Vladislav Ivanov, a 27-year-old Russian, was a “prisoner” of a reality show for three months. It happened in China. Vladislav is a model originally from Vladivostok, Russia. and had started working for a Chinese TV reality show.
This is Produce Camp (Chuàngzàoyíng in Chinese), a Chinese talent show. A format halfway between “Friends” and “X Factor”. The format, originally from South Korea, pits a group of young singers into competition. In every episode they perform, and the home audience votes the best and the worst, and some of them are eliminated. Eventually the last eleven remaining artists must, by contract, form a boyband. The program lasts three months, during which competitors’ phones are confiscated. During their stay the contestants must live in a dormitory on the island of Hainan.
and Vladislav Ivanov, aka “Lelush”, got caught up in it almost by chance and had to wait for the last episode to get out of it. The man worked as a translator, when the production workers, noticing his good looks, offered him to take part in the reality show as a competitor, offering him a “new life”, and Vladislav accepted and signed the contract. But he regretted it almost immediately. The model was catapulted into this world in which he felt no real interest. Right from the start he struggled to maintain the rhythm of the rehearsals and performances planned by the program. He would have liked to leave, but there was a problem: once the contract has been signed, you can exit the program only by reaching the final or being eliminated along the way, under penalty of a large penalty. And that was precisely why Vladislav did not leave the program when he wanted to.
Then he tried in every way to be eliminated. How? Purposely bad singing and dancing. During the ten episodes broadcast it was evident his lack of commitment and dedication, compared to the other competitors. In his first performance, for example, he presented a Russian rap with little enthusiasm.
And then several times he asked viewers and judges directly not to vote for him. «Joining a boy band is not my dream» he told a Chinese newspaper, «because I don’t know how to sing and dance. I hope the judges don’t support me. While the others want to get an A, I want to get an F. Because having it would mean freedom ». In order to get thrown out, he also made striking gestures, like when during the final he started eating a lemon for the camera.
«Please don’t let me make it to the final. I’m tired!” he said during one of the aired episodes. But despite his appeals, fans voted and supported him to the end. Indeed, perhaps it was precisely this way of doing that attracted the unwanted sympathy of the public. On the web he has been called “the most miserable paid slave”. “Leave him at 996!” fans said on the web, referring to the tiring working hours of the Chinese cultural industry, that is from 9 to 21 and 6 days a week. There was no shortage of hashtags to make it come out as #freelelush. Vladislav therefore had to participate in all ten episodes of the reality show and other digital content.
Many accused Vladislav of just acting to get attention, but Ivan Wang, his friend and employer, confirmed that, being a very introverted person, he really has a hard time being on a set in front of a camera.
Finally, on Saturday 24 April, his television “ordeal” ended. For Vladislav the long-awaited elimination has arrived. On his profile Weibo immediately wrote with relief: “I’m finally leaving.” The hashtag relating to his exit from the program has been viewed 180 million times and almost 60,000 are shared. Even the Russian embassy shared it again saying “Congratulations and have a good rest.”