English Entertainment
Canxing-Star China’s ‘Brilliant Chinese’ co-developed with Syco rated week’s top show
MUMBAI: Canxing – Star China vice-president of Lu Wei has announced ratings of its new original talent show Brilliant Chinese-Path to Glory. For the past two weeks, over 120 million people have watched episodes 5 and 6 of the series, earning a 4.2% market share, and this week officially ranked #1 across China. The show airs in primetime on CCTV-1 Saturday evenings at 8:00 pm CST.
On its way to be the next major global Format hit, Brilliant Chinese – Path To Glory, is the first Chinese format ready for international distribution with co-development partner Syco, following the announcement of the collaboration in December 2016.
“Brilliant Chinese-Path to Glory takes the talent Format to a new level. Canxing-Star China is thrilled that that our unique variety show has pushed the boundaries showcasing talent from all walks of life. Our Chinese audience can’t wait to choose the winner and we look forward to presenting the format to the rest of the world,” said Star China International Media Limited deputy general manager Iris Xia.
The format for Brilliant Chinese-Path to Glory was developed with Syco Entertainment and Canxing/Star China, as part of a three-year development deal signed with Syco with a primary goal to co-develop large scale global entertainment formats with appeal for the Chinese-speaking world; and the potential for international distribution.
“We are delighted with the show, more than 120 million viewers in the last two weeks cannot be wrong. Working with our friends in China has been a joy and we look forward to even greater success moving forward” said Syco Entertainment global head of television Nigel Hall.
Brilliant Chinese – Path To Glory: This unique talent show takes ordinary members of the public and turns them into television stars. From the fishmonger to the housewife, viewers have been captivated – watching stars being created each week. Four judges representing four categories – Singing, Dance, Variety and Kids – work with their favorites to help members of the public achieve their full potential as artists. The magic happens when all four judges fall in love with an act and the path to glory is opened to the next round.
Judges: The four category judges, each specialising in their area of expertise, are: well-known Chinese television personality, Sa Beining as the head judge. He has been a host on CCTV and involved with many television programs and specializes in the Variety category. Overseeing the Kids’ category is Zhu Dan — a well-known Chinese actress and host, appearing on leading provincial satellite channels. The Singing category will be judged by Cai Guoqing, a prestigious Chinese singer who holds the record for the most performances on CCTV1’s Spring Festival Gala. The Dance category is being judged by Huang Doudou, a Chinese professional dancer and choreographer, who won numerous domestic and International dancing competition awards.
English Entertainment
Ellison takes his Paramount-Warner Bros case straight to theater owners
The Skydance chief goes to CinemaCon with promises and a skeptical crowd waiting
CALIFORNIA: David Ellison strode into a room packed with thousands of cinema owners and executives at CinemaCon in Las Vegas on Thursday and did something rather bold: he looked them in the eye and asked them to trust him.
The chief executive of Paramount Skydance vowed that his company would release a minimum of 30 films a year if regulators greenlight its proposed $110 billion acquisition of Warner Bros Discovery, a deal that has made theater owners deeply, and loudly, nervous.
“I wanted to look every single one of you in the eye and give you my word,” Ellison told the crowd. “Once we combine with Warner Bros, we are going to make a minimum of 30 films annually across both studios.”
It was a confident pitch. Whether it landed is another matter. Cinema operators have already called on regulators to block the deal, and scepticism in the room was hardly concealed.
Ellison pushed back by pointing to recent form. Paramount, born from the merger of Paramount Global and Skydance Media last August, plans to release 15 films this year, nearly double the eight it put out in 2025. Progress, he argued, was already underway.
He also threw theater owners a bone they have long been chasing: all films, he pledged, would run exclusively in cinemas for a minimum of 45 days, drawing applause from a crowd that has spent years fighting for exactly that commitment across the industry.
“People can speculate all they want,” Ellison said, “but I am standing here today telling you personally that you can count on our complete commitment. And we’ll show you we mean it.”
Fine words. The regulators, however, will have the last one.
