HUNDREDS of millions of viewers tuned in to the final of China’s version of the Pop Idol television show, setting a record for the country, but it may be axed next year by censors who are worried about its vulgarity and democratic pretentions.

Li Yuchun, 21, was named the champion of Super Girl 2005, drawing 3.5 million text message votes. Li and the two other finalists drew an audience bigger even than the estimated 400 million who watched the Chinese New Year Festival Gala on China Central Television, state media said. No specific figures were available.

The three-hour final, broadcast live on Friday night, was a triumph for the local broadcaster in Hunan province that produced the show. Fans massed on the streets of Beijing and other cities to cheer on their favourite.

Zhu Dake, a cultural critic, speaking to the state-run China Daily, said: “It’s like a gigantic game that has swept so many people into a euphoria of voting, which is a testament of a society opening up.”

But not everyone was happy with the show’s methods or its result. The China Daily asked: “How come an imitation of a democratic system ends up selecting the singer who has the least ability to carry a tune?” Li, 21, from southwestern Sichuan province, narrowly beat Zhou Bichang, 20, who received 3.2 million text message votes.

China’s propaganda tsars are even less impressed by the second year of the Mongolian Cow Sour Yoghurt Super Girl Contest, to give it its full title. One official of the main broadcasting regulator has said that the show could be taken off the air if it fails to correct its “worldliness”. Critics from CCTV, the state-run broadcaster, initially labelled the show vulgar, boorish and lacking in social responsibility.

Sources said that censors were concerned that the democratic methods used to select the winner from 120,000 entrants could stir trouble. For weeks fans have been crowding shopping centres across the country, carrying posters of their favorite contestants in an attempt to rally votes for them. On Friday the streets of Changsha, the capital of Hunan, were swamped with thousands of fans who celebrated until dawn. Security guards were called in last week at two shopping centres after Super Girl fans became unruly.

The songs sung in the final did bow to political correctness. They included folk songs, communist favourites and Western numbers such as The Colour of My Love, by Celine Dion, and Ricky Martin’s Maria. Gone were the raunchier songs of previous rounds.

IDOL EYES

UK Pop Idol topped 12 million viewers for the show’s final in 2003



US Nearly 48 million viewers watched the final of American Idol last year

India The audience for Indian Idol hit 48 million

Australia In 2003 3.3 million watched the final of Australian Idol