thosecontestants who used to be behind-the-scenes staff in the musicindustry. For example, Yue Liu, a concert assistant whose job wasto pass microphones to singers, expressed her excitement forstanding in the center of the stage, holding the microphone andhaving her voice heard thanks to the Voice of China (S01E02). Similarly, Zhiwen Jin (music arranger), Weiting Ye (backingvocalist) and Nan Meng (music producer) also appreciated theVoice of China for bringing them into the spotlight. Andy Warhol (in Kurzman etal. 2007: 354) predicted in 1979 that “in fifteen minutes,everybody will be famous”. The Voice of China realizes thisprophecy by generating an increasing accessibility to celebritystatus for the masses and thus decentralizes the power conferred onfamous elites.

Additionally, the Voice ofChina democratizes celebrity power through the audience votingsystem. Reality TV that employs the audiencevoting format grants the audience “an alleged say in who deservesgaining celebrity status” (Hellmuerllerand Aeschbacher 2010: 21). From the semi-finals of the Voiceof China, the power of determining which contestants canadvance to the next round is no longer concentrated in the hands ofcoaches. Instead, 99 media practitioners are involved to vote forthe contestants they support. The contestant with the highest vote(the final vote = votes from media practitioners + votes from thecoach of the contestant) enter the finals. The final competitionsfurther invite live audiences to participate in the voting.Here, media practitioners and live audiences becomerepresentatives for the masses, who are able to express theirtastes in star creations. Although the voting is not open toall audiences, the participation of representative audience votersmanifests an increasing power of the masses to affect celebrityselections. The masses are now “central in sustaining the power ofany celebrity sign” and the celebrity’s power only validates if theaudience allow it to circulate (Marshall 1997: 65). Kirby (in VanKrieken 2012: 73) further argues that “celebrities are indeed‘powerless’, dependent on the allocation of attention from theiraudience” and “under the control of an anonymous ‘public’”. Inthe Voice of China, while high-status insiders (i.e. coachesand program producers) decide who can be presented to the public aspotential celebrities in the early competitions, the massesdetermine the final winner, ‘the best voice of the year’ whodeserves most publicity. By involving the audience into idolproductions, the Voice of China democratizes celebritypower. This also evokes “a feeling of togetherness that commits theaudience to the participants and vice versa” (Fairchild, in Hellmuerller and Aeschbacher 2010:14), which further creates motives for the audience to followthe program and commit their loyalty to the show.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the Voice ofChina destabilizes the traditional power relationship betweencelebrities and the masses, and this reshape of celebrity poweradds to its appeal for Chinese audiences. On the one hand, the media provide astage for celebrities to enhance their visibility andwell-knownness. This is reflected by theconstructions of celebrities’ charisma and economic power in theVoice of China. Specifically, the show’s concentration on musicprofessionalism enhances the music charisma of coaches andcontestants, which distinguishes celebrities from the mediocremasses. The music charisma of contestants is strengthened due tothe elimination of public auditions from broadcasting, theblind-audition format and the professional music trainings. Thecharisma of coaches further outweighs the contestants’ talentbecause of their teaching role and leading status. As aprofessional music show, the Voice of China establishes itsattractiveness for the audience who is eager for high-qualityChinese television programs. Moreover, the charismatic coaches andcontestants gain more power to acquire attention and economicprofits. This is especially true for the celebrity coaches whoperform exaggeratedly and brand themselves on TV to attain higherpublic visibility. The improving economic power of celebrities inreturn contributes to the show’s brand value and attracts more fansto watch the show.

On the other hand, the Voice of China dissolves the superiorityof privileged celebrities and creates a democratized form ofcelebrity power. Celebrity coaches with the highest celebritystatus are deprived of their aristocracy. “Two-way selections” inthe blind auditions equalize the status of coaches and contestants.This equality is further enhanced when the coaches create physicaland emotional intimacy with the contestants via onstageinteractions and private music trainings. Also, the contestants, asrising celebrities, show close connections with the masses byexposing their interior personalities and privacy. While theaudience gains more power to actively interpret the meaning ofcelebrity and resist media manipulations, the ordinarization,personalization and demystification of celebrities are stillentertaining for most Chinese audiences and thus impel them tofollow the show’s development. More importantly, such reality showsignifies a breakdown of celebrity alienation, an easier access tothe upper-class celebrity society and an increasing audience powerto democratically select prospective celebrities. Westernresearchers have already identified this democratization tendencyin Western celebrity society and the Voice of China provesthe existence of this tendency in Chinese celebrityculture.

However, while the first twoseasons of the Voice of China have enjoyed high popularity,there is a worry that it cannot retain this popularity for long. Zi(2013) suggests that Chinese audiences will gradually lose theirinterest in the Voice of China when the newness of itsformat wears off. Therefore, future researches should draw on moremedia formats to explore what other innovations a reality show canmake to improve its attractiveness and expand its audience range.Also, the lack of up-to-date celebrity theories is not only aproblem existing in Chinese academia but also in many other Easterncultures. The current celebrity studies are mostly from the Westernperspective due to the global influences of American pop culture(Hellmuerller and Aeschbacher 2010: 4). Thus, to broaden the scopeof celebrity culture studies, the democratization of celebritypower should be examined with reference to more cultural contextsbefore it can be understood as a cross-culturalphenomenon.

Appendix

The occurrence frequencies ofthe expressions mentioned in theessay

Statistical error: -5% to+5%

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