Televised song contest sparks nationalist angst

China’s most popular TV show, HunanTV’s “Singer 2024,” sparked nationalist angst after two foreign contestants won first and second place, easily beating a field that included legendary Chinese pop star Na Ying . The show is very popular in part because it requires live singing without auto-tuning or post-production edits, features common to most Chinese variety shows. The victory of relatively unknown Chanté Moore, an American, and Faouzia, a Moroccan-Canadian, was called a “wake-up call for the Chinese music industry” by state media tabloid Global Times. After the foreigners’ victory, a small group of nationalist singers requested to be added to the show in order to defend China’s honor. Tibetan-Han singer Han Hong said on Weibo: “I am Chinese singer Han Hong and I am asking for permission to wage war! » Others followed suit.

For many, however, the nationalist outbursts were a sign of deep national insecurity.as evidenced by this partial translation of an essay published by the WeChat public account 亮见 (liàngjiàn), led by a master’s student from Nanjing University:

Writer Xiang Dongliang said: “Behind this wave of feeling that ‘music is our national salvation’ lies a deep-rooted inferiority complex. » Thinking that Chinese singers winning a competition are proof of China’s cultural superiority is an idea that only deeply insecure people would embrace.

There may be people who have never been personally “insulted” by foreigners, or who do not feel much connection with grandiose terms such as “the Chinese nation” or “the Chinese people.” Some sensitive souls need an intermediary to help them connect to these great and noble concepts.

This intermediary can be a head of state one day, a singer the next, then a company: the identity of the intermediary is not the question. All that matters is that they, or their country, have been “insulted” in some way by a foreigner, thereby causing people to support their cause or boycott the aggressor . It’s like celebrating an important holiday or joining a holy war: everyone can share in the glory and feel spiritually uplifted. (Chinese)

Others linked a recent incident in which a woman berated customers at a new Apple store in Shanghai as “worshippers of all things foreign.” An essay published by the WeChat public account 辚辚 (linlin) lamented that cultural nationalism will only increase if current trends continue:

Nationalist “credibility” comes at the price of a nation’s ability to open up to the world.

When Apple opened a flagship store in Shanghai, with Tim Cook in attendance, it was a positive example of China opening up to the world. Alas, an angry middle-aged woman stood in front of the store and shouted at Apple customers: “China has its own brand, Huawei!” People who buy Apple products are traitors who love everything foreign! »

A few customers responded: “What’s wrong with buying a product we like?” Apple pays Chinese taxes and creates jobs in China, right? The woman angrily rejected these objections, saying: “We don’t need this, all this!

If the current trend continues, there will be more and more “patriotic aunts”.

In an age where cell phones and television variety shows are becoming indicators of “patriotism,” it’s worth remembering that they’re just phones, just shows. No more no less. (Chinese)

Many responded to the nationalist outbursts with classic dark humor. A Weibo user joked: “The marketing of ‘Singer 2024’ has opened a new source of revenue for Chinese-made entertainment: nationalist variety shows.” A popular meme featured an image of singer Na Ying photoshopped to look like Empress Dowager Cixi. as shown in the TV show “Towards the Republic”, as well as one of Cixi’s famous lines from the show: “I want the death of foreigners”.