Russian contestant on Chinese boy band reality show finally freed after asking to be voted off for weeks

Vladislav Ivanov won over fans with his lacklustre performances and despondent attitude on the show

Vladislav Ivanov performing on 'Produce Camp 2021'. Courtesy Tencent / WeTV

Music boot camp reality shows are all the rage in China and South Korea, but unfortunately for one participant, that was not necessarily a good thing.

Vladislav Ivanov, 27, who speaks fluent Mandarin, was working on the Chinese reality boy band TV show Produce Camp 2021 as a translator for two friends. This is when he was approached by producers who asked if he was interested in joining the show because of his looks.

Ivanov, a part-time model, says they asked if he'd "like to try a new life" and he agreed, but seemed to instantly regret that decision. After giving half-hearted performances and asking viewers to vote him off the show for weeks, Ivanov was finally granted his wish after three months – and making it all the way to the final round of the show.

Produced by Chinese tech company Tencent, Produce Camp 2021 focuses on 90 local and overseas contestants vying for their spot in an international boy band that would comprise 11 participants chosen from the show.

Ivanov gave himself the stage name of Lelush, taking his name from Lelouch Lamperouge, a character from his favourite Japanese anime series Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion.

Early on, his despondent attitude about being on the show seemed to attract fans even more. He repeatedly said he didn't want to be in the contest and begged the audience to stop voting for him so that he could go home.

“Becoming a member of a boy band is not my dream as I can’t sing and dance,” he said in Mandarin on the show. “I hope the judges won’t support me. While the others want to get an A, I want to get an F as it stands for freedom.”

During the first round, while other contestants gave impressive, passionate performances, he performed a half-hearted and rushed Russian rap called Jackpot.

Yet his performance was a hit with the audience who seemed to love his reluctant and bored attitude while rapping. "Please don't make me go to the finals, I'm tired," he said in a later episode.

After making it to the final, surviving 10 episodes over the course of three months, he grumpily ate a lemon on camera, and said he hoped people would not support him again. “I’m not kidding,” he said.

Ivanov was unable to leave the show of his own accord as he had signed a contract which stipulated he would have to pay a fine if he breached it.

He was eventually voted out in the final episode, which was broadcast on Saturday. A Weibo hashtag related to his exit was viewed more than 180 million times and reposted more than 59,000 times, including by the Russian Embassy in Beijing. "Congrats, have a good rest," the embassy said.

While some thought that Ivanov's appearance was part of a publicity stunt to boost attention to the show, his friend and agency executive Ivan Wang, who hired him to translate, said otherwise.

"He declined repeated participation requests by the director of Produce Camp 2021. He just said yes after getting bored on the island. He thought joining the show might help his introverted personality."