Hit Chinese dance show is coming to Western audiences

A hit Chinese street-dance competition TV show will be making it's way to English audiences in 2019.

Described by U2K as "akin to 'Lip Sync Battle and 'The Voice', but based around dancing instead of singing, with a strong AI component", "Hot-Blood Dance Crew" has been a massive hit in China, popularizing the phenomenon of street dance among Chinese youth.

(From left) Hong Kong singer and actor Jackson Wang of South Korean boy group GOT7, Chinese singer and actor Lu Han, Hong Kong singer and actor William Chan, Chinese singer and actress Victoria Song or Song Qian attend a press conference for the reality talent TV show "Hot-Blood Dance Crew" in Shanghai, China. [Photo: IC]

The original four mentors of the Chinese show have a tremendous background: Lu Han was once a member of the incredibly successful k-pop group EXO, Jackson Wang a Hong Kong rapper and member of GOT7, Actor William Chan, and actress Victoria Song.

"U2K's decision to remake 'Hot-Blood Dance Crew' for English speaking audiences is truly a testament to the cross-cultural appeal of iQIYI's original variety show content," said Chen Xiao, Vice President at iQIYI.

"We're delighted at the prospect of iQIYI's innovative variety show formats achieving global appeal, as iQIYI builds its profile as a leading global producer of high-quality video content."

As the first original Chinese online variety show simultaneously broadcast on both domestic and overseas platforms, "Hot-Blood Dance Crew" was broadcast abroad via Rakuten VIKI in North America, as well as being distributed through multiple Asian channels including Malaysia's Astro, Starhub TV in Singapore and myTV SUPER in Hong Kong.

The first season started earlier this year with 12 episodes and was very well received. 93% of Google users enjoyed it, ad it received 9.1/10 and 8.8/10 on various review websites.

One reviewer wrote: "The show is a hit man!!! Luhan is amazing love that the show is on fire man!"

Another wrote: "this is a whole new level. The dancers are probably best dancers of their country. Awesome."

Details of its western release date are not yet known.