12 make the final cut in dating reality show

Heart Signal 7, the latest season of the titular dating reality show, has selected 12 fortunate individuals from a pool of 10,000 applicants to help them find their ideal partners, said the producers during a recent symposium in Beijing.

A total of eight celebrities, including actress Ariel Lin and actor Jerry Yan, have been invited to act as Cupid-like facilitators, fostering connections between potential love interests.

With the new season filmed in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, all the participants come from diverse backgrounds, including a manager at a privately owned company, a consultant from Kazakhstan, and an employee of an internet giant in Shenzhen.

Xu Yang, the program's chief producer, said that television dating reality shows first emerged in the late 1980s, stating that the genre's evolution in various eras has consistently reflected the public's emotional needs during those times.

Xu also shared that the franchise, which debuted its first season in 2018, has maintained stable ratings and market influence by prioritizing the persistent effort to resonate with the younger generation as the primary rule of creation.

Zhang Dexiang, vice-chairman of the China Literature and Art Critics Association, commented that the show effectively captures the emotions of today's youth, offering a window into their perspectives on love and relationships.

Guan Ling, dean of the Broadcasting Research Institute at the Communication University of China, said that the show deliberately demonstrates the exchange and merging of different cultures through participants from diverse backgrounds, making it a unique showcase of the temperament of the area.

Kang Wei, editor-in-chief of China Art Daily, said that the show features some iconic urban landscapes in Hong Kong, as well as Dongguan and Shenzhen in Guangdong province, describing it as a program to reflect the achievements of rapid construction and the ambitious drive of local youth.