- Ryugyong Hotel: the first, the only
and the most popular reality show on North Korean Television is now in
its seventh series and continues to draw audiences. The massive tv success
of this format, strongly backed by a government keen to entertain a population
that has grown tired of karaoke, is confirmed by the massive participation
in the selections for this series. Here is a brief reminder of the rules
of the game: 3,000 competitors, people just like you,
drawn from the public at large, will have the opportunity to spend a
whole year as guests in the hotel’s luxury rooms. The competitors
will lead a quiet and completely normal life but will
be banned from any form of gathering or group initiatives. The purpose
of participation is the total fulfilment of the Juche
ideology: “stand
alone”. Every week the state-tv
audience will vote for the person who has best achieved this sacrosanct
principle; they will also nominate the unworthy who will be removed.
The recent inexplicable facts that occurred during the
during the show have a dual effect: on the one hand, the government is
in a state of alert and people fear the format will be suspended; on
the other, these unexpected developments have catalysed worldwide media
attention, turning what could have been a boring pastime into a social
phenomenon. You will remember that, just two years ago, there weren’t
nearly as many people in the queue behind me…
- Yes, but as each of us was many, we were already a multitude! | |
