The most popular 2010 CCTV Spring Festival Gala performances were unveiled recently. The reunited boy band The Little Tigers won the most popular program in the song and dance category.

As an idol band that was most popular in the 1990s and then disbanded for years, The Little Tigers created a wonder by winning such an honor. Xiaohong has the story. 

An Old Poster of The Little Tigers [photo: vvpo.com]

 
The applause never ended during The Little Tigers' five-minute performance on CCTV's 2010 Spring Festival Gala on Chinese Lunar New Year's Eve.

Some audience members born in the 1970s or 1980s sang along with tears in their eyes as a medley of the trio's 1990s hits brought back memories of their youth. 

"I was really excited when they appeared on stage. My eyes were filled with tears. I sang along with them. My younger sister was watching the Spring Festival Gala with me. She was very surprised because of the strong feelings I expressed." 

"It's so sweet. The songs I listened to in my childhood take me back to the days when I was a little boy. It was one of my favorite segments of the gala."

The Little Tigers first onstage reunion since the band's breakup was eagerly anticipated ahead of the Spring Festival.

The Taiwan-based band was formed in 1988. The three members Nicky Wu, Alec Su and Banny Chen were actually assistant hosts who performed to take up time on a TV show. But they soon become popular among youngsters on the island and also on the Chinese mainland for their healthy appearances and bright singing style. 

The Little Tigers' first song "Qing Ping Guo Le Yuan," literarily meaning "Green Apple Paradise," was warmly welcomed when it first came out in 1989.
Although it was a reproduced version of a Japanese idol group's song "What's Your Name," it was much hotter than the original one.

During their heyday in the 1990s, The Little Tigers were even better known than Michael Jackson and the Beatles in Asia. Almost every boy tried to imitate them, while girls collected posters and magazines about the band. 

"At that time, there were not so many pop stars and bands as we have now. Their songs are full of young blood. I think 99 percent of people of my age that were born in the 1970s can sing along with all their songs." 

"Their songs could be heard everywhere. They were really hot in those days. Songs like 'Green Apple Paradise' and 'Love' are still familiar to me." 

"I'm not a big fan of theirs. But they are part of the memory of my youth. After the Spring Festival Gala, I found that many contemporary people could sing along with most of their songs."

Recalling those days, one of the band member Nicky Wu says they had a hard time because they were still students back then. They had to take care of both their studies and their work. 

"People can only see the glory we enjoyed. We received recognition and were always in the spotlight wherever we went. However, we could not enjoy life as other boys of our age could. We could not watch a movie or have dinner with our friends when we wanted without being recognized."

After releasing their sixth album "Goodbye," The Little Tigers disbanded in 1991 because band member Banny Chen had to fulfill his compulsory military service. 

Three years later, they reunited and produced another album, "Starlight Is Still Glittering," an apt comparison to their comeback. But they broke up again a year later, making their seventh album their last one. 

On the evening of this year's Lantern Festival, The Little Tigers reappeared onstage at CCTV and sang the song "Starlight Is Still Glittering" again, fulfilling the promise that they would perform for the holiday if they won the top honor in the broadcaster's popular New Year's Gala program.

Although their onstage get-together was only temporary, and they will not return to the pop scene as a group under their original name, The Little Tigers have brought back all the sweet memories for people who were once their fans.

For China Now, I'm Xiaohong.