‘The Little Tiger’ to take stage on 2010 CCTV Gala

1990s Taiwan pop idol band ‘The Little Tiger’ will reunite for the 2010 CCTV Spring Festival Gala, following the upcoming comeback of semi-retired pop queen Faye Wong on the same stage, China News Service reports on Tuesday.

Alec Su, Nicky Wu and Julian Chen of the former boy band trio are now working with different agencies, which are all supportive of the prospective reunion and will manage to fit it into their work schedule.

Singer-actor Nicky Wu who is busy shooting his late project in Hengdian, Zhejiang, confirmed the news, adding he was nervous as the gala program will be broadcast live.

Another member, Julian Chen expressed his delight at the reunion and revealed his agent is working on it.

It is yet to be discovered whether ‘The Little Tiger’ will reprise their hit songs, while that’s what many netizens are hoping for.

‘The Little Tiger’ was formed in 1988 and disbanded in 1995. It was the first singing group to debut in the Taiwan music industry. They enjoyed great success and ushered in a new generation of Taiwanese pop culture in early 1990s.

Spring Festival Gala holds the first rehearsal

The CCTV Spring Festival Gala, broadcast on the eve of the Lunar  New Year, is an essential part of the holiday for many Chinese  families.

The line-up was revealed at the rehearsals held over the past two nights. CCTV’s Zhu Jun and Zhou Tao will host the Gala.

Comedian Feng Gong will bring a comic sketch on the global financial crisis.

Comic sketches and cross talk have long been the most popular part of the show. Comedian Feng Gong will bring a comic sketch on the global financial crisis.

Ma Dong and Da Shan along with other three men will put on a cross  talk on the function of five facial features, an adaptation of a  popular cross talk of several years ago.

Ma Dong and Da Shan along with other three men will put on a cross talk on the function of five facial features, an adaptation of a popular cross talk of several years ago.

Acclaimed comedians Huang Hong and Zhao Benshan didn’t appear during the first two days of rehearsals. They will appear at later rehearsals, keeping the press guessing.

The CCTV Spring Festival Gala, broadcast on the eve of the Lunar  New Year, is an essential part of the holiday for many Chinese  families.

The gala will also feature a special presentation in memory of the victims of last year’s May 12th earthquake. Delegates from quake hit areas will tell the audience about the current situation. And ethnic minority people from the quake hit province of Sichuan will give a performance.

Five more rehearsals for the CCTV Spring Festival gala are expected to be held.

Five more rehearsals for the CCTV Spring Festival gala are expected to be held. Some programs will be added or removed and the final line-up will be decided at the last two rehearsals.

2010 Chinese New Year’s Gala:Carnival China Style

2010 Chinese New Year’s Gala: Carnival China Style, a spectacular Chinese stage performance, is a special spring festival gala evening. This show exhibits the latest achievements in Chinese art through traditional Chinese vocal music, dance, Chinese operas, traditional musical performance, acrobatics, calligraphy, groups from mountains and grasslands, and other fine performances.

History and significance

The first CCTV New Year’s Gala was held in 1982. It was the successor to Beijing Television’s irregular New Year’s Eve broadcasts, which dates back to 1956. In the 1982 show, a unique and live New Year-related stage was set up at CCTV in Beijing, with performers in the arts, drama, dance, and song from all over the country. In 1983, the first annual Chinese New Year Celebration Evening Gala was held, and for every year since then at the turn of the Lunar New Year, the program begins at 8:00PM and lasts until roughly 12:30AM on the first day of the New Year. The program has become increasingly more expensive every year, and tends to be set on grander stages each time. The evolution of the New Year’s Gala is almost representative of China’s technological growth since 1983, with a significantly new look every five years or so. Research commissioned by China Television Research (CTR) in 2007 indicated that an estimated 93.6% of families watched the Gala on television.

The program has received extremely large audiences, which have grown significantly over the years. The CCTV New Year’s Gala is currently the most watched annual Arts and Performance event anywhere in the world, and as such, its importance has reached over to political, economic, and ethical territory. As the Eve of Chinese New Year is a time where the family gathers, the typical situation involves a large 3-generation family gathered in front of their TV set while making dumplings for the first New Year’s meal. The Gala adds a mood of celebration in the house as people laugh, discuss and enjoy the performance. It has become an ingrained tradition on Mainland China to watch the New Year’s Gala on New Year’s Eve, and the audience numbers over 700 million people (est.).

Rural areas that previously been unfamiliar with concepts such as television often holds great gatherings on New Year’s Eve to watch the program. The CCP Government has often emphasized rural areas being able to receive the New Year’s Eve Gala as a progress in their economic development.

Some sources indicate that the Gala’s popularity has been on the decline, although official sources from CCTV continue to claim an annual TV ratings for the Gala to be above 90%.  Although consumerism has increased and younger people in urban areas are more likely to spend New Year’s Eve outside of the home, the Gala has become an ingrained tradition in many Chinese families.