MTV Asia Hitlist

MTV Asia Hitlist
Created by MTV Asia
Starring MTV VJs
Country of origin Asia
Production
Running time 1 hour with adverts.
Release
Original network MTV
Original release January 1, 1996 – 2005 (replaced by Chart Attack)

MTV Asia Hitlist is an Asian chart show or countdown on MTV Asia, produced by MTV Asia and hosted by MTV VJs, which first aired in 1996. It resembles the MTV US show TRL, which also featured music videos in a countdown. From 1996-1999, the show presented the Top 20 videos in Asia, lasting for two hours with advertisements. However, in 2000, it was reduced to the Top 10, now consuming only one hour. A year later, the Top 20 was brought back this time lasting only one hour as not all the videos were shown. "One Sweet Day" by Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men was the first single to top the charts.

History

It was believed that MTV Asia had yet to come up with an update as to what shows can bring viewers' attention to the Asian version of MTV. Since MTV Asia had less shows, the producers decided to create a countdown that resembled the Billboard Hot 100, however, having Asia as the direct source of popularity. The show became as instant success, as different genres were able to enter the countdown due to Asia's diversity to music. Artists like the Backstreet Boys, Jennifer Lopez, Mariah Carey, the Spice Girls, Britney Spears, and Green Day were known to be chart toppers in the Hitlist.[1]

Reformat

After four years of having the Top 20 videos being broadcast, the network decided to lessen the number of videos to ten since there were many shows to accommodate.[1] In 2000, only the Top 10 were shown, though people speculated that the producers tabulated the Top 20, since there were "bubbling up" videos that were shown to the audience. After a year, they resumed the Top 20, this time, acquiring only one hour, since not all videos from the Top 20 were shown.

Affiliations

The MTV Asia Hitlist is based on viewers' requests, album and singles sales, radio airplay and music downloads.[2] Determining the singles that enter the Top 20 is in cooperation of the record labels and companies, Nielsen Soundscan, and the Asian 100 Singles Airplay. In Asia, the MTV Network works in cooperation with extensive research from local MTV stations like MTV Indonesia, MTV India, MTV Philippines, MTV Mainland China, and MTV Japan.

Policies

Policies in the Asia Hitlist have been made in accordance to charting songs in the countdown. Several songs may have been given consideration due to its extreme reception in the Asian market. Various reasons for charting songs have special cases, and are deliberated by the makers of the MTV Asia Hitlist.

Multiple Entries

Artists may have multiple entries in the chart, and may occupy the top positions at the same time, which happened in 2002, where the Top 3 songs in one week were all of Mandy Moore's songs from her movie "A Walk to Remember." "Cry," "Someday We'll Know," and "Only Hope" occupied the Top 3 positions in May 2002, and all songs were able to top the charts, earning Moore her first three #1 singles.

Scope Release

Regardless of the scope of release, Asia was exempted from US and UK release. One example is "Born To Make You Happy" and "From The Bottom Of My Broken Heart" by Britney Spears. "Born To Make You Happy" was released in the UK and other parts of the globe except for the US, while "From The Bottom Of my Broken Heart" was only released in the US. In the Asia Hitlist, both singles charted with the former topping the chart for 2 weeks, and the latter peaking at #2.

Double-sided Releases

Double-sided releases were not considered to be a major factor in Asian releases. It was noted that each of the singles chart differently, since both songs totally differed from another. One example is the double-sided single "Mama" and "Who Do You Think You Are" by the Spice Girls. Considered a double-sided single in the UK, it charted in the Asia Hitlist as two different entries, with each video justifying its eligibility to chart. However, in the case of Mariah Carey's "Always Be My Baby," which was double-sided with "Slipping Away," the former charted as the official release excluding the latter from gaining popularity. "Always Be My Baby" became Carey's #1 hit while "Slipping Away" was disregarded and was not released.

Video Accompaniment

Charting songs have been completely eligible when there is an accompanying music video, which is used for commercial release. The first song to chart without a commercial video release was "Incomplete" by Sisqo, his second number one. The single didn't have an accompanying video for a release, but eight weeks later after charting, an official video was released. The song was not aired during the period wherein there was no accompanying video, and a picture of Sisqo was shown during recaps of the countdown. It was only after it fell from the top spot that that video was released, thus the airplay of the song was eligible.[3]

Remixes

In the early years of the Hitlist, remixes were eligible to chart if it was a dance remix or "radio" mix of an album's cut. It means that a remix's eligibility to chart depends entirely on the original version, since both versions are credited as one. The more popular the remix is, the higher the chart position. In 1999, Mariah Carey's single "I Still Believe" came out with a remix featuring Da Brat and Krayzie Bone entitled "I Still Believe/Pure Imagination." Since it was an entirely different track from the original, it was considered to chart as a different entry. Conflict arose with her next remixes for singles "Heartbreaker" and "Thank God I Found You," which the former was said to be based on the original version, and the latter to only adapt the chorus of the original version as an adlib. "Thank God I Found You" was given an exception, since the remix version was entirely of a different structure and it no longer resembled the original recording.

The same trend followed in the 2000s, wherein Jennifer Lopez' remixes for "I'm Real" and "Ain't It Funny" topped the chart. Both the original versions of the song were able to chart during its release, but their follow-up remixes were of higher popularity and airplay. "Ain't It Funny" peaked at #10 and one year later, the remix version topped the charts. The original version of "I'm Real" also topped the charts in 2001, and when sales started to decline, the remix version was released and was enabled to chart as a different single. This made history as "I'm Real" became the first song with both the original version and remix version staying at the chart at the same time, as well as both versions being able to top the charts as well.

An arising conflict fell once again when Britney Spears released "Overprotected" in 2002. In January, the album version (or more commonly known as the "International Version") of the song was released and peaked at #3. After "I'm Not A Girl, Not Yet A Woman," which topped the charts that year, the "Darkchild Remix" was released in the US. Considering that the song resembled the original structure and melody of the song, it was at first, prohibited to chart. The video was extensively played on MTV Non-Stop Hits, but never charted. Extreme airplay and viewer requests increased at the hype of the video's popularity, giving it enough points to break in the Top 20. Considering the fact that it was a North American release, and the song was commercially viable, it was finally enabled to chart. Surprisingly, the song peaked #2, one notch higher than the placement of its original version. Spears became the second artist (and the third instance) to which both the original version and remix version were able to chart in the countdown.

Edited Videos

Video editing has been the most controversial act imposed by MTV Asia. It rarely happens but once it is imposed on a video, it is never revoked. Videos are edited for several reasons. Nudity, explicit viewing content, and violence are certain examples of reasons for editing videos. The first video to be edited was "Thank U" by Alanis Morissette. In the video, Alanis is nude, but her private parts aren't shown in the video. However, this has been marred too explicit especially to the younger generation, and other religious sects in Asia. An edited version of the video was released, covering almost the whole screen except for Morissette's face. "Thank U" topped the chart in early 1999.

Another video that was edited is George Michael's "Outside." Due to its sexual content, it was never fully shown on MTV. Even when it charted, only about 57 seconds of the video were shown due to enormous sexual content.

The most controversial video to have been extensively edited by the network was "Dirrty" by Christina Aguilera. In the part where Aguilera is in a boxing ring with her dancers at the beginning, a Thai poster is situated at the background while the dance is shown. Depicted in Thai language in the poster were the words "Thai Sex Tourism" and "Young Underage Girls." The video was banned in Thailand but in other parts of Asia, the dance sequence in the beginning were shortened. A live version of the video was mostly played. Regardless of the video's limited release, the song still topped the charts.

After the video for "Dirrty," Aguilera drew more controversy with her next single "Beautiful". In the video, two men were seen kissing each other and were deemed too racy for MTV viewers. Again, MTV Asia edited the video by completely removing the gay scenes out of the video. "Beautiful" became her next number one single and the edited version was played throughout MTV Asia.

Records

Asian Breakthrough

1990s

2000s

  1. 1 2 http://www.mtvasia.com
  2. ↑ http://www.ipod.com
  3. ↑ http://www.mtv.com
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