On the night of October 29th, "Super Girl" sang in Guangzhou and attendance was as high as 95%, putting so-called "superstars" and "divas" to shame; the screams and shrieks of fans in the cavernous Tianhe sports stadium were non-stop and even drowned out the singing of the super girls. The explosive atmosphere inside the stadium would be the envy of any professional "superstar" singer. However, this is only one aspect of the craze for "super girls" and this year would go down for China's Hollywood as the year for "super girls".
Guangzhou's "super girl craze" is sweeping all venues. First, the language. The local idioms spoken by Guangzhou residents normally are imitated by others, but now the situation has reversed. Concerning PK (Player Killing): at a dinner banquet two subordinates fought over who would first toast their boss. The forty-something boss said to them, both of you first PK and afterwards the winner can toast me; a newcomer to the work unit started the following discussion: the newcomer is a beautiful woman, she can PK this and that movie star. From a program segment of "Super female singer", the phrase PK, meaning to compete ferociously till one's rival is eliminated, has become popular and is the most used expression today.
The most commonly observed "super girl" effect is in clothing and accessories. The original idea was to select from ordinary people with good voices to turn them into idols of the masses, witnessing the transformation of an ugly moth to a pretty butterfly and letting people see that the metamorphosis into "super girls" is a process more attractive and influential than perfect models on the dais. Therefore, Guangzhou's fashionable areas have produced copycats of "super girls", or look-alikes; strong contrast, punk-styled hairdo, over accessorizing, layer upon layer of clothing, neutral gender and pretty-boy looks are the vanguard of fashion for young girls.
The genius of Guangzhou residents manifests itself not amongst which white collar staff in offices support which super girl, or a colleague who complains about her daughter pasting her room full of super girl posters, but in finding commercial opportunities in this craze and maximizing all chances of turning a profit. When super girls earn extra money moonlighting in TV stations and cutting ribbons for sponsors, real estate firms and telecom vendors all snatch their version of "super girls" as spokespersons and Guangzhou is happy to turn this craze into money.
(chinanews.cn November 3, 2005)
