Chinese ‘boy band’ with 10-year-olds disbanded after three days

That did not go down well with the public. A storm of criticism arose. Concerns were expressed about the exploitation of the children on Weibo, a social medium in China. “Will the next band soon contain children from toddler care?”, one of the critics scoffed.

The Panda Boys agency went to the dust after two days. It was not about financial gain, the management said, but about “doing something meaningful with children who love to sing and dance”. That couldn’t dampen the outrage, so the agency decided to close the band altogether a day later.

hordes of girls

The popularity of boy and girl bands in China is great, knows Judith van de Bovenkamp, ​​China expert and blogger at China2025.nl. “Two years ago in Shanghai I saw a member of a popular singer of such a boy band surrounded by fans. Hordes of girls wanted to have their picture taken with him. It’s an entire industry, blown over from South Korea. You often see that Chinese bands first go to South Korea, get known there and then come back.”

The Korean music trend K-pop is therefore extremely popular. NOS Stories previously delved into the world around K-pop:

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