China’s Produce Pandas/Boy Bands

[Randy W]

Why China’s Produce Pandas Are More Than Just a ‘Big’ Deal
The unlikely boy band has made headlines for challenging stereotypes about how idols should look, but to their gay fans, they represent something more personal.

from the Sixth Tone

A promotional photo of the Produce Pandas. From @熊猫堂ProducePandas on Weibo

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Hyped as China’s first “XXL boy band,” the charmingly rotund Produce Pandas are older, hairier — and, yes, heavier — than much of their competition on the show. Since releasing their debut single, “La La La,” last summer, the band has carved out a niche for itself in China’s music scene, especially on short-video platforms. But despite hundreds of millions of plays and tens of millions of likes, their appearance on “Youth With You” was the first time most Chinese had ever heard of them. That’s partly because of how segmented China’s algorithmically focused music industry has become, and partly because Produce Pandas’ niche is relatively small: gay men.
Like many other gay men, I first learned of the band’s existence from short-video platform Douyin. The video introducing me to them portrayed their cover of a dance routine set to the song “Ai Rui Ba Di” — a humorous transliteration of the English word “everybody” — which had been featured on another talent show, “Sisters Who Make Waves.” Although ostensibly indistinguishable from straight guys, their looks immediately evoked for me an image gay men often work hard to cultivate: that of the bear.

 

[Randy W]

Not everyone is amused by China’s newest — and youngest — boy band. On Monday, state broadcaster CCTV said involving children in showbiz is “absurd,” adding that the country’s idol industry shouldn’t profit at the expense of minors.

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