As reality shows gather massive viewership, the CCP is concerned about the potential political consequences. Last year, a similar show Super Girl drew nearly 400 million viewers to its finale.

There was speculation that the CCP might ban Hunan Satellite from going ahead with its programme this year. It required the intervention of the party boss of Hunan, Mao Zedong’s province, to save the show.

For the critics in Beijing, the reality shows threaten not just Chinese culture but also the CCP’s ideological dominance. For the Hunan government, the huge revenues from the show were too important to be subject to the ideological concerns about “spiritual pollution”. In a happy compromise, so typical of the Chinese pragmatism, Hunan Satellite agreed to modify the format of the programme. The show must go on.

The writer is professor at the Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Singapore