China's got talent, too - but another Susan Boyle? Opinion is divided.

Happy Girls (Kuaile Nusheng), a show aimed at finding divas-to-be, seems the likeliest stage for a "Chinese Boyle".

The annual show (formerly known as Super Girls) and its male version, Happy Boys, is highly popular and has seen many former winners translate their success into their careers.

Jane Zhang, the second runner-up in 2005, performed on the Oprah Winfrey show last month and is now an A-list singer. Chris Lee, the 2005 champion, has millions of devoted fans and will make her film debut this winter.

Following its one-year break in 2008, this year's contest has had a predictable deluge of applicants - 150,000 - a 50 percent increase over 2006 and 2007, according to Li Hao, spokesman for the show's producer, Hunan TV.

So far the talk has been more about looks than talent.

The most talked-about contestant is Gong Mi, an 18-year-old student of Beijing Film Academy, who is said to resemble Cecilia Cheung, the Hong Kong actress involved in the Edison Chen sex photo scandal.

Gong has frequently been in the news, first due to her good looks, then a rumor that it took plastic surgery to achieve it and now because her manager is said to have been Cheung's first agent.

Prominently displayed on the show's official website were photos of Gong and several other hopefuls, including Luo Zhenhuan, a pretty face known as the "flower of campus" in Chengdu, and Tao Le, a former model.

"I don't think a Chinese Susan Boyle will come out of this show," says Tan Fei, culture critic and co-organizer of A Dream of the Red Mansion, a show to find actors for a TV adaptation of the classic novel.

"Most viewers of China's talent shows fall into the 15-35 age bracket. They care more about look and fashion."

Some quasi-Susan Boyles are still in the wings, however.

Wu Baiwei, a 79-year-old retired teacher, impressed judges with a folk song last month in Xi'an, one of 25 audition sites across the country. One judge was so bowled over he even knelt before her to exaggerate his admiration.

She was immediately labeled "China's Susan Boyle" but her 15 minutes of fame ended when the judges ruled her out of further participation on health grounds, saying "it would be too exhausting for this elderly lady to continue in the subsequent contests".

Far from being downcast, however, Wu was reportedly "happy about the result and enjoyed the whole process of taking part".

Another hopeful, Liao Zhongxiu, 62, has been rather luckier - she has made it into the top 300 who will compete for the top-20 final over the next 10 days.

Meanwhile, Li denies that the show favors pretty girls. "We focus on contestants' singing and impromptu stage performances - it is absolutely possible that we will have our own Susan Boyle," he says.

Not that contestants' money-making potential is out of the equation, though. "The finalists have to sign contracts with EE Media (the show's co-organizer)," he says. "We must consider whether they will sell well as professional singers in today's market."

Would someone like Susan Boyle make money in today's Chinese music market? Producer Yang Jiasong is not that optimistic.

"You cannot judge whether a singer is successful or not merely by the number of albums he or she can sell," he says. "It is also about their ability to get offers to appear in TV commercials, series and films. Someone like Boyle may have many people wanting to buy her albums but I worry about her marketability in other fields, which favor good looks more."

But Song Ke, CEO of Taihe Rye Music Co, disagrees.

"I'd be optimistic about a singer's prospects if we had someone who sang really well and had his or her own unique personality," he says.

"They could be the face of products targeting their own groups in the audience and could get suitable roles in TV or films as long as they are popular enough. Look at Wang Baoqiang (a plain-looking construction worker-turned actor) - he is now promoting a budget car."

The selection process for this year's show has been changed in a way that Tan thinks will hinder the birth of a new Boyle.

The industry regulator, the State Administration of Radio, TV and Film, has ordered the cancellation of the short message voting session, an important pusher of the show's popularity in previous seasons. One widely speculated reason is that in former contests some wealthy contestants used this feature to gain an unfair advantage.

"The judges' opinion will be more important this year," says Tan, a 10-year veteran of TV and film industry. "On the face of it the show will be more professional but the truth is that organizers will find it easier to influence the results, by influencing the judges in various ways. And, of course, the organizers will choose those who they think will make big money."

Li won't comment on it and declares only that the show cares a lot about viewers' opinions. "It is indeed a pity," he says. "We have tried to include online surveys and never stop thinking of other ways to learn what the mass audience wants."（China Daily 06/09/2009 page18，By Liu Wei ）

刘玮把采访我的翻译如下：文化评论人谭飞说：“我认为这些秀很难再制造一个中国的苏珊。”谭是“红楼梦中人”选秀的策划人之一。“中国选秀的观众多数在15-35岁之间，他们更看重外表和时髦。”谭在中国影视界有10年以上的资历，他认为，看起来取消短信会让比赛更专业，其实则不然。事实上，主办方更容易通过以各种方式影响评委来影响比赛结果。而且，主办方一定会更属意那些将来商业开发潜力大的选手。——谭飞注：这句话是有一些歧义的，我的意思是取消短信不代表赛果就完全客观，潜力股是任何选秀都试图挖掘的。“影响评委”说只是理论上的揣测。