China's idol: "Super Girl"

CHANGSHA, China — The name may not roll off the tongue like "American Idol" does, but that hasn't kept the "Mongolian Cow Sour Sour Yogurt Super Girl" contest from consuming China.

"Super Girl" has given every young girl in China — daughters of farmers, migrant workers, coal miners or low-level government workers — a chance of becoming a star. More than 100,000 women and girls, from ages 4 to 89, will have competed by the time five cities have hosted regional competitions this year.

Unlike "Idol," which named its winner Wednesday night, the Chinese show has sold its name to a dairy company, allows only women to compete and has almost impenetrably complex rules for winnowing down contestants.

The program features judges drawn from the entertainment industry. But their influence is dwarfed by that of 31 other judges drawn from the ranks of "laobaixing," or common people. Amateur judges cast votes by walking across the stage to single out their favorites as studio musicians bang out up-tempo rock. After the field has been reduced to finalists, viewers decide the winner.

Each of the regional winners moves on to the national final; regional second- and third-place finishers will compete again for a second chance to reach the final.

The spotlight last week fell on the regional final in Changsha, a polluted industrial backwater known for spicy food and links to Mao Zedong, who graduated from a local college in 1918.

Three young singers were on stage in front of a restive, noisy crowd of 1,000 people and a TV audience of 25 million.

The winner among three contestants — Zhao Jingyi (schoolgirl), She Manni (glamour queen) and Huang Yali (tomboy) — was decided by more than 271,000 viewer votes cast through text messaging. Zhao, 17, emerged victorious in a shower of confetti and sparklers.

In a country where televised fare still features military officers belting out patriotic anthems, viewers have found the show irresistible. "This is the most popular entertainment program we've ever done," said Liao Ke, its co-creator.

More than self-expression motivates contestants. Last year's winner took home more than $6,000 — big money in a country with an average annual income of $1,100. Unlike the "Idol" winner, the Chinese champion isn't guaranteed a recording contract. But she can go on to professional success.

Zhang Hanyun, 16, who finished third last year, is now a household name. She appears in print and TV ads for Mongolian Cow drinkable yogurt. She plans to release an album in July. There is talk of a television series in which she would portray herself.

This is a China far removed from the political ferment that led to the massacre of pro-democracy demonstrators in Tiananmen Square in 1989. China now is relentlessly commercial, individualistic and apolitical.

"If such a program happened five or 10 years ago, I don't think it would have been so influential. I don't think the ordinary people would have opened themselves up to participate," said An Youqi, 21, last year's Changsha winner. "People were pretty shy and pretty conservative."