Up-close and not so personal with 'MTV It's My Life'

MTV It's My Life; ANteve: Saturday, 3:30 p.m.; MTV Asia: Tuesday, 8:30 p.m., Friday, 7:30 p.m., Saturday, 4:30 p.m.

JAKARTA (JP): The phenomenon that is MTV -- who can doubt its popularity among teenagers?

When the music-only TV channel was first established in the United States 19 years ago, the skeptics had a field day, saying it would last for a year at most. You know, who actually wants to watch a 24-hour music channel?

Well, surprise, surprise, MTV turned out to be a giant industry and a media icon for young people around the world. An entire "MTV Generation" was born.

MTV Asia arrived in 1995 with three 24-hour channels -- MTV Mandarin, MTV Southeast Asia and MTV India. Like its forebear, it is also hip among young people and sets trends for them.

Many shows with local content have been produced, including MTV It's My Life, which is now in its second season.

The half-hour show is meant to be a peek into the daily lives of six young people from six different countries: Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, Taiwan and India.

The participants were selected from thousands of young Asians who signed up. With a series of tests, a jury from MTV picked the six winners who would be followed by a cameraman for every minute of every day for three months.

The show's aim is clearly to give an up-close and personal look into the lives of young Asians in their respective countries. The idea is based on the MTV USA show MTV Real World.

The difference is that Real World gathers seven young people (not necessarily U.S residents as some have been from Australia and Europe), and puts them together in a house with a cool interior design for about three months.

The audience gets to see how they interact with each other, how they become friends, or maybe enemies, as shown when one of the participants was so annoying that his housemates decided to kick him out.

But the show is quite successful in picturing young people's lives, their thoughts, their views, their dreams.

These are the very things that It's My Life unfortunately fails to present.

The first thing to be concerned about is the choice of participants. From the first season, the jury's selection was questionable.

Check out the lineup of the first season: a college student/model/actress, a model and singer wannabe, a couple of annoying and boring high school twins, a waiter in a Hard Rock Hotel, a wimpy dancer/dancing teacher and a reporter (or was it editor?) of a magazine.

Roll out the second season's lineup: a model (again), a college student/model/actress, a high school student, a professional mountain biker, an assistant in an artist management company and a radio DJ/emcee/singer.

Are they in any way representative of their peers around Asia? Oh, come on.

The continual choice of models (because their easy on the eyes?) is one issue. And judging from their outfits, houses and cars, it is clear that the monetary crisis which battered the region in recent years had nothing to do with their privileged lives.

It is no comparison with the Real World, which is supposed to be its standard, which shows a variety of people who come from every level and group in society. Men, women, rich, poor, gay, straight, you name it.

One thing is for sure, they are in line with the title, the Real World.

Secondly, and most importantly, what is highly questionable about It's My Life is the content of the show. Scenes of people getting a haircut, meeting clients, going for a car ride with a friend, dating, traveling and striding down the catwalk all eventually get really boring.

The only exception was the woman reporter from Hong Kong in the first season.

She sure has a fun life as a reporter, and she really filled her spare time with exciting activities like diving, bungee jumping, traveling abroad and stuff. Then again, how many young people can afford such activities?

At the very least the show should provide insight into the thoughts and dreams of the participants. It should, but it does not.

"I want to stay in the United States for the rest of my life," sighs Indonesian Charmantha Adji, the 23 year-old artist manager who graduated from an American university.

Other comments are also about as deep as the thought process of third graders.

Oh, please. Where is the angst, the anxiety, the restless soul of youth?

It's nowhere to be found, just like on the other superficial shows featured on the channel (Hera Diani).