“菊家軍”刷屏,非主流美女歌手王菊一夜爆紅 Talent show star Wang Ju won hearts overnight with her candor, personality, nerve and taste. If you still don’t know who she is, don’t be surprised if you’re called a juwairen — a homophone for “outsider” in Chinese. More and more netizens are voting for this 26-year-old contestant in Tencent’s “Produce 101,” an adaptation of a South Korean TV show of the same name that aims to select 11 women to form a new pop act. The reality show registered 13,778 applicants in total, and the Weibo hashtag reached 7 million reads after its seventh episode, which aired on June 2. Three weeks ago, Wang was on the verge of elimination and pummeled with body shaming on social media, but the detractors gradually woke up to her charisma after the fourth episode where, among a crowd of weeping trainees in the first round of elimination, she stayed unruffled. Wang seized her final chance to stay by applying to be an “auditor.” In the next two episodes, her talent and personality shined through. Now, she has secured “trainee” status. Some said Wang is the opposite of what people would expect from a member of girl group, as she isn’t as young, slim, light-skinned or conventionally beautiful as other contestants. However, Wang’s fans adore her for being a representative of independent and ambitious young Chinese women. She attributed her body positivity to working at a modeling agency. “Ever since I started working at the agency, ‘be myself’ has been my motto,” the tanned and sturdy 26-year-old reflected. When asked if she missed the days when she was slim and fair-skinned, she smiled and shook her head. When faced with veteran TV host Ma Dong, who was invited to the show as a special guest, she said, “I think of myself as someone with ability. So why should my ability be less attractive than the other girls’ good looks?” Wang also impressed a national audience, termed “girl group creators” on the show, by urging them to reconsider what it means to be “the No.1 Chinese girl group.” Her plea struck a chord with male and female voters alike. “Wang Ju not only represents the aesthetic of a small group of people, but also represents the possibility of overturning rigid aesthetic concepts,” commented Tian Kele, a popular Zhihu user. Some compared Wang’s popularity with that of the 2005 winner of “Super Girl,” Li Yuchun, whose fans voted for in their droves. She went on to become a superstar. (SD-Agencies) | 