Idol Producer
Idol Producer, also known as Idol Producer Season 1, is a 2018 Chinese male group competition show, which premiered on January 19, 2018 on iQiyi. It is the first edition of the Idol Producer franchise. It is presented by Lay Zhang with Li Ronghao, Jackson Wang, MC Jin, Cheng Xiao and Zhou Jieqiong serving as mentors. On April 6, 2018, the nine highest ranked contestants debuted as Nine Percent.
Concept
Idol Producer brought together 100 trainees, which represented their companies and many also being independent trainees. The trainees were evaluated multiple times throughout the show by the audience's votes with trainees being eliminated. In the final episode, the nine most-voted-on trainees got to debut as a boy group and were set to promote for 18 months; The voting system is similar to those of South Korean reality television shows Produce 101 and Mix Nine.Coaches
- Lay Zhang — Production director/mentor
- Li Ronghao — Vocal mentor
- Jackson Wang — Rap mentor
- MC Jin — Rap mentor
- Cheng Xiao — Dance mentor
- Zhou Jieqiong — Dance mentor
Episodes
Contestants
Color keyTop 9
| E02 | E03 | E04 | E05 | E06 | E07 | E08 | E09 | E10 | E12 | |
| 1 | Chen Linong | Cai Xukun | Chen Linong | Cai Xukun | Cai Xukun | Fan Chengcheng | Cai Xukun | Cai Xukun | Cai Xukun | Cai Xukun |
| 2 | Cai Xukun | Chen Linong | Zhu Zhengting | Chen Linong | Justin | Zhu Zhengting | Justin | Justin | Chen Linong | Chen Linong |
| 3 | Fan Chengcheng | Fan Chengcheng | Yang Feitong | Fan Chengcheng | Fan Chengcheng | Bi Wenjun & You Zhang Jin | Fan Chengcheng | Zhu Zhengting | Fan Chengcheng | Fan Chengcheng |
| 4 | Justin | Justin | Luo Zheng | Justin | Zhu Zhengting | Bi Wenjun & You Zhang Jin | Zhu Zhengting | Chen Linong | Justin | Justin |
| 5 | Zhu Zhengting | Zhu Zhengting | Fan Chengcheng | Zhu Zhengting | Chen Linong | Ding Zeren | Chen Linong | Fan Chengcheng | Wang Ziyi | Lin Yanjun |
| 6 | He Dongdong | Xiao Gui | Zhu Xingjie | Xiao Gui | Xiao Gui | Xiao Gui | Xiao Gui | Lin Yanjun | Xiao Gui | Zhu Zhengting |
| 7 | Xiao Gui | He Dongdong | Justin | Bu Fan | Bu Fan | Zhou Rui | Wang Ziyi | Mu Ziyang | Zhu Zhengting | Wang Ziyi |
| 8 | Jeffrey | Bu Fan | Cai Xukun | Li Quanzhe | Wang Ziyi | Justin | You Zhangjing | Wang Ziyi | You Zhangjing | Xiao Gui |
| 9 | Bu Fan | Jeffrey | Lu Dinghao | He Dongdong | Li Quanzhe | Qin Fen | Ling Chao | Xiao Gui | Bu Fan | You Zhangjing |
Elimination chart
Color key
| Top 9 | |
| Contestant eliminated in the final episode | |
| Contestant eliminated in the third elimination round | |
| Contestant eliminated in the second elimination round | |
| Contestant eliminated in the first elimination round | |
| Contestant left the show |
Production
Chief producer Jiang Bin has previously produced many well known reality talent shows including S-style Show, I Supermodel and Road to the Runway. The show recruited Cheng Gang, the chief director of Super Boy and Tan Yan, the visual director of I Am a Singer.The coaches for the series were introduced through posters, which were uploaded online. On December 17, 2017, a press conference was held where coaches Lay Zhang, Jackson Wang, Cheng Xiao, Zhou Jieqiong and MC Jin attended. On February 3, 2018, a total of 21 contestants were invited by Lay Zhang to guest star on Chinese variety show, Happy Camp.
Reception
The first episode of the show garnered over 100 million viewers within the first hour of broadcast on iQiyi. Lay Zhang was remarked for his scrutiny towards the contestants during their performances.Discography
Singles
Controversy
Copyright
The show has been accused of plagiarizing the format of South Korean talent show Produce 101 Season 2. The head of formats and development at Mnet, Jin Woo Hwang claimed that “People in our company were shocked because it wasn’t just a similar show – it was almost a duplicate show.”The Format Recognition and Protection Association revealed results of its comparative analysis of “Idol Producer,” launched by China’s iQiyi in January 2018 and South Korean company CJ E&M, the production company of “Produce 101”, which launched in 2016. The analysis concluded that the Chinese show scored 88% on FRAPA’s scale of infringement when compared with the Korean show – it was the highest score ever recorded for an alleged infringement.
Misconduct
Individual trainee Song Shuijiao was forced to leave Idol Producer due to verbal misconduct degrading women widespread over the internet. The trainee participated in the filming of the first episode, but was subsequently edited out prior to the broadcast.Young Culture's Qian Zhenghao was found to have violated dormitory regulations by eating hot pot in the dormitory late at night. A handwritten letter of apology was posted on the official Idol Producer dormitory Sina Weibo account.
Two of MERCURY NATION'S trainees, GIGEL and Wang Youchen, were removed from the show as disciplinary action for ground fighting in the dormitory.