iQIYI Responds on Status of “Youth With You 3” Recording
Chinese idol survival show, Youth With You 3 <青春有你 3>, was ordered by authorities to halt production and look into several controversial issues. On May 8, rumors surfaced that Youth With You 3 defied government orders and allegedly filmed its finale segment secretly.
The popular show was recently hit by a spate of negative publicity, with one of its top trainees Tony Yu Jingtian (余景天) withdrawing from the show due to cited “health reasons.” The 18-year-old faced outcries over his dual citizenship and his family being accused of dabbling in illegal business.
In addition, iQIYI was under fire for linking the voting process to the purchase of yogurt drinks. Fans spent millions of dollars on yogurt drinks so they could use the QR codes on the drink bottles to vote for their favorite trainees. Even though most of the drinks were subsequently resold or donated, a viral video showed many pouring the yogurt drinks down the drain. This provoked rebuke from the government, who criticized such idol contests for promoting food wastage.
Embroiled in Controversy
Responding to government orders, iQIYI responded on May 7 that it would make necessary adjustments to the show’s mechanics, and work with relevant parties to reach a resolution for the show’s supporters who have bought related dairy products in order to vote for their favorite contestants.
Low-profile Filming to Keep Things Hush
However, on May 8, netizens and fans came to know that the production company of Youth With You 3 was holding rehearsals for the anticipated finals. On social media, hordes of fans were seen gathering at the entrance of the set with a variety of posters, placards and even neon signs, in support of their favorite trainees.
According to fans, production crew kept the affair highly secretive and forbade low-level staff from entering the premises, with only higher management on site to keep an eye on filming. Some even shared that despite official instructions, the production unit had in fact gone ahead with filming but named it a “rehearsal” to stay under the radar.
While there had been no official confirmation, most netizens are convinced that the rumors were true due to the presence of fans having stayed until late at night, with some fans even complaining that they were feeling unwell from the long wait.
iQIYI Responds to Floating Rumors
With the different rumors floating around, iQIYI released an official statement on Weibo on May 9 to clear up matters. “At present, the production group decided to terminate the program recording and cancel the finals. So far, the production group has not announced any news. Some of the news floating on the Internet and so-called ‘official Weibo’ accounts are false information.”
This article is written by JoyceK for JayneStars.com.
“Youth with You 3” Ordered to Stop Production Due to Tony Yu’s Controversies
I’m so upset about this cancellation. I just watch the Instructor-trainees collaboration episode last night and watch the final 20 choose their parts for the final performance. They were so happy. The final is supposed to be a live, with no edit on the performances. I was so looking forward to it.
Why can’t Iqiyi continue the finals after the investigation? And those busybody netizens. Why are they so keen on killing the show? The trainees work so hard for it and the voters spending all those money for naught.
@kidd me too! I was looking forward to the finale as well. I even voted my favorite guy on the daily!! At first I thought they were delaying the filming, but I guess now it has been terminated. I really feel bad for the 20 contestants. I also agree with you on these so called netizens. I feel like that they have nothing else to do, but to bring people down. Every time I read some kind of news, the cause would be those netizens. They seem to have all the time in the world to dig out some crap and expose the bad stuff. It’s already bad what’s going on in the world, but why do they have to bring so much negativity?? I feel they need to be better. Sorry for the rant! Ha!
are they really cancelling everything? oh my. where are the trainees residing? are they living in the dorms or back in their homes? if they are in the dorms, chances maybe the show could continue but if they are already home, doubt that iqiyi would revive it.