Wang Yuanyuan

    cheekywang@hotmail.com

    TWO reality shows featuring celebrities participating in diving competitions received widespread attention immediately after they were first aired on Jiangsu Satellite TV (JSTV) and Zhejiang Satellite TV (ZSTV) earlier this month.

    Both channels tried to use celebrities and quirky behavior to make moving stories, but many members of the viewing public thought the programs were no more than manipulative publicity stunts than enjoyable entertainment.

    To promote the first episode of “Stars in Danger,” JSTV changed the broadcasting time for “If You Are the One,” one of the most popular matchmaking shows across the country, while ZSTV invested a large sum to promote “China Celebrity Splash,” which is based on a Dutch series.

    Both shows featured celebrities — Niu Qun, a well-known cross-talk comedian, on “China Celebrity Splash,” and pop singer Han Geng, on “Stars in Danger” — crying, struggling and then fainting after their dives.

    Many netizens said they felt it was cruel to allow celebrities, or any non-professional divers, to risk their lives simply to gain higher ratings.

    “I don’t know since when celebrities have become decathletes. I think artists should focus more on their art works and careers and do what they are capable of doing,” said Hong Kong pop singer, Denise Ho, on Sino weibo.

    In response to the criticism, both programs said they did not want “to make a fuss.” Chen Wei, chief director of “China Celebrity Splash” said: “This is a reality show and it’s all about courage. We did not plot anything. For example, Niu failed performing his first three-story dive, so he decided to go with the 10m platform to avoid elimination. We tried to stop him, but he would not listen because he wanted to fight.”

    Chen said they did not aim to just show viewers the most moving or dangerous scenes to attract attention. “There were a lot of dangerous situations that we did not show because we thought they were too cruel. For example, Niu had a problem in his first jump when he took 18 seconds to come up after his dive. We were truly shocked and nervous, but we did not show audiences how dangerous and moving it was,” Chen said.

    Liu Yuzhe, brand manager of JSTV, also responded to criticism. “We just want to let these celebrities return to being just like normal people in front of the TV audience, showing viewers why and how these people became stars,” Liu said.

    Zhou Jihong, diving leader of “China Celebrity Splash,” said that it was safe for the celebrities to dive after they had some professional training. “Each celebrity has obtained a deep-water certificate and health certificate and they just do simple and basic movements. We also have measures to protect them, such as a rope and guards. It is not dangerous for adults to dive after receiving some training,” said Zhou, who was China’s first Olympic diving champion.

    In particular, many viewers thought it was very dangerous for Niu, 64, to jump from the 10m platform. “Niu had tried a 7.5m platform in the past. Diving is a gradual process. If he could do a 7.5m platform, he would be fine on a 10m platform. In other countries, only non-professional divers aged over 70 are not allowed to jump from a 10m platform,” Zhou said.

    Some netizens also questioned the true intentions of “China Celebrity Splash,” as producers had said that all profits would be donated to charity. “Some said why not donate the money directly to charity and why spend such a large sum of money on making the program. We are a television channel, so we have to make shows for our viewers. The production team has already set up a 2-million-yuan (US$314,000) fund for charity, and we hope that more people will help the charity through the show,” Chen said.