''Minutes to Fame'' () is a

game show A game show is a genre of broadcast viewing entertainment (radio, television, internet, stage or other) where contestants compete for a reward. These programs can either be participatory or Let's Play, demonstrative and are typically directed b ...

-style

talent contest A talent show is an event in which participants perform the arts of singing, dancing, lip-syncing, acting, martial arts, playing an instrument, poetry, comedy or other activities to showcase skills. Many talent shows are performances rather th ...

from

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

. It was a weekly program presented by

Television Broadcasts Limited Television Broadcasts Limited (TVB) is a television broadcasting company based in Hong Kong SAR. The Company operates five free-to-air terrestrial television channels in Hong Kong, with TVB Jade as its main Cantonese language service, and TVB ...

(TVB) and broadcast on

TVB Jade TVB Jade (), or simply Jade, is a Hong Kong Cantonese-language free-to-air television channel owned and operated by Television Broadcasts Limited (TVB) as its flagship service, alongside its sister network, the English-language TVB Pearl. Bro ...

in three series from February 2005 to August 2007. The show is intended to be

satirical Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of shaming or e ...

and funny since most of the contestants are inexperienced and are trying to get famous. The show was hosted by

Hacken Lee Lee Hak Kan (; born 6 December 1967), better known as Hacken Lee, is a Hong Kong singer, television host and actor, active from the 1980s until today. In 2013, Lee's song "House of Cards" swept multiple awards in many Hong Kong award ceremonies, in ...

and

Joey Leung Joey Leung Wing-Chung (; born September 10, 1965), is a Hong Kong actor, director, screenwriter / playwright, program host (TV & Radio) and drama tutor. Career He has starred in movies such as ''Girl Boxer'' (2004), ''Master of Martial Arts'' (1 ...

in the first two seasons, who both acted as two of its judges. They were replaced by

Miriam Yeung Miriam Yeung (born 3 February 1974) is a Hong Kong actress and Cantopop diva. As of 2020, she has released more than 35 albums and has starred in more than 40 films. In 2012, Yeung won the Award for Best Actress at the 32nd Hong Kong Film Awards ...

and

Sammy Leung Sammy Leung Chi Kin is an actor under TVB, DJ, singer, and host for Commercial Radio Hong Kong. Life and career Leung was raised in Kwai Shing Estate, and received his secondary education at St. Stephen's College and La Salle College, gradu ...

for the third season. All three seasons featured one or more guest judges in each episode, which varied between episodes.

Background

Inspired by the '' Idols'' franchise, the show gave ordinary

Hongkongers Hongkongers (), also known as Hong Kongers, Hong Kongese, Hongkongese, Hong Kong citizens and Hong Kong people, typically refers to residents of the territory of Hong Kong; although may also refer to others who were born and/or raised in the ...

the opportunity to appear as contestants on stage to sing and perform. Its slogan was "全城盡興，殘酷一叮！" (The whole city (Hong Kong) gets excited for the minutes to fame). The show had received top ratings, and the finals of the first series, on 4 June 2005, reached 33 points on the charts. It has led to the creation of several spinoffs by other Chinese television stations, including Asia TV and

Guangdong Television Guangdong Television (GDTV; ) is a television station in Guangzhou, Guangdong province in China. Guangdong TV is the oldest television station in the province, which covers Guangdong and surrounding provinces. At present, Guangdong TV has a staff ...

, and to collaboration with other

mainland Chinese Mainland Chinese or Mainlanders are Chinese people who live in or have recently emigrated from mainland China, defined as the territory governed by the People's Republic of China (PRC) except for Hong Kong ( SAR of the PRC), Macau (SAR of the PRC), ...

television stations to provide contestants for their own shows, such as

CCTV Closed-circuit television (CCTV), also known as video surveillance, is the use of video cameras to transmit a signal to a specific place, on a limited set of monitors. It differs from broadcast television in that the signal is not openly t ...

's China Dream Show. The program was among TVB's first to recruit competitors from overseas. Starting from May 2005, primaries were not only held in Hong Kong, but also in

Guangzhou Guangzhou (, ; ; or ; ), also known as Canton () and alternatively romanized as Kwongchow or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of Guangdong province in southern China. Located on the Pearl River about north-northwest of Hong Kon ...

Macau Macau or Macao (; ; ; ), officially the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (MSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China in the western Pearl River Delta by the South China Sea. With a pop ...

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

Taipei Taipei (), officially Taipei City, is the capital and a special municipality of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Located in Northern Taiwan, Taipei City is an enclave of the municipality of New Taipei City that sits about southwest of the n ...

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flow ...

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

etc. Similarly, the European branch of TVB, TVB-S Europe, held a Minutes to Fame contest in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

and

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"N ...

on August 28, 2005, and August 29, 2005, respectively. The winner of both contests proceeded in a Minutes to Fame special later that year, where contestants from all over the world competed.

Format

Each episode featured a number of contestants whose objective was to remain on stage for as long as possible. Their act must involve singing one of eight randomly selected songs for each episode, which included

Cantopop Cantopop (a contraction of "Cantonese pop music") or HK-pop (short for "Hong Kong pop music") is a genre of pop music written in standard Chinese and sung in Cantonese. Cantopop is also used to refer to the cultural context of its production ...

Mandopop Mandopop or Mandapop refers to Standard Chinese, Mandarin popular music. The genre has its origin in the jazz-influenced popular music of 1930s Shanghai known as Shidaiqu; with later influences coming from Japanese enka, Hong Kong's Cantopop, Ta ...

, and even English-language

popular music Popular music is music with wide appeal that is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. These forms and styles can be enjoyed and performed by people with little or no musical training.Popular Music. (2015). ''Fun ...

. Besides singing, contestants may also choose to enhance their act by playing an instrument,

acrobatics Acrobatics () is the performance of human feats of balance, agility, and motor coordination. Acrobatic skills are used in performing arts, sporting events, and martial arts. Extensive use of acrobatic skills are most often performed in acro ...

magic Magic or Magick most commonly refers to: * Magic (supernatural), beliefs and actions employed to influence supernatural beings and forces * Ceremonial magic, encompasses a wide variety of rituals of magic * Magical thinking, the belief that unrela ...

, etc. At any point during their performance, any of the judges may strike a

gong A gongFrom Indonesian and ms, gong; jv, ꦒꦺꦴꦁ ; zh, c=鑼, p=luó; ja, , dora; km, គង ; th, ฆ้อง ; vi, cồng chiêng; as, কাঁহ is a percussion instrument originating in East Asia and Southeast Asia. Gongs ...

on the table in front of them, at which point the contestant must stop singing. Their score was determined by the duration of their performance, in seconds, excluding the

introduction Introduction, The Introduction, Intro, or The Intro may refer to: General use * Introduction (music), an opening section of a piece of music * Introduction (writing), a beginning section to a book, article or essay which states its purpose and g ...

, and each second is worth

HK$ The Hong Kong dollar (, sign: HK$; code: HKD) is the official currency of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. It is subdivided into 100 cents or 1000 mils. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority is the monetary authority of Hong Kong and ...

100 in

prize money Prize money refers in particular to naval prize money, usually arising in naval warfare, but also in other circumstances. It was a monetary reward paid in accordance with the prize law of a belligerent state to the crew of a ship belonging to t ...

. At the conclusion of each episode, the contestant with the longest act by duration was the night's winner and qualified for subsequent rounds, and eventually the final round, "Battle for the King" (). While the show was meant to be competitive, judges had been harsh to contestants that they "ding" out, and often make fun of them directly. A

laugh track A laugh track (or laughter track) is a separate soundtrack for a recorded comedy show containing the sound of audience laughter. In some productions, the laughter is a live audience response instead; in the United States, where it is most common ...

was heavily used instantly whenever one-liners or off-key singing was present, supplementing the

studio audience A studio audience is an audience present for the recording of all or part of a television program or radio program. The primary purpose of the studio audience is to provide applause and/or laughter to the program's soundtrack (as opposed to canned ...

's reactions. But sometimes it happened when the contestant was singing well but had an unusual appearance. Note that most Hong Kong variety shows use laugh tracks heavily for network purposes.

Judges and guest judges

Season 1

Season 2

Season 3

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Leo Ku Leo Ku Kui-kei is a Hong Kong Cantopop and Mandopop singer, actor, TV host, model, cartoonist, MV director, and producer and designer. He employs falsetto as a singing technique and was named as one of the "Five Fresh Tigers of TVB". Career ...

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Roger Kwok Roger Kwok Chun-on is a Hong Kong television actor and former singer, who works for the TV station TVB. Kwok was born in Hong Kong, and his native family roots are in Zhongshan, Guangdong. He is one of the three actors who won Best Actor three t ...

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Harlem Yu Harlem Yu (; born 28 July 1961) is a Taiwanese singer-songwriter, television host and businessman. He is particularly well-known for singing the theme song, ''Qing Fei De Yi'', for the 2001 television drama, '' Meteor Garden''. He made a cameo i ...

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Fish Leong Fish Leong (born Leong Chui Peng on 16 June 1978) is a Malaysian singer and songwriter. Having sold more than 20 million records to date, she has achieved popularity and success in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, Singapore, and Malaysia. Ea ...

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Ron Ng Ron Ng Cheuk-hei (, born 2 September 1979) is a Hong Kong actor, singer, and former dancer. He first rose to popularity in the 2003 TVB drama ''Triumph in the Skies.'' He has since starred in several successful television series, most notably ''T ...

Tavia Yeung Tavia Yeung Sin-yiu (; born 30 August 1979), previously known as Tavia Yeung Yi (), is a Hong Kong actress. She is best known for starring in the television dramas ''Vigilante Force'' (2003), ''Moonlight Resonance'' (2008)'', Beyond the Realm o ...

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Bernice Liu Bernice Jan Liu (born January 6, 1979) is a Canadian actress, singer, and commercial model based in Hong Kong. She has previously held the title Miss Chinese Vancouver 2000 as well as Miss Chinese International 2001, the latter position bringing ...

Bosco Wong Bosco Wong Chung-chak (; born 13 December 1980) is a Hong Kong actor, singer, and entrepreneur who gained popularity in the modern drama ''Triumph in the Skies'' (2003). Since then, he has played a diverse spectrum of roles in television seri ...

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Andy Hui Andy Hui Chi-on (born 12 August 1967) is a Hong Kong singer and actor. Hui is considered one of the most successful Hong Kong singers, with an extensive list of Cantonese and Mandarin hits to his credit. Early life Hui's mother is Vietnamese. ...

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Denise Ho Denise Ho Wan-see (born 10 May 1977) is a Hong Kong-based Cantopop singer and actress. She is also a pro-democracy and Hong Kong human rights activist. In 2012, Ho came out as lesbian, the first mainstream Cantonese singer to do so. In 2014, Ho ...

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Ella Koon Ella Koon Yun-na (born 9 July 1979) is a former Hong Kong Cantopop singer and semi-retired actress. Biography Ella Koon was born in the French Polynesian island of Tahiti, and is of Hakka descent. She was raised in Hong Kong and attended high sch ...

Nancy Sit Nancy Sit Ka-yin ( zh, 薛家燕; born 30 March 1950) is a Hong Kong actress on the TVB network. Her acting career dated back to the 1960s, when she was a popular teen idol alongside Connie Chan Po-chu, and Josephine Siao. Sit recorded many a ...

Charles Ying Charles Ying is a Cantopop singer and actor from Hong Kong. After singing the theme song ''Do I Still Love You'' of the film , he was signed by Leon Lai of East Asia Record Production and became one of the new hotly promoted new artists in 2005 ...

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Awards

*TVB Anniversary Awards (2005) **Won: Best Variety or Informative Show **Won: Most Creative Program ***Television Broadcast Limited ©MMV http://www.tvb.com

External links

Minutes to Fame Official Website (Seasons 1 and 2)
TVB original programming Talent shows