Cover News Reporter Lin Jueyao Zhang Yidan Intern Su Manke
On December 12, 2023, the Central Cyberspace Administration of China issued a notice on the launch of the special action of "Cleaning Up and Rectifying the Bad Direction of Short Video Information Content", requiring a one-month Cleaning Action. , to rectify behaviors such as pornography, vulgar characters, and malicious marketing by Internet celebrities on the Internet.
On January 1, 2024, the "Regulations on the Protection of Minors on the Internet" promulgated by the State Council was officially implemented, which also put forward higher requirements for online performances.
In an era when online live broadcasts are prevalent, apart from entertainment, what can online live broadcasts bring us? Is being an online anchor really as easy as the outside world imagines, with easy work and high income?
Recently, a cover news reporter talked to many online live broadcast practitioners and found that some online girl group members come from young women who are pursuing their dreams of acting. Some have studied dance art since childhood and hope to turn their interest into a career, but they are struggling to find leads. With the opportunity to perform offline, online live broadcast allows them to break the boundaries of traditional offline stages and create new connections with the audience.
But this line of work, as they said, "is very complicated and may be replaced if you don't work hard."
Before the live broadcast, Xuxu, a member of the "1912." girl group, was putting on makeup. Cover news reporter Zhang Yidan Photography
Moving the stage to the Internet
In an office building in Jinjiang District, Chengdu, rooms on both sides of the corridor have set up show stages for different scenes. At 5 p.m., the staff turned on the cameras and speakers on time. The five members of this girl group named "1912." stood on the stage and twisted their bodies to the music. In the online live broadcast room, thousands of viewers from all over the country and even the world watched their performances at the same time.
"1912." The girl group consists of eight girls with an average age of about 20 years old. Among these members, there are dancers who have been learning dance since childhood, as well as newcomers who have crossed over to learn acting from scratch; there are both "Sichuan girls" and girls who have come all the way from the north. They all have the same love and dream, hoping to perform on stage and get the opportunity to show themselves.
On August 26, 2023, Xuxu, a girl from Daqing, Heilongjiang, stood in front of the girl group’s live broadcast camera for the first time. At that time, she gave up her job as a dance teacher in her hometown and came to Chengdu to pursue her "star dream". She wants to show her dance to more people, but opportunities for offline performances are hard to find. Before
was broadcast that day, she learned hundreds of "Douyin dances" in two hours. For the next four hours, she demonstrated her newly learned dance to the live camera. Even though she was tired, she liked it. "I feel that my performance has an audience. Although the audience and I are far apart, our hearts are together." Xuxu recalled.
"1912." Women's group photo provided by interviewee
Before becoming a member of the women's group: the elusive "star dream"
In order to present high-quality live content, training and live broadcasting have almost occupied the lives of Xuxu and the team members All - after arriving at the company at noon every day, they first take two dance classes, then put on makeup and prepare for the live broadcast. The live broadcast starts in the evening and usually lasts until midnight. When there is no live broadcast, everyone will take the time to rest or take the initiative to practice more.
For Xu Xu, this kind of life is not unfamiliar. Before becoming a member of the "1912." girl group, she had a two-month experience as a trainee. Unfortunately, she was not able to "debut" on the draft stage as she imagined.
Xu Xu has been learning folk dance since he was a child and has always wanted to perform on stage. When she was in high school, she learned about the group of trainees from the "Idol Producer" variety show, which was popular at the time, and proposed to become a trainee in Beijing. But the idea was quickly rejected by the family. "I was too young at that time, and my parents didn't want me to run out alone, so I worked hard on them for two years," Xuxu recalled.
couldn't resist their persistent daughter. Two years later, Xuxu's parents finally agreed to let her go to Beijing to be a trainee. After
became a trainee, her life became very fulfilling, but it was a little different from what Xu Xu imagined - she gave up her studies at that time and had no salary.Every day, she spends most of her time learning various skills, including vocal music, dance, appreciation, body shape, etc. After class in the evening, she would stay in the company to review what she had learned that day. In order to save money, she shared a room with other trainees in a small partitioned room.
Most of Xu Xu’s expenses are borne by her parents. Once, she won first place in the training camp's monthly exam and received a bonus of 6,000 yuan. After leaving a portion for her daily expenses, she transferred the remaining money to her mother. "I said, Mom, you have given me so much money, and I can finally pay you back a little bit," she said.
Like almost all trainees, she is waiting for an opportunity to debut and perform on stage, but such opportunities are extremely rare. She recalled that there were hundreds of trainees who entered the training camp at the same time as her. The trainees had to be continuously selected and screened according to the process of "100 into 50, 50 into 20, 20 into 10, 10 into 5". The person who can finally stand on the talent show is almost one in a million.
Because of the epidemic, Xuxu returned to his hometown in Northeast China after staying in Beijing for two months. It wasn't until 2023 that she decided to restart this wish-to come to Chengdu and become a member of a girl group. This time, she finally felt that her dream was slowly coming true.
Station on a bigger stage
As the new year approaches, the members of the "1912." girl group are getting busier and busier. At the end of 2023, they received an invitation to perform at the Sichuan TV Online Spring Festival Gala - for many members, this was the first time they had received a performance invitation. "I was really excited when I received the invitation." Xuxu said that in addition to daily live broadcasts, they are also planning to focus more on rehearsing programs.
"1912." girl group member Tie Hammer is practicing dance. Cover news reporter Zhang Yidan Photographed by
When she joined the "1912." girl group in August last year, Tie Hammer (pseudonym) was not good at singing and dancing. Now, even though he has been given the opportunity to stand on the stage, a sense of crisis still lingers. The live broadcast operation team of the "1912." women's group has developed a competition elimination and honor selection mechanism for the members. It selects outstanding women's group members based on their popularity within the specified time in each live broadcast. The higher the score, the better they can show themselves in front of the camera. the longer it takes.
This means that on the show floor, the members are both team members and competitors.
"New media (online live broadcasting) is a very complicated industry, and many people want to try it out." She said. In addition to occasionally having dinner with friends after the broadcast, and sleeping at night, Tieshui spends most of his time practicing dancing. "If you don't work hard, you may be replaced by others."
For them, performing is not only an opportunity to show themselves, but also an explanation to fans and friends who like them. "We hope to be number one (in various competitions)," Xuxu said, which means they can get more exposure opportunities and shoot more works to give back to their fans. "We hope fans can see our sincerity," she said.
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