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　　Super Girl lays her claim to fame

　　By Geoff lemon

　　Students Zhang and Li li discuss a talent-show audition.

　　Li li: Hello Zhang, are you OK? I didn’t see you at school yesterday.

　　Zhang: Li li, I told the teacher I was sick, but I’ve got a secret!

　　Li li: What is it?

　　Zhang: I went to Chengdu yesterday so that I could try out for the Super Girl TV show.

　　Li li: Wow Zhang, did you really? That’s fantastic. Tell me what it was like.

　　Zhang: It was just amazing. But I was so nervous—I almost forgot my lines.

　　Li li: Did you sing? You have a beautiful voice.

　　Zhang: Thanks. Yes, I played guitar and sang a sort of folk song that was popular in the 1960’s.

　　Li li: Fabulous. What was the song?

　　Zhang: Oh, I don’t think you know it. It is called Big Yellow Taxi. It’s a kind of nostalgic tune that makes people think about why they should give up old values to accept new ones that are not as good. It “sort of” questions blind progress. I think the tune suits my voice well.

　　Li li: Great! So tell me how did you do?

　　Zhang: Oh， the judges seemed quite positive. At least they didn’t laugh at me.

　　Li li: What about the other contestants?

　　Zhang: Well, to tell you the truth， I only saw two other girls. Actually they film each show over several days and then just edit the film together. So when you see it on TV it all looks like it has been done on the one evening.

　　Li li: That makes sense. So... what were the other contestants like.

　　Zhang: There was this one girl from Hunan who was really funny. I can’t explain her act. It was what you might call visual comedy. I think it is called mime. And then another girl who was very beautiful did some modern dance which was very graceful.

　　Li li: Do you think that you’ll win?

　　Zhang: Who knows？ I can’t tell. But I won’t be upset If I don’t win. I really just wanted to have the experience of going on television. It’s quite eye-opening to see how these TV productions are made and to meet some of the stars.

　　Li li: Oh, I’m so envious. I’d love to do that. But I’m afraid that one of those judges would say something too harsh and make me really upset.

　　Zhang: Well, they are just ordinary people too you know. Actually I met Hei Nan, that really difficult judge, before the show.

　　Li li: Oh... I know who you mean. He says some terrible things sometimes.

　　Zhang: The funny thing is, he’s really quite a nice guy. He was very supportive before we began and gave me some great pointers. But he also warned me not to take anything he said to me on camera too seriously. It’s all part of show business after all, and the judges are also performers. Otherwise the show would not be nearly as popular as it is.

　　Li li: Well, I really wish you the best of luck and I hope that this is your ticket to fame.

　　Zhang: Hee hee. Well, we all can dream, can’t we? Why don’t you give it a try. I bet you could have all those judges eating out of your hand with some of those jokes you tell. I’m always laughing at the stories you make up. You’ve got a real gift!

　　Li li: Do you think so? You know, I might just give it a try. I always wondered what it would be like to be a talk-show host.