Hosts sing with performers at the 2012 CCTV Spring Festival Gala. [Photo: ent.ifeng.com]
The opening cartoon of China's first CCTV Spring Festival Gala in 1983. [Photo: news.qq.com]
Hello and welcome to this edition of "In the Spotlight," your weekly show about arts, culture and showbiz here in China. I'm your host Wang Lu.
On the eve of every Chinese New Year, nearly a billion Chinese population tune in to a tradition that is as deeply ingrained in the holiday tradition as watching the Rose Parade is for Americans. It is the most important and popular show in the country and perhaps one of the most watched television programs in the world - CCTV's annual Spring Festival Gala show, or "Chun Wan" in Chinese.
Having aired annualy since 1983, the gala ushered in its 30th anniversary this January. In today's program, we'll take a closer look at CCTV's Spring Festival Gala, one of the most influential shows in China, which has evolved alongside Chinese society over the past three decades, creating unforgettable memories while doing so.
In 1983, China's Central Television hosted its first Spring Festival Gala such evening party, and it has been an annual event ever since. It has garnered several world records, such as the largest audience for an annual variety show, most performing artists and longest variety show ever. It draws between 400 million to 700 million viewers at home and abroad every year. If a comparison had to be made, a distant rival might be the Super Bowl in the US, which usually takes place around the same time of year.
For families across the land, watching CCTV's Spring Festival Gala has long been a family ritual and an important part of Chinese national culture. Typically, on the eve of every Chinese Lunar New Year, members of the family will dust a table with white flour to make delicate dumplings, engage in family cozy chat, light fireworks, and at eight o'clock turn on their television set for the four-hour live show of CCTV's Spring Festival Gala.
Yang Yong is the producer of the first Spring Festival Gala in1983.
"The Gala was made out of the desire that people could watch the show with their families while having family reunion dinners on the New Year's Eve every year. We wanted to make it an indispensable part of the festival, just like eating dumplings."
In 1983 when the first CCTV Spring Festival Gala was broadcast live, it was a totally new concept for audiences then. In those days it was considered a luxury to have a TV. In the 1980s, the CCTV gala was almost the only show that could bring three generations of families or even a whole neighborhood to sit in front of one nine-inch black-and-white television set.
Huang Yihe is the lead director of four CCTV Spring Festival Galas during the 1980s. In 1983 when he was assigned the job to make the first Gala, the 48-year-old dashing director was nervous yet quite excited. He had his own expectations for the Gala.
"Watching the Spring Festival Gala is not like watching 'Romeo and Juliet'. It's a grand celebration where all communicate emotionally. What I had in mind was to make a show that thrills you and also makes you smile."
As the first director of the gala, Huang used a unique way to catch people's attention.
"We came up with the idea of getting the audiences involved with giveaways and taking performance requests by phone. At that time we had no other means than telephone if we wanted to hear the audience's voice. They told us the performance they wanted through the phone and we satisfied their desire as much as possible. That night, we only had four telephones and they kept ringing all night since the show started. I had no idea that the audience would pay so much attention to the show."
Since then, interactions with the live audience and television viewers have been an essential part of CCTV Spring Festival Gala every year. Zhu Hai is a senior television executive.
"The CCTV Spring Festival Gala is a platform of public speech. It emphasizes live and impromptu interactions with the audience. It's true that the gala was initially very simple. But today we still apply some of its original methods."
China was growing economically and culturally in the 1980s. You could hear Taiwan pop diva Teresa Teng' s popular tunes everywhere. As more people got access to televisions, the country was ushering in a new era of fresh changes and hopes.
58-year-old Zhang Songfeng is a famous peony grower and supplier in Luo Yang, Henan Province. He was a flower farmer 30 years ago. He recalls the night when he first saw the Spring Festival Gala on TV with his wife shortly after they got married.
"I was very excited to see so many popular artists on TV at that time. It was a spectacular cultural feast. Everyone watching the TV was smiling. I knew our country was embracing huge changes, and our life was getting better and better. On that night I began looking forward to the future."
The first CCTV's Spring Festival Gala was a success thanks to the intimate interaction with audiences and the show hosts. In variety shows, sometimes the hosts grab more attention than the performers. However China's televised variety shows had no hosts until the first CCTV Spring Festival Gala.
The four hosts of 1983's CCTV Spring Festival Gala. [Photo: news.qq.com]
Three hosts of 2012's CCTV Spring Festival Gala. [Photo: ent. ifeng.com]
In 1983's CCTV Spring Festival Gala, two cross-talk performers, one comedian and one movie actress took on the role of hosts. It was a fresh attempt that received a warm response. Today, the hosts of CCTV's Spring Festival Gala play a very important role for the entire show. "My Midnight Moment", a book by CCTV celebrity, Zhu Jun who hosted the gala for 15 years, shines a light on the event. He says in his book: "If we compare the gala to a banquet, then I am one of the hosts, taking care of the order and atmosphere and making customers comfortable."
Each year, the directors of the gala adopt fresh ideas and inject new energy into the show. In the first few years of its development, one big breakthrough was the participation of overseas Chinese and compatriots from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan.
Hong Kong singer Cheung Ming-men sings at 1984's CCTV Spring Festival Gala. [Photo: news.qq.com]
For Huang Yihe, who has directed the gala four times, it was the 1984 version that impressed him the most.
"I got the news from the paper that Mrs Thatcher was about to meet Mr. Deng Xiaoping at the end of 1984 for the Sino-British Joint Declaration. And it occurred to meĦ What if we invite overseas Chinese or compatriots from Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan to perform on our stage?"
"I once heard a Mandarin song on a bus. The lyrics were very good and the singing style was quite different from singers of the Chinese mainland. I borrowed the tape from the bus driver who told me it was 'My Chinese Heart' by a Hong Kong singer Cheung Ming-men."
"When Cheung Ming-men sang this song on the show, everyone there welled up with tears. And next day, everyone was humming the song."
It was a milestone to have a Hong Kong singer on the stage of CCTV's Spring Festival Gala at that time. But Cheung's song made everyone watching the show feel connected and he became well-known in all parts of China overnight. From then on, lots of popular stars from Hong Kong and Taiwan and overseas Chinese such as Kris Phillips and Leehom Wang have performed on CCTV's stage. In 1993, the gala was even noted for having live performances from Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macao. Today the CCTV's Spring Festival Gala is indeed a big gathering for Chinese everywhere.
As the most viewed evening show in China, the gala faces high expectations every year. Typically, the four-hour extravaganza includes traditional Chinese entertainment genres such as cross talk, short comedy sketches, big-scene song and dance performances, acrobatics and various types of Chinese opera. It brings laughter to billions of people on the eve of Chinese New Year and produces lots of TV phenomena worth attention.
Comic stars Chen Peisi and Zhun Shimao performs the first skit "Eating Noodles" at 1984's CCTV Spring Festival Gala. [Photo: www.chnxw.com]
Each year, the gala gives birth to stars. In earlier years, "Eating Noodles", the first skit in China by Chen Peisi and Zhu Shimao, was one of the most popular programs in 1984 thanks to its witty plot and comedic performance.
Famous Chinese comidian Zhao Benshan performs at 1990's CCTV Spring Festival Gala. [Photo: sohu.com]
The gala also tends to feature the same small group of celebrities every year. Zhao Benshan, a comedian who has portrayed a witty farmer every year since 1990 is one of them. He is now one of the main attractions of the entire gala.
In recent years, with such a large audience and increasing expectations, directors of the gala generally play it safe to cater to different tastes. But with improved living conditions and changing lifestyles, producers and directors face the challenge of having to develop a show that's more exciting, more colorful and more entertaining than the one before.
Entering into the new century, the gala began to be set on larger stages with more creative ideas each year. This year the visual effect of the stage stunned the audience. Dozens of big screens set the stage. And the stage is not only a plain floor for performers to stand or dance but an expansion to help set the scene of each program.
The dance "Love og Peacocks" at this year's CCTV Spring Festival Gala. [Photo: ent.ifeng.com]
For example, the dance "Love of Peacocks". As the most renowned Chinese dancer Yang Liping and her partner imitating a pair of loving peacocks, the stage turned into a forest.
The elegant dance, gorgeous costumes combined with the beautiful forest on the screens of the stage as a whole make the performance a breathtaking feast of eyes.
Taiwan magician Liu Qian gives magic performance with CCTV host Dong Qing. [Photo: ent.ifeng.com]
To spice up the show even more, magician Louis Liu cooperated again with one of the gala's hosts Dong Qing to offer audiences some dazzling magic tricks.
To attract the younger generation, the 2011 gala invited members of a Taiwan idol band in the 1990s ¨C "the Little Tigers", to perform together again. "The Little Tigers" had disbanded in 1995 after producing countless hits and memories for teens in the 1990s.
Farmer-singer Zhu Zhiwen sings at this year's CCTV Spring Festival Gala. [Photo: ent.ifeng.com]
The gala also made some attempts to appeal to common people by inviting some "grassroots" performers, such as farmer-singer Zhu Zhiwen.
Despite all this, the gala's popularity has been in decline in recent days. Going through media reports and blogging comments on the 2012 show, it's obvious that the number of comments slamming the event are far greater than before.
Moreover, several local TV stations, including those in Hunan and Jiangsu provinces as well as Shanghai, have launched their own variety shows to compete with the CCTV for audiences and advertising.
Each year, the Gala exposes a generational split in modern Chinese society that's impossible to ignore. Some young people choose their own way to celebrate the event by traveling, surfing the Internet or watching movies. Some feel the gala is old-fashioned and out-of-sync with their lives, not to mention the expectation that it is required viewing in the family living room next to their parents, grandparents, and cousins.
It is a far cry from the show's heyday in the 1980s and 1990s where the CCTV Spring Festival Gala was almost the only show that could bring together three generations of a family in front of the TV set. But there is nothing wrong with a variety of other choices. They are all part of the celebration and they pose no danger.
Overall CCTV's Spring Festival Gala is still a key tradition of most Chinese families' annual routine in welcoming in the New Year, despite countless complaints and criticisms. The show to many Chinese is like turkey on Thanksgiving to westerners, not necessarily the most delicious part of the celebration, but without it, the festive atmosphere of the occasion is missing.
On Sina's Weibo.com, China's version of Twitter, the topic "grumbling about the 2012 New Year's gala" trended the first day after the show with more than 64 million comments. It has become the television show everybody watches and everybody loves to hate.
Renowned singer Jiang Dawei who also performed on the 1983's CCTV Spring Festival Gala says the show's value can not be easily judged.
"The CCTV Spring Festival Gala is more than just a variety show. It is, in many ways, representative of China's technological growth and social development. No other shows that are bigger, longer or more expensive can compare to this gala in every Chinese heart."
Like Jiang said, looking back at each year's gala is just like looking at the past of Chinese people's lives, and the development of China. It involves hard work and exploration year after year.
For the Chinese television viewers, if one song can represent the 30-year-old Spring Festival Gala, that will be "Memorable Tonight".
For decades, the gala show was ended in this tune as all the performers and show hosts sang together.
No matter how the gala evolves, for many, the gala is part of China's collective historical memory, and in a fast changing world, it bridges the present with the past.
With that we conclude this edition of "In the Spotlight".
Any comments or suggestions are welcomed. You can email us at Spotlight@cri.com.cn. Our snail-mail address is English Service, China Radio International, Beijing, China, and the postal code is 100040. I'm your host Wang Lu. Until next week, good-bye.
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