Tears, wild hair and unhealthy songs are banned when China's latest version of "American Idol" goes on the air next month. ‘Weirdness’ banned in Chinese version of ‘Idol’ ...

Virtual idols have problems, too, though. Take Carol (pictured), the lead singer of a-soul, one of China’s most popular virtual bands.Its creators are backed by ByteDance, a Chinese tech giant.

State regulations last month banned “irrational star-chasing” in the latest of a series of crackdowns across Chinese society. Read more at straitstimes.com. Read more at straitstimes.com.