Manufacturing stars?

The singer Jia Ruhan has been employed by the Chinese government and her mission is this: to become the communist country’s first globally recognised recording artist

Is every famous pop star really that talented, that special? Or have we just convinced ourselves – or been convinced – that they are? The truth is, pop stars are created as often as they are born. Consider Jia Ruhan, a classically trained Chinese musician, who has been employed by her country's government, as it seeks to project its cultural "soft power" to the world. She has been given all the tools she needs to promote her music and become China's first globally recognised recording artist.

Ruhan is not the only musician China wants to develop into a global singing sensation. The indie band Carsick Cars also rose to international fame on the back of state support. Shou Wang, the lead singer of the group, told the BBC that “the artists the government chooses to promote – people in China haven’t even heard of them”.

The quest to become a star relies on many things, not the least of which is a little luck. Sometimes, a bit of talent can also help.

However, considering China is the “factory of the world” and that no nation is better able to reverse engineer a product than it, one can be fairly certain that Jia Ruhan will soon be a household name around the world.