Visiting the set of "Lip Sync Battle" to see how small but exquisite variety shows break through

At the beginning of 2016, amidst the bombardment of a series of powerful variety shows such as Sing My Song, I Am a Singer, Super Girl, Ace vs Ace, and Happy Comedian, a variety show that does not compete with big names or production costs and is even a bit alternative has quietly become popular. This is Lip Sync Battle, jointly produced by Shenzhen Satellite TV and Sohu Video.

It is adapted from the popular American variety show "Lip Sync Battle" and is regarded as the dark horse among domestic variety shows in the first quarter. This show seems simple, with celebrities lip-syncing, showing off their acting skills, and cross-dressing to be cute on stage, but in fact, it is not easy to create a small and exquisite localized American variety show in today's world dominated by Korean variety shows.

The behind-the-scenes production of Lip Sync Battle is like this

The day of the visit to the set of "Lip Sync Battle" happened to be when Chen He and Song Xiaobao were rehearsing. There were only three hours left before the official recording of the show. Considering the effect of the show, Song Xiaobao asked to temporarily change the songs that had been arranged for the performance. After communicating with the program group, the production team began to re-select the performance songs with Song Xiaobao, and the atmosphere on the scene was quite tense.

It is not common for actors to request to temporarily change the established program before recording. In Song Xiaobao's words, "Since I came to this program, I must let the audience see the best performance." The program group also tried their best to support it. From the performance of the actors to the performance behind the scenes, the entire production team hopes to do their best to present the most exciting performance. It is understood that "Lip Sync Battle" is produced by the "Super Horsepower" team, the chief production team of domestic music competition programs. The team has produced programs such as "Happy Boys" and this time also showed an excellent production level.

The entire stage of the American version of "Lip Sync Battle" is not very big, but every star who comes to the show performs hard as if they were wound up, making this small stage full of energy. The domestic stars who participated in "Lip Sync Battle" this time also continued this style.

At present, many reality shows hope that celebrities will let down their guard and show the unknown side of themselves to the audience. However, due to the limitations of the show’s presentation format, many celebrities find it difficult to let go of their airs. The essence of the program “Lip Sync Battle” is to let celebrities reverse themselves. The greater the contrast and the more exaggerated the performance, the better the show effect. This is different from the Korean variety shows that only show themselves desperately. It needs to be spoof but not vulgar, and give up the taste for ugliness. It is like letting celebrities put themselves in a large KTV box and freely show their hidden side.

This is also the original intention of the program team mentioned earlier to fully cooperate with Song Xiaobao in changing the song repertoire.

Difficult localization transformation

American variety shows have always been the representatives of the world's top content, and their influence in China has gradually increased from a niche to a mass audience. At present, domestic variety show production teams have gradually made progress in the localization of Korean variety shows, but for American variety shows, which have extremely high requirements for copyright, it is very difficult to achieve localization that is both authentic and down-to-earth due to cultural differences.

Judging from the programs that have been aired, "Lip Sync Battle" is highly faithful to the American version, but it has also made many localized modifications. Among them, the most intuitive change is that the length of the program "Lip Sync Battle" has doubled based on the American version. The American version is only 20-23 minutes long per episode. Taking into account the viewing habits of domestic audiences and the needs of satellite TV broadcasts, the length of a single episode of the Chinese version has been increased to 1 hour.

According to the Sohu production team, the American version of "Lip Sync Battle" consists of two rounds of competition in each episode, one for individual performance and the other for singing and dancing with dancers. The Chinese version is divided into three rounds of competition, "If You Can Do It, Go For It", "If You Don't Accept It, Come For It" and "I Want to Show Off My Power". From the content point of view, "If You Can Do It, Go For It" and "If You Don't Accept It, Come For It" are consistent with the two rounds of competition in the American version, while "If You Don't Accept It, Come For It" has a film and television drama imitation performance, which increases the entertainment effect of the program.

In addition, the production team also made many localized changes in advertising placement, adding subtitles, and actor selection, which was highly recognized by the copyright holder of the "Lip Sync Battle" program.

Previously, Caroline Beaton, Vice President of International Program Sales at Viacom International Media Group, said, "We are excited about working with Sohu to bring Lip Sync Battle to 600 million Chinese users. China has a huge number of music and entertainment talents, and we are confident that this show will be a success in China and become one of the most popular programs on Sohu's online platform."

On the day of the visit, Zhang Chaoyang, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Sohu, also appeared on the show. He gave a very high evaluation of the show, and believed that "Lip Sync Battle" was very consistent with the platform tone of Sohu Video, which has always focused on American dramas and variety shows. At the same time, "spending little money to achieve great things" has also become a manifestation of Sohu Video's high emotional intelligence in recent years.

This small but exquisite alternative variety show has found its own market position with its differentiated positioning against the backdrop of Korean variety shows all over the world. It has taken a unique approach and successfully performed small variety shows that can create great value, injecting fresh blood into the development of domestic variety shows.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.