Hongkong Stars In, Male Pop Idols Out For CCTV’s Prestigious Mid-Autumn Festival Gala

Among the attendees this year are 26 artistes from Hongkong, including Nicholas Tse, Joey Yung, Twins, Simon Yam, Jordan Chan, Julian Cheung and Myolie Wu.

But what really got netizens talking was the absence of It boys like Wang Yibo, Karry Wang and Cai Xukun, who were all considered shoo-ins to make the guest list.

Now sources say that CCTV is trying to curb the popularity of’ these young stars, who are also known as 'liulang idols'. 'Liulang idols' are stars who bring in huge amounts of traffic to a streaming platform because of their huge fanbases, and many attribute their popularity to their good looks rather than their talent.

Their fans are also the ones who have gotten in trouble for fighting with fans of other artistes, or mobilising their numbers to organise boycotts if their idol does something that they disagree with.

That isn’t to say that younger stars have been completely left out from the guest list: Ouyang Nana, 21 and Guan Xiaotong, 23, will be attending the event. Both of them started off as child actors, and are not regarded as 'liulang idols'.

Photos: PBE Media