Fei Cheng Wu Rao (, also broadcast with the titles If You Are the One in Australia and Perfect Match in Malaysia) is a Chinese dating game show hosted by Meng Fei. Loosely based on the Taken Out format, the show is produced by JSBC: Jiangsu Television and taped in Nanjing. It was first broadcast on January 15, 2010, and originally aired twice a week on Saturdays and Sundays until December 2014. From January 2015 to March 2017, it aired on Saturday nights at 9:10 pm on Jiangsu TV. Starting from January 2018 onwards, it airs on Saturday nights at 8:30 pm.
If You Are the One has been a ratings success in China and is now the highest-rated show for Jiangsu TV. Episodes are also widely distributed online. The show is viewed internationally over the internet and satellite television. The show's popularity and social commentary has drawn the attention of academics and foreign media, and after concerns from Chinese regulators in 2011 the show's format was tweaked to de-emphasize factors such as financial wealth.
After a short break from March 2017 to May 2017, If You Are the One returned in a revised format.
In December 2019, it was announced that If You Are the One would return to the original format in January 2020 for the 10th anniversary celebrations. Huang Han and Huang Lei returned for the celebratory episodes, whilst Chen Ming was announced as Jiang Zhenyu's guest speaker replacement for the 2020 season, following the end of the revised 2017 format.
History
Conception and popularity
“If You Are the One" is currently the most-viewed dating show in the Chinese-speaking world. According to Beijing-based CSM Media Research, the audience ratings for Fei Cheng Wu Rao - which as of May 22, 2013 had screened a total of 343 episodes - were 2.77 percent of television viewers, or 36 million, twice as many as the nearest competitor for that timeslot.
The idea of the show was brought to Jiangsu Television by veteran television producer Wang Peijie, who worked in collaboration with Columbia University-educated Xing Wenning. The pair drew inspiration from the Taken Out format, however when the rights for that show were instead won by a rival network, If You Are the One was launched instead. Wang said that the show is a window into Chinese society at large, and that through it, "you can tell what China is thinking about and chasing after." The show's focus was intended to be young professionals. While most of the contestants are in their twenties, there have been instances of male contestants as old as 48 appearing on the show.
If You Are the One experienced great popularity in its first broadcast because of its unique approach to dating and the conversations that are often humorous with friendly insults. The show sought to 'stretch the limits' of what could be discussed on Chinese television. Unlike Taken Out, If You Are the One does not rely on audience participation, use of catchphrases or physical attractiveness among male contestants. Also, different from dating shows in the late 1990s, such as The Rose which mainly discussed private matters such as personality and hobbies, If You Are the One engages more with larger socioeconomic issues such as pre-marriage property notarization and gender equality.
Controversy and revisions In the first half of 2010, the show broke ratings records, with some 50 million watching every episode, an audience second only to the CCTV evening news broadcast Xinwen Lianbo. In the initial format of the show, the contestants reported things such as their annual earnings, their material possessions, etc. During this phase several contestants earned notoriety and became internet sensations. Female contestant Ma Nuo became a media interest after her controversial remarks to a male contestant that she would "prefer to cry in a BMW" than laugh riding on the back of a bicycle. One male contestant, a son of a businessman, was rejected by all 24 women on one episode for egregiously showing off his sports cars and bank statements instead of his life and interests. There have been three different male contestants who have lost the show in the beginning when the female contestants first study the male. Both controversial contestants were some of the most-talked-about people in Chinese entertainment. In addition, concerns were raised that some of the contestants on the show were not who they said they were, and that the TV station was 'planting' contestants to make controversial remarks to increase ratings.
Chinese authorities looked upon the show unfavourably, asserting that it was spreading the 'wrong values' and 'advocating materialism'. State media editorialized against the show on television, in print, and online. Six months after the show first aired, officials from the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television stepped in to regulate the show. SARFT issued two Notifications to standardize Chinese reality TV shows, urging the shows to recall social responsibilities and promoting traditional Chinese virtues. From that point forward, Fei Cheng Wu Rao was to curb mentions of financial wealth and sex, and a third host was added: a party school psychology teacher named Huang Han, who was seen to 'balance' the show to make it more grounded and less controversial as well as adding more banter between the three hosts. A wholesale replacement of the contestant pool with more tame individuals followed. The revised program scrubbed contestant information such as bank account information and salaries, etc. Also omitted is the 'final opinions' on a departing male contestant from the women; previously this part of the show was especially prone to pointed insults and ridicule. Moreover, the original reel of the show must undergo heavy editing before airing depending on length and number of contestants present. Despite the changed format, the show remains extremely popular.
2016 revision In January 2016, as a result of a Chinese judge ruling that the show's name "Fei Cheng Wu Rao" infringed another individual's copyright who owned the same name as the show, the producers temporarily changed the name of the show to "Yuan Lai Fei Cheng Wu Rao" (although the English name seems to have stayed the same). Jiangsu Television station has promised to appeal the ruling.
Between November 19 to December 10, 2016, a series of specials titled "1vs24" was aired where the roles of the genders were reversed with 24 Males taking to the podiums to face a single female. The gameplay of the special episodes was the same as the normal episodes. Another series of 1vs24 specials was aired between March 4 to March 25, 2017.
On December 31, 2016, the Guangdong High Court overturned the decision on appeal by ruling that "Fei Cheng Wu Rao" did not infringe on another individual's copyrights and therefore the producers changed the name of the show back to "Fei Cheng Wu Rao".
2017 revision On April 1, 2017, Jiangsu Television announced that the final episode of If You Are The One in the original format had aired on March 25 with the filming of shows suspended since January, announcing a temporary suspension of the show as it undergoes reformatting for a relaunch late in May. Meng Fei continued to be the host of the revised format of the show. Jiang Zhenyu became the guest speaker. The revised version was first aired on May 13, 2017.
2018 The 2018 version was first aired on January 6, 2018. On February 3, 2018, Huang Lan returned to the show as female commentator, partnering with Jiang Zhenyu.
2020-present The 2020 version was first aired on January 4, 2020 and celebrates 10 years of If You Are the One. The show returned to the original format for 2020 onwards, after 3 years under the 2017 revised format. Chen Ming partnered as the male commentator with Huang Lan. Former guest Huang Han joined in during the special edition aired between January 4, 2020 to January 18, 2020. A new addition, “智推女生” or "Recommended Lady", was introduced in this version, purported to use big data and artificial intelligence to recommend the best match for the single man. The best match is calculated during the first segment and unveiled during the last segment.
Premise
2010 and 2020 edition
Twenty-four women stand in an arc, each behind a podium with a light that they initially turn on. Between 28 March 2020 and 25 April 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of women was reduced to twelve for safe-distancing purposes.
The women face a single man, who chooses one of them as his "heartbeat girl" (simplified Chinese: 心动女生) from sight alone before any conversation between the women and the single man has taken place. The option for the “heartbeat girl” to be picked randomly is also available to the man, should he choose to have her picked this way. His choice of "heartbeat girl" is initially known only to himself and the host of the programme - although there has been one instance where this has been revealed soon after.
The single man uses two or three video clips to reveal some personal information such as occupation, interests, love history and friends' opinions. During each video clip, each of the women decides whether or not he is still "date-worthy" in her opinion by keeping her light on or turning it off. The contestants, psychologists and host frequently exchange banter with each other when video clips aren't being shown.
If a girl doesn't like the man, she will turn her light off (followed by a sound cue).
A new procedural option, "burst light" (simplified Chinese: 爆灯), enabling a woman to signal a special interest in the man, was introduced to the programme in the episode broadcast on 20 October 2012. It can be activated only once per round, and is heralded by a "smashing" sound cue, followed by a show of pulsating hearts, along with the number of the woman who "burst the light", on display screens around the studio. It is essentially the opposite of turning the podium light off; instead, a woman who "bursts the light" is choosing to signal her interest in the man demonstratively rather than just passively leaving her light on. If a woman has activated the "burst light", her light cannot be turned off; instead, her light changes to a pulsating heart display in the 2010 version, or a flashing yellow light in the 2020 version, and she is guaranteed a place as a finalist at the end of the round.
If, after all the videos have been played, there are more than two girls still with their lights on, the man goes and turns off some of those lights, choosing only two of the remaining girls to come up on the stage as finalists. After that, the identity of the man's "heartbeat girl" is revealed. She too is invited onto the stage (if not already there) as a finalist.
If a woman has activated the "burst light", she is invited onto the stage as a finalist. In the 2010 version, this occurs before the two remaining girls come up on the stage as finalists. In the 2020 version, the "burst light" girl is counted as one of the two remaining girls for when the man goes to turn off excess lights, and for when the girls come up on the stage as finalists.
In the 2020 version, the "Recommended Lady" (simplified Chinese: 智推女生) is then revealed, as long as at least one girl keeps her light on. She too is invited onto the stage (if not already there) as a finalist.
In all circumstances, there can end up being two, three or four women on the stage as finalists. If there is one girl remaining, she remains in her podium, and in the 2020 version, the "Recommended Lady" also remains in her podium in this instance.
The man puts to the finalists a question that he chooses from a set menu of queries. Following that, he can put to the finalists an original question of his own. After that, if one of the finalists had "burst the light", she is given an opportunity to explain her interest in the man and why she should be chosen.