Huang Jianxiang

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This is a Chinese name; the family name is Huang.

Huang Jianxiang (Simplified: 黄健翔; Pinyin:Huáng Jiànxiáng; January 20, 1968 - ), is one of the best-known sports commentators in China, formerly of the state-run network China Central Television (CCTV). He was fairly well received in his commentating of football, particularly at the FIFA World Cup and the German Bundesliga, although he also commentated during various multi-sport events such as the Olympic Games and the Asian Games. He received international attention during a World Cup commentary incident on June 26, 2006 when he commentated on the match between Australia and Italy, where he yelled passionately for several minutes. Having already received widespread media attention in China for his alleged affair with SuperGirl Zhang Liangying and a widely publicized divorce case with his ex-wife, Huang's notorious commentary became extremely controversial, and propelled him to become the subject of hordes of criticism in print media and on the internet. He resigned from CCTV November 2006 and joined with Hong Kong's Phoenix TV.

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[edit] Biography

Huang Jianxiang grew up in a family of soccer fans. His grandfather and his father were two early soccer fans in China. He became a soccer enthusiast in his school years.

Huang has one daughter, with a wife whom he divorced. He was rumoured to have had an affair with a Super Girl.

[edit] The World Cup Commentary 2006 Incident

[edit] The incident

On June 26, 2006, during the FIFA World Cup match between Italy and Australia, as the on-field commentator of CCTV, Huang Jianxiang unexpectedly shouted his pro-Italian anti-Australian rant while commentating on the last minutes of the match in the live picture broadcasting to an audience of many millions in China. This commentary has been also compared to Bjørge Lillelien's "Your boys took one hell of a beating".

Huang was initially unapologetic for his controversial commentary in the post-game linkup with CCTV. He explicitly stated that he could not be impartial all the time and he did dislike the Socceroos because the team reminded him of a lousy New Zealand team which beat China in the World Cup qualifying tournaments in 1981. [1]

Huang's pro-Italian commentary sparked a barrage of complaints, as well as the criticisms in the press the following day. His commentary was replaced with another commentator's when the video of this match was replayed by CCTV the next day. After reviewing his commentary, Huang eventually apologised the second day on the state-run CCTV, for which he worked, and posted an apology letter on its website saying sorry for the injustice and prejudice in his commentary. He did not commentate on the next game.

Huang appeared on CCTV's live picture again while he commentated on the Germany vs. Argentina match on 30 June 2006, which quashed the rumour that he has been dismissed by CCTV after the incident. He commentated on following matches, including the final between France and Italy held in Berlin on 9 July 2006. All these matches were commentated along with another commentator.

[edit] The commentary

Huang commentating on Italy vs. Australia[2][3]:

... "Penalty! Penalty! Penalty! Grosso's done it! Grosso's done it! Don't give the Australians any chance."

... "The great Italian left back! He succeeded in the glorious traditions of Italy! Facchetti, Cabrini and Maldini, their souls are infused in him at this moment! Grosso represents the long history and traditions of Italian soccer; he's not fighting alone at this moment! He's not alone!!"

... "Totti, Totti is facing the spot kick. He is facing the expectations from Italian soccer fans all over the world."

... "Schwarzer has saved two spot kicks in the World Cup qualifying tournaments, both of these were during the playoffs of the world cup qualification. Totti should have known this. Will he still be able to face the man in front of him with a smile? How about his expression after 10 seconds?"

... "Goooooal! Game over! Italy win! Beat the Socceroos! They do not fall in front of Hiddink again! Italy the great! Italian left back the great! Long live Italy! Happy birthday to Maldini!! Forza Italia!!"

... "He didn't let the Italians down. This penalty kick was an absolute one-off! Absolute one-off! Italy have made the final eight!"

... "The victory belongs to Italy, to Grosso, to Cannavaro, to Zambrotta, to Buffon, to Maldini, to everyone who loves Italian soccer!!"

... "The hell with them!" (Background voice)

... "The Socceroos might regret, Hiddink! He played too conservatively and too calmly with one more player (than Italy) in the second half, he lost all his courage. Faced with the long history and traditions of Italian soccer, he didn't attack as fiercely as he did in the group matches. He finally reaped fruits which he had sown! They should go home. They don't need to go as far away as Australia as most of them are living in Europe. Farewell!"

[edit] Reactions

Huang's outburst caused an uproar and then sparked a huge debate online and offline in China[4], as well as in Australia[5]. His leader Zhang Bin, the director of CCTV Sports Channel, criticised this incident in four Chinese words: Huang at first lost his voice (失声), then lost his cool (失态) and lost his politeness (失礼), and finally lost his mind (失常). Some people also criticised his violating the ethical code of being a neutral commentator at an official media and he should resign for his performance in the incident.

On the contrary，the people supporting Huang launched several columns and forums online to voice their points of view in public in order to distinctively support Huang to continue his commentating on the subsequent World Cup matches and to prevent CCTV penalizing even dismissing him after the incident. Similar to Zhang’s criticism, they enumerated their main reasons in six brief Chinese sentences at a supportive column hosted by NetEase[6][7]:

  • although Huang was wrong, his passion was not unforgivable (激情解说, 罪不致死)
  • his apology was not unacceptable (知错就改, 应给机会)
  • his patriotism was not wrong (拳拳之心, 爱国无罪)
  • sports is not politics (这是体育, 不是政治)
  • as a devotee of Italian soccer for years, his enthusiasm was understandable (多年意迷, 可以理解)
  • at CCTV, Huang is not replaceable (黄在央视, 无可取代)

However, Huang became a subject of gossip in China after the match. His biased commentary was widely re-posted on Chinese news sites, blogs, forums and chat rooms, as well as his recording of the commentary. Moreover, a lot of hilariously imitated variants of his recording were also available on the Chinese websites. Some popular Chinese portal sites, such as NetEase and Sina even set up a column to collect and publish those funny audio/video clips and ringback tones in varied Chinese dialects or for alternative matches.

[edit] Resignation

On November 16 2006, Huang Jianxiang announced that he had resigned from CCTV because he needed to take a break from his busy schedule. CCTV sports director Jiang Heping told Chinese media that Huang's resignation was a personal decision and had nothing to do with his commentating during the World Cup.[8]

[edit] Joining Phoenix

Huang joined the Hong Kong-based Phoenix TV network in early December 2006, citing that they had offered the most lucrative deal to him over Hunan Satellite TV and Chongqing Satellite TV. Director Zhang Guoli has reputedly asked him to become an actor.

[edit] Quotes

  • "I reckon that I am just the occupation standard", "though no people recognise my standard".
  • "I am a human being, not a machine, and I can't be impartial all the time."

[edit] Books

Huang Jianxiang published his first book, Teases on Soccer (歪批足球), in 2000. This book reviews various typical soccer matches in China and other countries, including strategies, championship systems, cultures and other aspects involved in activities of soccer.

Huang's second book, To struggle as a man — I am that "soccer narrator" (像男人那样去战斗 — 我就是那个"说球的"), was published in April 2006. This autobiography tells story of his life as a sports commentator since 2000 and gives his candid viewpoints regarding Chinese soccer and world soccer, as well as several major international sports events he experienced.

[edit] References

  1. ^ http://en.chinabroadcast.cn/2886/2006/06/28/45@107643.htm
  2. ^ http://uk.sports.yahoo.com/060627/2/ky57.html
  3. ^ http://bbao.blogspot.com/2006/06/huang-commentating-on-italy-vs.html#commentary
  4. ^ http://2006.sina.com.cn/club/huangjiaxiang.html
  5. ^ http://blogs.smh.com.au/worldcup/archives/2006/06/chinese_comment.html
  6. ^ http://2006.163.com/special/00321VFS/zchjx.html
  7. ^ http://bbao.blogspot.com/2006/07/recent-reactions-supporting-huang.html
  8. ^ http://www.shanghaidaily.com/art/2006/11/18/297437/CCTV_star_soccer_broadcaster_quits.htm

[edit] External links

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