Cantonese pop aficionados will be delighted to know that Mango TV and Television Broadcasts Limited (TVB) are highlighting the music genre in a new TV show. Infinity and Beyond, which premiered on April 24, features singers and bands from the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong and divides them into two gender-based teams to compete for audience votes.
From Hong Kong-American pop icon Coco Lee to 17-year-old TVB singing contest laureate Gigi Yim and Hong Kong actor-singer Jerry Lamb, who starred in another Mango TV hit, Call Me By Fire, Infinity and Beyond’s competitors appeal to audiences of all ages.
Renowned mainland names on the stage include balladeer Li Jian, pop singer Bibi Zhou, and emerging star Liu Xijun.
According to San Lian Magazine, the idea for Infinity and Beyond came to Zhou Shan, Mango TV’s vice president, while creating Call Me By Fire. The entrepreneur realized that despite the modern public’s effortless access to new information online, many people feel nostalgic about the past.
One of the most popular performances in Call Me By Fire was the theme song from Young and Dangerous, a classic ’90s Hong Kong crime film series. This specific success incentivized Mango TV to provide a stage for more ‘throwback’ performances.
Power couple and Cantopop veterans George Lam and Sally Yeh kicked off the first episode, which concluded with a group tribute to seminal Cantopop song ‘Boundless Oceans, Vast Skies.’
Infinity and Beyond has proven remarkably popular among Chinese netizens thus far, which isn’t surprising given its subject matter and an all-star cast. On Weibo, a hashtag for the show has accumulated more than 1 billion views in addition to glowing reviews for the program.
“It is hard not to like the show. I haven’t watched a Cantopop show as good as this one for years,” wrote one viewer.
Another posted, “Infinity and Beyond is really touching. I wish I were born and raised in the ’90s.”
New episodes of Infinity and Beyond are aired every Sunday at noon on Mango TV and at 7:30 PM on TVB. The show can also be watched on YouTube, although (fair warning!) it lacks English subtitles.
Cover image via the official Weibo for ‘Infinity and Beyond’
