VIVE ORIGINALS, the XR original content production and distribution arm of HTC, has officially launched a new virtual idol audition show called VPOP ASIA.
Built on VIVE ORIGINALS' years of experience and technology in virtual production, the show combines Chinese-language pop music IP, performances by virtual characters, and distribution across multiple platforms. Through the format of a virtual idol audition show, it presents a content production model that brings together technology entertainment, music content, and digital IP, and is positioned as a platform for expanding collaboration in Asia's virtual entertainment content industry.
Around the world, the entertainment industry has been accelerating its adoption of virtual characters, digital avatars, interactive content, and cross-platform distribution. Virtual idols, too, are expanding beyond community and subculture spaces into music performance, program production, brand collaborations, digital IP, and other broader entertainment applications.
Centered on Chinese-language pop music, VPOP ASIA brings virtual characters, digital stages, and real performers together to reinterpret roughly three decades of Chinese-language pop music. The show is distributed across television, OTT, YouTube, Twitch, and other platforms to reach a wider audience with virtual idol content.
VIVE ORIGINALS General Manager 劉思銘 commented: "We want to create a 'fast pass' for Taiwan's virtual entertainment to reach the world. Building on HTC's virtual technology, we are launching VPOP as a cultural initiative that fuses Chinese-language music trends with technology, opening a new path of 'high-tech, fully digital' content development for pop music."
VPOP ASIA represents a new attempt to bring virtual idol content into television and mainstream entertainment distribution, while also reinterpreting Chinese-language pop music through virtual character performances, digital stages, and cross-platform distribution.
Carrying forward the culture of Chinese-language pop music while introducing new forms of character and content expression, the show aims to create a new entertainment experience for the next generation of viewers.
Going forward, VIVE ORIGINALS plans to use VPOP ASIA as a starting point to gradually expand collaboration opportunities across Asia and into global markets, working with more content platforms, the music industry, entertainment brands, and overseas creators to explore the possibilities of virtual characters, music content, and digital IP.
劉 added, "What we are working on is not recreating nostalgia, but creating the future."
VPOP ASIA began broadcasting on Taiwan's TVBS歓楽台 and CATCHPLAY+ on July 18. From July 23 onward, it will also be distributed weekly on the official VPOP ASIA YouTube and Twitch channels every Thursday at 9:00 PM (Japan time).
Virtual Characters and Real Performers Share the Stage, Reinterpreting 120 Classic Chinese-Language Songs
VPOP ASIA was produced over a year and a half by a team led by VIVE ORIGINALS General Manager 劉思銘. Fifteen virtual trainees reinterpret 120 classic Chinese-language pop songs spanning roughly the past three decades, with 29 musicians, artists, and producers active in the Chinese-language music scene taking part in production and judging.
The show combines advanced 3D virtual technology with live-action performance, using motion capture to bring the virtual characters' stage performances to life, so that virtual idols and real performers create the show together.
Not only the visuals of the virtual idols that viewers see on screen, but also the host, the rotating panel of judges, the band providing live music, and the performers acting out the virtual characters behind the scenes are all played by real people.
The show is hosted by Lulu (黄路梓茵), who is taking the stage as a host alongside virtual idols for the first time. Since no performers physically appear on set, Lulu had to check the virtual characters' positions, height, and timing through a monitor while performing reactions such as conversation, high-fives, and hugs.
Watching the finished footage, Lulu was surprised by the result, commenting, "Has our technology really come this far?" She also noted that the judges on set were amazed that performers' movements could be captured in real time through the motion-capture equipment they wore.
29 Chinese-Language Musicians and Artists Join as Judges, with Japanese VTuber Kson Making a Special Appearance
Each episode of VPOP ASIA features a different lineup of judges. Twenty-nine well-known musicians and artists representing the Chinese-language music scene take part, evaluating the virtual trainees from a range of professional perspectives including composition and production, singing, stage performance, and market appeal.
Japanese VTuber Kson also makes a special appearance. Well known within Japanese and international virtual creator communities, her appearance adds a cross-border virtual entertainment element to the show, while also signaling VPOP ASIA's future direction of connecting virtual creator and entertainment communities across Asia.
For the latest updates, follow the official VPOP ASIA Facebook and Instagram accounts.
The official VPOP ASIA YouTube channel will stream the full episode starting Thursday, July 23, at 8:00 PM Taiwan time / 9:00 PM Japan time: https://www.youtube.com/@VPOPASIA/videos
