Play more original music on talent shows

Comment | Mu Qian

Yangjima, a singer of the Monba ethnic group, aroused controversy in independent music circles when she decided to take part in the Chinese Idol TV talent show, the local version of American Idol.

Some of her friends say it's not a good idea because the show, dominated by people who sing pop covers, would harm Yangjima's image as an independent musician who performs original works based on her Monba roots.

This reminds me of Queen's guitarist Brian May, who calls the BBC1 talent show The Voice "dull, dumb and depressing", and "the ultimate insult to music and to performers".

May has his reasons. The UK has one of the most developed music industries in the world. Whatever music you play, you can find opportunities to publicize your works and win fans, if you are good. Rock musicians don't have to appear on talent shows to get heard.

But China is a different environment. Music education is poor. There is very little space for non-mainstream music. For most people, music consumption is limited to KTV.

In a country where people neither buy records nor attend concerts, TV is the main medium to listen to music for most people. The numerous talent shows in China are dominating the musical lives of most Chinese people, no matter whether you like it or not.

I don't watch these shows because I don't think music is something that you can compete in. There isn't a set standard to judge music.

Although people can compete to sing the highest pitch, that doesn't automatically make the winner the greatest musician.

But talent shows can be a powerful promotional tool. The problem is that the music they currently promote is mostly uninteresting. If there is more original music or authentic traditional folk music in these shows, I'd love to watch.

Yangjima comes from one of the least-known musical traditions of China, because the Monba people, who live in Tibet with a population of less than 10,000, are one of the smallest ethnic groups in China.

To my ears, Monba people's music has a special beauty that you can rarely find elsewhere. This is something that needs to be promoted and carried on by us.

Yangjima mostly performs in Beijing's live music clubs. Almost everybody who sees her shows is enchanted by her music, but still too few people have the chance to see her live.

Recently, a video of her performance during the initial audition of Chinese Idol has been quite popular on the Internet. Many more people can listen to her songs through the video now, and viewers have been commenting on how they like Yangjima's music.

A crew from Shanghai's Dragon TV also came to Beijing to film Yangjima's rehearsal and performance at a music club. I'm sure she will have more exposure as Chinese Idol proceeds.

More singers of minority backgrounds are appearing on TV talent shows. Some of them have been very successful, like Ji Jie and Jikejunyi, but unfortunately they have not made use of their own music traditions but rather cover Chinese or English pop music like other participants.

I congratulate Yangjima, not just because she has entered the list of finalists, but also because she will have a chance to demonstrate Monba music to audiences to a much wider scale.

She will also give me an excuse to watch Chinese Idol.