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Gardener wins gal in sensational TV dating show
By Li Xinran |
June 24, 2010, Thursday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
A COOL handsome gardener - a mere gardener - is ready for a Hawaiian vacation with a trophy girl he won last weekend on a sensational TV dating show - he's the first guy who was favored by all 24 - usually carping - female judges.
The show "If You're the One" on Jiangsu Satellite TV premiered in mid January and has become a nationwide hit, some would say scandal for the blatant money-worship the women openly advocate.
The lucky guy, Zhang Jian, is unusual because he's not rich. He's an avid windsurfer from Nanjing, capital of Jiangsu Province, and he got the girl last weekend. And he's not the only lucky dog in the twice-a-week show aired nationwide at prime viewing hours on Saturday and Sunday nights. On the same night the god of fortune also blessed Zhang Fangyun, a bespectacled Shanghai gent.
Never before had all 24 attractive young women been unanimous in voting for a date - but that night they were sweetness and light.
According to the rules, men looking for dream girls are interviewed, quizzed, teased (often put down) by the panel of 24 outspoken young women. Then the women vote by switching off lights on their lecterns - a switched off light is a veto.
A candidate is dismissed if all the lights are switched off after three successive rounds of questioning. Any guy who survives the first round - with more than 22 lights switched on - is entitled to an overseas vacation with one of the young judges (if she's willing). It never happened before last Sunday.
But it was a night for miracles at the Jiangsu TV performing hall. Among the five male candidates, three received at least 22 lights in their first round, though only two of them would finally succeed.
As a couch potato and loyal fan of the show, I could hardly believe the transformed scenario: previously the girls were cold-blooded, arrogant, dismissive and mercenary. One even said, "I'd rather weep in a BMW's backseat than laugh at the rear of a poor guy's bicycle." She became famous, and notorious.
Don't talk to me unless you're rich - that was the message.
But now it seems the dating show is no longer a ruthless domination game involving pretty women who blatantly state they want men with money.
It took a lot of bad press, Internet uproar and a government directive to change the wildly popular show with those greedy girls everyone loved to hate.
The show's vulgar taste and values were an affront to what we've learned in school, in great literature and from our parents and grandparents.
"If You Are the One" is an example of mainstream media run amok, abandoning social responsibility in a reckless race for ratings, clicks or box office.
Is it simply the case that anything goes today and that media representatives have thrown away their moral compass?
Sensational stuff is always attractive and it makes money.
While this dating show may have somehow cleaned up its act, China's late night TV is still filled with half-naked actresses and models in seductive poses, speaking flirtatiously as they sell cheap shiny copies of brand-name watches and mobile phones.
The show "If You're the One" on Jiangsu Satellite TV premiered in mid January and has become a nationwide hit, some would say scandal for the blatant money-worship the women openly advocate.
The lucky guy, Zhang Jian, is unusual because he's not rich. He's an avid windsurfer from Nanjing, capital of Jiangsu Province, and he got the girl last weekend. And he's not the only lucky dog in the twice-a-week show aired nationwide at prime viewing hours on Saturday and Sunday nights. On the same night the god of fortune also blessed Zhang Fangyun, a bespectacled Shanghai gent.
Never before had all 24 attractive young women been unanimous in voting for a date - but that night they were sweetness and light.
According to the rules, men looking for dream girls are interviewed, quizzed, teased (often put down) by the panel of 24 outspoken young women. Then the women vote by switching off lights on their lecterns - a switched off light is a veto.
A candidate is dismissed if all the lights are switched off after three successive rounds of questioning. Any guy who survives the first round - with more than 22 lights switched on - is entitled to an overseas vacation with one of the young judges (if she's willing). It never happened before last Sunday.
But it was a night for miracles at the Jiangsu TV performing hall. Among the five male candidates, three received at least 22 lights in their first round, though only two of them would finally succeed.
As a couch potato and loyal fan of the show, I could hardly believe the transformed scenario: previously the girls were cold-blooded, arrogant, dismissive and mercenary. One even said, "I'd rather weep in a BMW's backseat than laugh at the rear of a poor guy's bicycle." She became famous, and notorious.
Don't talk to me unless you're rich - that was the message.
But now it seems the dating show is no longer a ruthless domination game involving pretty women who blatantly state they want men with money.
It took a lot of bad press, Internet uproar and a government directive to change the wildly popular show with those greedy girls everyone loved to hate.
The show's vulgar taste and values were an affront to what we've learned in school, in great literature and from our parents and grandparents.
"If You Are the One" is an example of mainstream media run amok, abandoning social responsibility in a reckless race for ratings, clicks or box office.
Is it simply the case that anything goes today and that media representatives have thrown away their moral compass?
Sensational stuff is always attractive and it makes money.
While this dating show may have somehow cleaned up its act, China's late night TV is still filled with half-naked actresses and models in seductive poses, speaking flirtatiously as they sell cheap shiny copies of brand-name watches and mobile phones.
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