Chinese girls take part in a promotional event for talent show Super Girl at a shopping mall in Chengdu, in this 2006 file photo.

Television singing contests have been curtailed by Chinese censors who claim the country has too many of the American Idol-style shows.

The country’s state broadcasting regulator issued a new policy Friday banning satellite channels from producing any more singing contests.

It echoes the enforced demise of “Super Girl,” a singing contest for female contestants which became a phenomenon in China in 2004.

That was blamed by commentators on official discomfort at Western-style audience voting.

On its official website, the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (SARFT) posted a notice saying shows that had already been produced but not yet aired should be “postponed”.

Produced by Hunan Satellite Television, it was eventually ordered off air in 2011 by SARFT, which claimed the program was over-running its time slot too frequently - an accusation that did not add up for most Chinese viewers.

Instead, popular rumors surmised that the state’s own Chinese Central Television (CCTV) was angered by the show’s huge ratings. At its 2005 peak, “Super Girl” delivered 400 million viewers to Hunan.

It also attracted up to nine million telephone votes from audience members for their favorite singers – an exercise in democracy that is sharply at odds with the China’s Communist political system.

Economic Observer, a Beijing newspaper, commented at the time of Super Girl’s demise that audience voting could be the government’s main concern, The Economist noted.

Friday’s SARFT announcement said: “No more new singing contest shows should be produced by any satellite TV stations.

“Programs which have been produced but not broadcast should be postponed to avoid the summer high season, and those which are already airing should reschedule their broadcasting times to avoid similar programs showing at the same time.”

The policy targets the huge number of audience-voting talent shows starting up this summer.