By Raymond Zhou (China Daily)
Updated: 2007-08-25 07:10

If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?

Here is another dumb philosophical question: If you give a show and nobody applauds, is it a failure?

OK, I made the second one up. But it is a legitimate question.

If you've been to a few live performances in China, you'd think we have the worst performers in the world. If you've been to many, then you'd probably conclude we have the worst audiences.

You see, Chinese people who go to live entertainment rarely applaud, and the reason is much more complicated than you might imagine.

First of all, we live in an age of cynicism. Whatever stunt you pull off, people are going to be blas about it. I've seen Chinese acrobatic shows in both the US and China, and the audiences' reactions were as opposite as day and night. As a matter of fact, most acrobatic presentations in China nowadays are staged mainly for foreign tourists.

This mentality has made the job of impresarios, such as the producers of CCTV's Lunar New Year Eve gala and Zhang Yimou of "Olympic-Opening-Ceremony", more daunting than ever. How can you pique the interest of this been-there-seen-that crowd? This result is bigger, splashier production values and a cast of thousands.

In some places, a one-night-only act may cost more than 10 million yuan and is financed by the local government, who often pushes the cost down to local enterprises and even individuals. This is worse than regular white elephants like giant statues and plazas because the public doesn't even get to stroll around it every day.

A more latent culprit is the death of spontaneity. Many shows, especially those made for television, employ special "warm-up" guys who orchestrate the audience in totally contrived clapping and cheering of thunderous volume. The outpouring of exaggerated joy has served as an effective destroyer of the natural chemistry between performers and watchers.

If you've been through a few of these well-rehearsed applause fests, you'd probably feel it's a mechanical thing one does only when coerced.

That is not to say we Chinese people clap our hands only ceremoniously. When you match the right show with the right audience, you'll get the variegated sounds that can be used to gauge the real reaction. But if you put a rock music lover into an opera house, you'd be lucky if he doesn't doze off.

You may ask: Why would a rock fab go to a classic opera in the first place? It's a long story. When China first opened up, entertainment was for everyone. People gobbled it up with no need of cultivating any discriminating taste. Just take a look at a television show from the early 1980s, and see the hearty laughs and cheers.

Then the market started to segment into niches. But it hasn't been backed up with sufficient information.

There are people who attend a show mainly to flaunt their status or wealth. You'll see executive types in pop concerts fidgeting amid people one generation younger, or official types sitting through celebratory routines that they wouldn't go on their own even if you pay them a thousand bucks.

I once saw a grand function with an endless parade of celebrity entertainers. The applause was so sparse you'd think the audience had been drugged. Even the appearance of superstar Andy Lau triggered only a smattering of clapping. Now, if you fill the auditorium with 5,000 Yang Lijuan types (remember the lady who drove her father to sell their house and then to suicide in order to finance her lunatic pursuit of Lau?), you'd bring the house down.

Email: raymondzhou@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 08/25/2007 page4)