Singaporean photographer Jonathan Wong, 33, waited for six hours outside the Fitness First gym at The Cathay in Singapore on July 25. But he was not queueing for a sales promotion.

Instead, the 1.85m man who tips the scales at 191.9kg was auditioning to be a contestant in the upcoming weight-loss reality show The Biggest Loser Asia.

He thought it would be fun to “have people push you to lose weight” and the US$100,000 prize money was also a draw.

About 500 people signed up to audition for the spin-off of the American hit, which starts on Hallmark Channel on Nov 24 with 30 contestants.

The enthusiastic response is an indication of the popularity of Asian versions of shows such as boxing face-off The Contender, singing showdown American Idol and The Amazing Race, in which teams of two people each race around the world.

Singapore Idol first hit television screens here on National Day in 2004 and The Amazing Race Asia made its debut in November 2006. The Contender Asia’s first season aired last year.

Riaz Mehta, chief executive and founder of Singapore-based media company Imagine OmniMedia which produces The Contender Asia and The Biggest Loser Asia, said: “I create Asian versions of reality TV shows to make them relevant for Asian audiences.

“American shows are entertaining but Asians can’t ‘see’ themselves in the show, therefore their level of engagement is lower than for a show made for Asia.”

In Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong and Taiwan, season three of The Amazing Race Asia more than doubled average ratings for Amazing Race season 13, which was aired around the same time last year. The Asian edition reached more than 18.8 million viewers versus 10.2 million for Amazing Race season 13.

Singapore Idol season three’s reach to date is comparable to that for the whole of season eight of American Idol earlier this year.

Industry insiders and fans say people can relate better to localised content.

Ricky Ow, senior vice-president and general manager, SPE Networks - Asia, said of The Amazing Race Asia: “With contestants from a land close to home, viewers can relate better in terms of language and cultural practices. Viewers see contestants who are just like him or her, from his or her country, running the race. They become very real and are a source of inspiration.”

As Wong, who auditioned for The Biggest Loser Asia, put it: “There’s a greater sense of belonging with the Asian edition. On The Amazing Race Asia, when you know the places they visit, you can relate more to the show.”

Over three seasons, The Amazing Race Asia has focused mainly on Asia with pitstops in cities such as Tokyo, Bangkok and Singapore and localised challenges such as eating Taipei’s stinky doufu and using a water buffalo to plough a muddy field in the Philippines.

Gym manager Leong Su-Lin, 32, connected with the first season of The Contender Asia which aired early last year. “It was set in Singapore so it was great to see the fighters hanging out at Zouk, Sentosa and eating local food,” she said.

But borrowing a Western format wholesale can be a minefield for Asian sensibilities, said David Searl, senior vice-president of content partnerships with media company Star. He said that one was “doomed to failure” if one did not adapt the format.

He cited the gameshow The Weakest Link as an example. “That’s based on a bitchy, nasty host. It was produced in Thailand and it was so controversial that then prime minister Thaksin threatened in Parliament to take away the TV station’s broadcast licence because the show was offensive to Thai culture.”

Asian spin-offs face other challenges. While they have to be tweaked, the changes cannot be too radical so that the association with the original show is lost.

In The Contender Asia, for example, the sport in question was changed from boxing to muay thai.

On The Amazing Race Asia, the teams hailed from different countries instead of just one. Ow said: “The differences in nationalities have made the competition more intense as they not only try to win the race for themselves, but also for the country they represent.”

Events executive Grace Por, 23, agreed: “It’s always more fun when you have a local team to root for.”

While these Asian spin-offs go for regional appeal, there are franchised shows such as Singapore Idol which seem to have more limited appeal. After all, countries such as Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Viet Nam have their own versions of the singing contest.

But Kim Wong-Nathan, vice-president, network commissioning, Channel 5, MediaCorp, pointed out: “Both Singapore Idol alumni—Taufik Batisah and Hady Mirza—have become household names and found fame outside of Singapore.

“Taufik has released at least four albums sold regionally and Hady has won the inaugural Asian Idol. Both their achievements are testament that the Idol format attracts audiences both locally and beyond our shores.”

But Asian spin-offs can sometimes lag on production values as they are hampered by a much tighter budget.

Student Nurul Nadia, 17, prefers American Idol and The Amazing Race to their Asian counterparts because they are “bigger in scale and are more exciting”.

Bertram van Munster, executive producer and co-creator of The Amazing Race, said there was “much less money” for The Amazing Race Asia to work with.

He added: “We are forced to put a little more product placement in. I’m not too crazy about blatant product placement, but the bill has to be paid.”

Casting is also harder in Asia, he said. “Asians are less eager to open up, unlike us, so capable of making fools of ourselves and we’re shameless about it,” he joked.

But there are clear advantages to taking the spin-off route. The association with a recognised brand name “makes it easier to get sponsorship and is less risky”, said Searl.

He is the executive producer of HP Space, a reality series in which 12 people compete for a dream job on the live action feature film adaptation of cult anime Bubblegum Crisis.

“Creating your own format is riskier, but potentially more rewarding financially,” he said.

Nonetheless, producers are bullish about the continued success of the reality format in all its permutations.

Van Munster declared: “Reality television has legs and will not go away.”

Offering a slightly different take, Searl said: “There is still a lot of potential for reality TV in Asia. In America, I think the audience must be sick to death of it. They make reality television out of nothing. They’re running out of ideas basically, but we’re not at that point yet.”

And Singapore seems set to be the hub of Asian reality programming, especially since the 2007 announcement that Mark Burnett Productions Asia would be based in Resorts World at Sentosa.

He is the creator of The Contender and The Apprentice, as well as the producer of Survivor.

The Singapore office was expected to produce Asian versions of popular titles such as The Apprentice, but the company has not offered any more updates and did not respond to queries by press time.

In the meantime, viewers can still look forward to The Biggest Loser Asia. Even if he does not make it to the final cut, Wong will keep an eye out for the show.

“It’ll be interesting to see who getson and why it’s not me,” he said with a laugh.

Original vs Asian

American Idol (from 2002)
The ratings juggernaut enters its ninth season in January next year. The show turned the reality TV format into a bona fide hit and caustic judge Simon Cowell into a star. It has also spawned some of the biggest names in popular music today, including Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood and Chris Daughtry.

Singapore Idol (from 2004)
The third season is currently underway on Channel 5.
Record producer Ken Lim took up Cowell’s role and fired salvos at hapless contestants.

Season one winner Taufik Batisah and season two champ Hady Mirza have both gone on to release solo albums. Hady also won the Asian Idol title in 2007 in a faceoff among Idol winners from six Asian countries.

The Amazing Race (from 2001)
The show has won seven consecutive Emmy awards for outstanding reality-competition programme, a fact that executive producer Bertram van Munster is very proud of.

The Amazing Race Asia (from 2006)
Gym buddies Adrian Yap and Collin Low did Singapore proud when they came out tops in season two.

The third season of the show is a finalist in the category of non-scripted entertainment in the 37th International Emmy Awards, which will be held in New York on November 23.

The Contender (from 2005)
Fans here are probably most familiar with season four as it was filmed here and hosted by American actor and one-time boxer Tony Danza.

The Contender Asia (from 2008)
To localise the content, muay thai fighters slug it out instead of boxers and the action was set in Singapore. Filming for season two moved to Malaysia and the show is slated to be aired in the middle of next year.

The Biggest Loser (from 2004)
The show is in its eighth season in the United States and the premise of people trying to lose weight is a winner. Season seven was won by 48-year-old Helen Phillips who lost 63.5kg or 54.47 per cent of her body weight, the largest percentage loss ever.

The Biggest Loser Asia (2009)
Auditions were held in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines and the final contestants will battle it out over 13 weeks to see who will be the biggest loser. (By Boon Chan in Singapore/ The Straits Times/ Asia News Network)