American hit T.V. show The Voice was mimicked from what originated in Holland, originally with the title The Voice of Holland or TVOH. It had first aired on September 17, 2010, while the U.S. Version aired not even a year later in 2011, and the Chinese version aired over a year after the U.S. Version aired its first season. Many shows over the years have been receiving an Americanized makeover, whether it is a competition, reality, or a sitcom show type. Typically these shows originally air in such countries as Germany, Thailand, or the United Kingdom, and both China and the U.S. will conceptualize the original program to create these capitalistic aired programs/shows.
In 2010, NBC purchased the franchise rights to air the U.S. version of the show, and soon to follow were many other countries including Argentina, Germany, Indonesia, Portugal, and many others. Now this may raise questions on whether or not this could pass as cultural appropriation through the recreation of shows in a different cultural format. It isn’t necessarily considered cultural appropriation as the television shows are going through transnationalism, and being re-adapted through another cultural and their own systematics of pop culture. During the 80’s and 90’s there was a rapid growth rate “established the ground for trade in television programs and formats across cultures.” (Er, 2016)
With there being these grounds of trade within the television/entertainment industry it can be known that are being capitalized and hybridized to the culture and nation recreating the program. The show new show will have similar qualities and themes as the originating show or program. Of course the shows will have “certain divergences/modifications occur at particular moments due to culturally different interpretations of certain contentious issues such as religion, domesticity, sexuality, womanhood, taboos, and social stratification.” (Er, 2016)
With The Voice originating in Holland, it portrays is own cultural perceptions of singing, physical appearance, social stratification, and more, whilst the American and Chinese version will have the overall same concept of having four judges listening blindly to a contestant sing, while portraying their own ideals of popular culture, singing, and other social norms.
In Holland The Voice is aired on RTL 4, which has an average audience aging between 20 to 49 years old. Typically a young adult audience to the parental/middle aged audience range, since some will be watching with their children or significant other. The Chinese and U.S. version have similar age viewers, and all pull in millions of viewers per show. Each show market towards the major demographics and cities/states of the nation in which it is aired.
According to Ibrahim Er in his article on Transnational TV Series Adaptations, through the recreation of television shows/media:
[The] meaning is re-formed and manipulated in transnational TV series adaptations through various semiotic modes located in the visual, verbal, and sound tracks of an audio-visual text. Thanks to its transnational frame, it also traces culturally specific connections between such paradigmatic/syntagmatic choices made during a re-production and certain sociocultural and political dynamics of the day, and opens up a new transnational perspective for discussion in the ever-evolving field of multimodality.
With that each version or rendition of the show has the same overall concept, yet will differ quite significantly throughout the regions own sociocultural and popular cultural dynamics. Most competition shows that have different regional variations such as America’s Got Talent, Britain’s Got Talent , American Idol, Canadian Idol, and others with have the concept of the original airing show, yet portray its own unique style and way of the entertainment industry of that nation/region.
All three versions of the show decided the winner of the competition through public vote. The winners of each version however are awarded differently. The Chinese and Dutch winners receive a record deal through a label that resides in the region of the aired show, while the U.S. version is the same in that aspect, it however also offers a cash prize of a hundred thousand dollars.
Unfortunately the running of a show recreated for another nation doesn’t last as long as others, such as the Chinese version, which has been noted that it was cancelled on July 1, 2016 do to a pressing law suit at hand. A directive was issued out by the State of Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film, and Television (SAPPRFT) out of compliance to name regulations and similarities of that of another show airing under two separate production companies.
There isn’t a definitive message given by these shows, other than the cliché message of it doesn’t matter where you came from or who you are, if you have talent then you’ll make it big one day, to all those aspiring artists and musicians out there a like. Overall it is used as a source of competition and musical entertainment for television viewers.
There however is an underlying theme of the globalization of capitalism throughout the transnationalism of “TV and film industries and their attendant cultures of consumption.” (Gillespie, 1995) Essentially when another nation or region sees a foreign concept successfully playing out in the tv and film industry, such as the U.S., they will take the concept or idea and capitalize it to their standards and needs. The show will then be conceptualized to that of the new nation/regions cultural standings.
These redesigned programs and shows can be seen in such light when looking back at the original version of a show, then looking at the remake through it’s appearance, style of directing and writing, cultural norms and values, and other like qualities. Once looking at these things one can start to see the capitalization of transnational tv shows, especially through sitcoms and soap operas.
Overall we, as the viewers, can realize that these remakes aren’t appropriating the culture of the originating regions show or program, but rather recreating the show in another regions sociocultural normalities and standards.
'2016 The Voice of China' Loses Court Case vs. 'The Voice of China' (2016). Retrieved October 09, 2016, from http://en.yibada.com/articles/134506/20160623/2016-the-voice-of-china-loses-court-case-vs-the-voice-of-china.htm
Er, I. (2016, May 19). A Funnier Monk: A Multimodal Approach to Transnational TV Series and Adaptations. Narratives/Aesthetics/Criticism, 1-15.
Gillespie, M. (1995). Television, ethnicity, and cultural change. London: Routledge
RTL Nederland [PDF]. (2013). Holland: RTL.
The Voice (U.S. TV series). (n.d.). Retrieved October 09, 2016, from https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Voice_(U.S._TV_series)
The Voice of China. (n.d.). Retrieved October 09, 2016, from https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Voice_of_China