ORGANISING any kind of cross-border concert can be a nightmare maze of bureaucratic red tape and cultural sensitivity. Anyone who has attempted it could probably tell you that, although they won't because it might jeopardise further deals.
While the details might not be as complicated as cross-border political issues, there is little doubt there has to be a lot of diplomatic dancing around. For that reason alone, Channel V ought to be congratulated for successfully holding the annual Channel V Chinese Music Awards '98 for the first time on the mainland.
MTV Asia tried to upstage Star TV with a planned awards ceremony in Beijing five days earlier than Channel V's show in Shanghai on February 8, but had the carpet pulled from under it instead when details could not be worked out and the show was 'indefinitely postponed' at only three days' notice.
Not that Channel V is gloating, although Star TV executive chairman Gareth Chang Cheng-chung did say that Star's strategy was to 'do it, then talk about it' and not vice versa.
Shanghai was chosen this year, said Mr Chang, because of the city's status as a contemporary centre for the arts. 'This kind of music programme is a new trial for us all because the conditions are different here. However, there seems to be a local acceptance for Chinese songs. I am very happy with the results. We might consider Hong Kong because it's never been done there before. We don't rule out other Chinese places or other cities in China as well,' he said. However, he admitted that Hong Kong singers' contractual obligations with TVB might prove a big hurdle to the show being held here.
From the outset in Shanghai, however, it was obvious that everyone was playing by a different set of rules at the fourth of Channel V's annual awards, held for the past three years in Taipei. The first rule was that there would be no press interviews or photo-taking sessions outside the entrance to the Pudong Shangri-la where regional media and stars were staying.
