At an advertising bidding meeting on Saturday for the forthcoming competition, the TV station sold twenty 15-second advertisements for more than 130 million yuan, the Shanghai-based newspaper said.

The producers of the show auctioned each advertisement starting with a minimum price of 3.5 million yuan and ensured that each one would air 200 times.

The biggest bidder offered a price of more than 13 million yuan, and even the smallest bid was 5.19 million yuan, according to the Post.

It means each 15-second advertisement for this year's "Super Girl" will cost an average of 33,400 yuan, compared to 28,000 yuan last year, it said.

Plus sales from other advertisements, the total advertising sales of the competition is likely to hit 200 million yuan this year.

"Super Girl," the Chinese version of "American Idol," was a huge success last year. Earlier reports said that those Super Girls who gained overnight nationwide fame earned Hunan Satellite TV more than 100 million yuan last year.

The Shanghai Morning Post also reported today that the number of participants entering this year's competition exceeded that of last year in the Changsha competing region, where the TV station is based.

The contest has expanded to eight competing regions across the country, three more than last year. ¡¡¡¡