Pan Dongzi(r) says: "Sign up for CCTV singing Contest now!" The picture is from "Sparkling Red Star: Pan Dongzi Competing in Singing Contest." (File photo)

    BEIJING, April 18 -- "Online satirical video" has been a hot phrase since videographer Hu Ge's comic video of the big-budget film "The Promise." Now the upcoming CCTV singing contest is under comic attack.

    

Pan Dongzi in the movie "Sparkling Red Star" (File photo)

A video called "Sparkling Red Star: Pan Dongzi Competing in Singing Contest" uses clips from the 1974 patriotic film about the Chinese revolution "Sparkling Red Star." The video dubs the movie clips to tell the story of a boy competing in the 12th CCTV singing contest, which runs through August.

    In the 10-minute video, Pan Dongzi, the hero of the 1974 movie, enters the CCTV singing contest to gain fame. The evil landowner Hu Hansan becomes a foolish judge in the contest. Pan's father changes from the peasant in the original movie to the Beijing real estate tycoon Pan Shiyi. The video also mocks the quiz section of the CCTV singing contest and the winners' getting instant fame.

    Unlike "The Promise" director Chen Kaige, who was enraged by Hu Ge's "A Bloody Case That Started From a Steamed Bun," CCTV is taking the joke more gracefully. Qin Xinmin, chief director of the singing contest and supposedly the foolish judge in the video, said: "As long as there is no hostile attack on us, I don't care. No matter what your comments are on the singing contest, you can talk to us through legal channels. Hurting others is not acceptable."

    However, some commentators on the cultural scene say using the political movie "Sparkling Red Star" for satire is going too far. No matter how interesting or funny the video is, the classic revolutionary film seriously reflects history. Ridiculing the hero is unacceptable.

    The producer of the online video is still unknown but the credit in the picture is Hu Daoge, somewhat similar to Hu Ge. Hu has said that he has nothing to do with the video.