Inspired by the Idols franchise, the show gives ordinary Hongkongers the opportunity to appear as contestants on stage to sing and perform. Its slogan is "全城盡興，殘酷一叮！". The show has received top ratings, and the finals of the first series, on 4 June 2005, reached 33 points on the charts. It has led to the creation of several spinoffs by other Chinese television stations, including Asia TV and Guangdong Television, and to collaboration with other mainland Chinesetelevision stations to provide contestants for their own shows, such as CCTV's China Dream Show. The program was among TVB's first to recruit competitors from overseas. Starting from May 2005, primaries are not only held in Hong Kong, but also in Guangzhou, Macau, Toronto, Taipei, Shanghai, Singapore, Sydney etc. Similarly, the European branch of TVB, TVB-S Europe, held a Minutes to Fame contest in Paris and Rotterdam on August 28, 2005 and August 29, 2005 respectively. The winner of both contests would proceed in a Minutes to Fame special later that year, where contestants from all over the world would compete.
Format
Each episode features a number of contestants whose objective is to remain on stage for as long as possible. Their act must involve singing one of eight randomly selected songs for each episode, which includes Cantopop, Mandopop, and even English-language popular music. Besides singing, contestants may also choose to enhance their act by playing an instrument, acrobatics, magic, etc. At any point during their performance, any of the judges may strike a gongon the table in front of them, at which point the contestant must stop singing. Their score is determined by the duration of their performance, in seconds, excluding the introduction, and each second is worth HK$100 in prize money. At the conclusion of each episode, the contestant with the longest act by duration is the night's winner and qualifies for subsequent rounds, and eventually the final round, "Battle for the King". While the show is meant to be competitive, judges have been harsh to contestants that they "ding" out, and often make fun of them directly. A laugh track is heavily used instantly whenever one-liners or off-key singing was present, supplementing the studio audience's reactions. But sometimes it happens whenever spot-on singing happens if the contestant has an unusual appearance. Note that most Hong Kong variety shows use laugh tracks heavily for network purposes.
