X-Fire was a survival competition show produced by eeMedia, Tencent Video and SM Entertainment and broadcasted on ZheJiang TV. The purpose of the show is to form China’s next idol boyband. Two mentors, Li Yu Chun of the White Team and Shu Qi of the Red Team, guide their team to battle for the top prize—a recording contract and the coveted opportunity to debut. Both mentors each have an assistant to help them guide their team.
X-Fire began recording the first episode on Thursday, Oct. 22, 2015. They filmed until 12AM in the morning, and then Xiao Zhan and his fellow competitors would continue to rehearse the next episode’s songs and choreography. If they’re lucky, they might get two hours of sleep.
From watching the show and observing the timeframe of events happening around that time, here’s a brief overview to get a general sense of Xiao Zhan’s X-Fire schedule:
- Attend team meetings with his mentor, music teacher, choreographer, stylist, set/prop designer, etc. to understand the song, dance, styling, staging etc. that he and his teammates would be doing for the upcoming episode.
- Attend music class to rehearse the song(s).
- Attend dance class to learn the choreography.
- Film promo clips, short MVs, tv ads, and tv shorts for each episode.
- Photoshoots.
- Record his weekly vlogs.
- Film X-Fire Dreams short interviews (when needed)—This was a 15mins long segment with 12 episodes that ran simultaneously with X-Fire and was meant to build up anticipation and increase viewership for the show. It comprises of narrated recaps, never seen before clips and behind-the-scene bonuses.
- Film Teen Channel on Fridays—This show also ran simultaneously with X-Fire and was meant to allow audiences to get to know the X-Fire guys. It aired every Friday at 8pm and each episode is close to 2 hours long where members from the Red Team and the White Team would play competitive games against each other. For the first couple of episodes, the audience would vote who they want to see on the show. Suffice to say, Xiao Zhan was in 10 out of 12 episodes.😁
- Dress rehearsals on stage.
- Rehearsals with teammates in their dorms.
- Keep up with personal fitness.
On top of all this, there could be last minute changes to the routine/set, spontaneous interviews, etc. that could happen, so it’s very important to adapt and pivot quickly in order to survive and stay in the competition.
By the time the press conference came around, they had already recorded about three or four episodes.
Press Conference
On November 19, 2015, the X-Fire press conference was held in Beijing. Both mentors, Li YuChun and Shu Qi, and the judges of the show were in attendance, but the competitors were not. The reason is that they had already gone through one elimination round, so the identity of the remaining competitors cannot be revealed. At the press conference a number of promo clips were shown to hype up the show. The group of 16 competitors were split up into 4 different groups to film these promo clips with different themes. Xiao Zhan was put into the “charismatic gentlemen” group with Wu JiaCheng, Bai Shu, and Xia ZhiGuang and they got to sing the X-Fire theme song “Be a Man.”
At the press conference, X-Fire’s lead director, Ma Hao, explains the premise of the show:
[This show is] to discover and form the next boyband of good-looking, talented guys who can sing and dance. The show will boast live vocals. There will be two mentors, Li YuChun and Shu Qi, who will lead their team and go head to head every week.
—Ma Hao (Lead Director)
***FUN FACT*** Ma Hao was actually the director who discovered Xiao Zhan and invited him to audition for X-Fire! Here is a weibo post she posted about Xiao Zhan after he debuted in X-Nine:
From duo to trio to five members group, all 16 competitors will face rankings and elimination rounds. Which mentor will lead her team all the way through to debut status?
X-Fire premiered on November 21, 2015 on ZheJiang Satellite TV. There are a total of 12 episodes that aired every Saturday at 10pm. The show finale was broadcasted live on February 6, 2016.
Teen Channel Episodes
X-Fire Dreams Episode
Discography
Highlights
Gallery
