Beautiful dreamers Boyband F4 is (almost) dead. Long live Meteor Garden. Three years after the Taiwanese idol drama phenomenon hit our shores, idol drama series are still going strong. What explains their continued success and what can local drama makers learn from their popularity? By Ho Ai Li F4 MAY be breaking up, but the passion for idol-drama serials which the Taiwan boyband helped to pioneer remains hot. In 2001, their trailblazing Meteor Garden revitalised Taiwanese TV drama serials and made the quartet - Jerry Yen, Vic Chou, Vanness Wu and Ken Chu - household names from China to the Philippines. Naysayers at first said Meteor Garden, which spawned a successful sequel in 2002, was merely a passing fad. But three years later, idol dramas, which are targetted at viewers in their teens to the 20s, are still going strong. Mr Paul Chan, SPH MediaWorks' senior vice-president (programming, branding and promotions), links their hit formula to 'beautiful faces, beautiful shooting locations, catchy soundtracks and fairy-tale plots'. 'Youth at this stage in life are making dreams. Never mind if such 'dreams' are practical or not, they're part of growing up. Idol dramas are really about dreams,' he says. The genre has gone on to spawn copycats in China like Beach (2003), starring top Chinese actors Li Yapeng and Zhou Xun. It has also spun off Taiwanese-Korean collaborations like Scent Of Love (2003), and Taiwanese-Singapore efforts like Westside Story (2003), now airing on Channel U. Whereas the early efforts were a sugary confection of youthful dreams and fantasies, the latest hit idol drama in Taiwan mixes in social realism, exploring teen gangs with young and swoonsome leads. Called The Outsiders or Tou-yu, the series, which is sold as VCD sets here, stars newcomer Guo Pin-chao and Lu Ming-chun. MANGA-INSPIRED TAIWANESE dramas screened here used to be mainly overwrought period melodramas, like Ghost Husband or Xue Ke. Usually adapted from the novels of bestselling Taiwanese author Qiong Yao, they were long on histrionics and short on the hip factor. This changed in 2001 with Meteor Garden, which producer Angie Tsai adapted from Japanese manga or comics, which often boasts romantic storylines and characters. Tsai, whose production company Comic Ritz went on to churn out other idol dramas like Marmalade Boy (2002) and The Rose (2003), had set out to appeal to young female viewers specifically. She auditioned 300 guys before she found her four dream men for Meteor Garden. With a Cinderella-like plot which sees the girl-next-door protagonist falling in love with the spoilt-brat hero and classy production values, it has paved the way for Taiwan idol dramas to rival the trendy Japanese ones. They have struck a chord with Asia's young and restless. Meteor Garden and subsequent series like Westside Garden are hits even in non-Chinese markets like the Philippines. There, they have sparked a thirst for chinovelas - drama series from East Asia - in place of the usual Spanish and Mexican fare called telenovelas. Idol dramas have also become entrenched here, making up as much as 25 per cent of programming on StarHub's Chinese entertainment Channel 56, up to 10 per cent on Channel 8 and about 5 per cent on Channel U. But their audience remains a niche one. These shows are often shown outside primetime on the local free-to-air channels. Even hits like Meteor Garden have average ratings of only 8 per cent, lower than top homegrown family dramas like Holland V, which score almost 18 per cent. But they fare better at VCD stores like Poh Kim where they make up as much as 40 per cent of the drama box sets sold. Top titles, like Meteor Garden I and II as well as Westside Story, can sell 10,000 to 20,000 copies. But success has led to a proliferation of teen shows, with standards varying widely. As Ms Ho Soo Fung, MediaCorp TV Channel 8's vice-president of network programming and promotions, says, 'there are too many these days, and they only appeal to a certain group of viewers'. But Mr Daniel Tan, the marketing manager of home entertainment company Alliance Entertainment, feels the genre will stay so long as fresh elements are injected. 'As long as they remain fresh, it will always have its appeal,' he says, citing the popular The Rose, which is about a dysfunctional family. The drama, starring the trio from popular girl group S.H.E., was a hit last year in Taiwan and made pin-ups of its male leads Jerry Huang and Cheng Yuen-chang. LOCAL IDOLS DOES the success of idol dramas hold any lessons for TV productions here? Veteran actor Zhu Houren, now a director and producer with Gateway Entertainment, says: 'Idol dramas are about idols, not dramas. You remember the idols, but not the dramas.' He stresses that such shows are part of the idol-manufacturing industry which includes albums, appearances on game shows and pictorial books. Singapore just does not have the idols or market size to create the same buzz. Sun Koh, an independent film director, however, feels that idol dramas underline the importance of knowing one's target audience well. What are the chances of a hit local version? The track record so far does not inspire confidence. Quasi-idol drama series, Looking For Stars (2000) which starred Fann Wong, 33, and Christopher Lee, 32, and Fantasy (2002) with Michelle Saram, 29, and Chen Hanwei, 34, did not do well. Neither did What A Beauty (2002), which starred Phyllis Quek, 31. Their relative non-youthful ages may explain their lack of appeal to young viewers. In contrast, the stars in Taiwan's idol dramas are typically in their early 20s. But given the right talent and conditions, MediaCorp says it is open to making such shows. It is reportedly planning a youth drama about swimmers. But Mr Chan thinks it is unlikely that local idol dramas will take precedence over family shows. 'Resources are mainly devoted to the production of more family-oriented dramas which appeal to a broader spectrum of viewers,' he says. Not that the young viewers here will feel deprived. After all, they can look forward to catching The Rose and Meteor Garden II on channels U and 8 respectively later this year. Meteor Garden II airs on Saturdays, 7pm on E City, StarHub Ch 56, Westside Story on Mondays, 10.45pm on Channel U and idol drama Sonic Youth on Saturdays at noon on Channel 8 Send your comments to stlife@sph.com.sg