‘Fake girls’ caught on TV
May 17, 2010 Filed under Debate
By Wang Yu
Liu Zhu, a participant of the singing contest Super Boy, becomes this year's topic. IC Photo
The latest season of Happy Boy, a popular talent show produced by Hunan TV, shocked many after a contestant identified as female and dressed in a miniskirt turned out to be transsexual.
An audition video, which has spread online, shows a contestant in woman’s clothes performing an original song. One of the three judges repeatedly interrupts the performance to question the contestant’s sex, even suggesting a closer inspection of her body – which the person refused. The singer eventually admits to being male, identifying himself as Liu Zhu, a 19-year-old composition major at the Sichuan Conservatory of Music.
Liu said he began dressing like a girl and putting on make-up in high school, which his parents have come to accept. He has also learned to expertly imitate women’s higher-pitched speaking and singing voice.
Liu has become a popular figure in the traditional media and on the Internet, earning the nickname “Zhu Jie,” or “Sister Zhu,” and gaining both fans and detractors. His supporters admire him for daring to challenge social conventions while critics dismiss him as another product of media hype.
Liu was not the only contestant in this season of Happy Boy to wear a skirt, but he is the only one to make it to the final round.
“I was stunned by his performance. Unlike the other singers who dressed like a girl, that is really who he is,” Hong Tao, the show’s chief director, said. “Plus, Liu’s voice is nice and he sings well, which got him into the finals.
credit to BeijingToday.
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