Since Austin Li Jiaqi made his debut on the hit reality TV show Call Me by Fire on 3 August, the former top livestreamer entering showbiz has been a hot topic. On 17 August, Li went viral again after his performance, but mostly, for inviting his group members Nine, J.zen and Caelen Moriarty to his livestream channel, birthing many trending topics.
Call Me by Fire is called “披荆斩棘” (fig. overcoming obstacles, or “baptism of fire”) in Chinese, as it was originally designed for participants, usually male celebrities to overcome the difficulties of forming a boy band/idol group. However, all three other members of Li’s group have experience as idol group members and are professionally trained in dancing and singing. In this sense, Li is the only one that needs the baptism of fire.
On Weibo, China’s Twitter equivalent, the topic “Does Li Jiaqi need to be baptised by fire with a 2.2 billion RMB annual income?” (#年入22亿的李佳琦还要披荆斩棘吗#) shot to number 1 on the Hot Search list with a whopping 150 million views. The figure comes from a ranking earlier this year that places Li at number 3 with a 2.2 billion RMB (308.66 million USD) annual income in 2023, although the figure was never verified. Several other topics also made it to the top 10 of the Hot Search list, including a hashtag asking where the top streamers are now.
Other streamers, like Li, are diversifying their business. Viya is busy making microdramas, Crazy Little Brother Yang and Xinba are both opening their offline supermarkets while Dong Yuhui is learning to run a business. As platforms diversify with CEO, merchant and expert “buyer” livestreams, the top streamers need to adapt to the new landscape of social commerce. However, they are still running livestream channels, albeit rarely appearing on them, as Li did with his teammates. In other news, Li had just sent his dog Never to Douyin, selling merch based on the Bichon Frisé.
