CCTV’s Spring Festival Gala has become one of the symbols of the Lunar New Year in China and one of the most extravagant shows that CCTV puts on every year. Jay Chou’s performance was probably the most anticipated event of the night. It consisted of three generations of singers – folk singer Song Zuying, Jay and 9-year-old genius Hou Gaojunjie- singing a blend of Song Zuying’s “Spicy Girls” and Jay’s “Herbalist Manual.” Apparently, singing with Song Zuying has been a dream of Jay.
Update: Jay also said that he has already invited Song Zuying to sing in a duet with him. He says he wants to compose a duet just for her.
Herbalist Manual and Give you a Eastern jasmine
The one thing that struck me about cctv this year was its integration of the stage in the dance performances. This is the first time I feel like they actually incorporated the stage in the planning of the dances instead of using it as a simple backdrop, and the result was stunning. Though no performance stood out like the Thousand-Hand Bodhivista or the Flying Apparatus, both dances this year were visual feasts.
Multimedia dance:
Butterfly-flower love:
You might’ve also noticed the lack of pop singers in the Gala this year. This is the second year (the first being the disaster of 2003) that the Gala is all live. Unfortunately, cctv has a slight grudge against competition winners other than its own, and it so happens that an overwhelming majority of mainland pop stars who can sing live are competition winners. The result is the forced leaving of most pop stars invited after they failed the singing test during rehearsals. The only ones left were Jay Chou, Eva Huang Shengyi and Joey Yung, with both of the latter being off-key anyways.
And finally, there’s hottie Magician Liu Qian. His make-up is a bit weird today, but he’s still awesome as usual:
Dragon TV's logo is a tomato (or a red ball with a star), but this time only, it's a tomato with ox horns
Others:
Hunan’s Little New Year Concert this year almost beats CCTV in variety with performances by the Russian national circus, idol singers Fahrenheit and Ah Sa of Twins, otherworldly Alan and Sa Dingding, actors Huang Xiaoming and Hu Ge, and a third of its own EE Media. And this time, the mics worked. The biggest surprise was probably the duet by Huang Xiaoming and Chris Lee, mainly Chris. Her voice was full of a sweet feminine clearness instead of the usual gender-neutral coolness.
The sun in my palm – Huang Xiaoming ft Chris Lee
new song Celebrate New Year together – Zhang Jie, Tan Weiwei, and a third of EE Media.
Dragon TV, Hunan TV’s biggest competitor (face it, Dragon, mangoes taste so much better than tomatoes), featured Anson Hu, Xue Zhiqian, Show Luo, SJ-M, Zhang Liyin, Eason Chan, BOBO and a multitude of stars that was basically everyone from Hunan’s New Year Concert, minus EE Media and plus Shanghai/Dragon-based artists . Dragon TV’s Gala also had two new songs, including a quirky Shanghainese rap:
Love Shanghai – Anson Hu, Xue Zhiqian, etc.
We are in Shanghai -Anson Hu, Xue Zhiqian,Show Luo, SJ-M, Zhang Liyin, Eason Chan, BOBO, etc.
And finally, Hubei TV’s Music Assembly featured an array of boybands, among other people, in its New Year Special. It’s a bit late, but CFensi and I were quite impressed by their level of singing(for boybands), so I’m going to put them up anyways.
If -BOBO Fu Xinbo
Butterfly Flies – Top Combine
Tags: Anson Hu, BOBO, CCTV, Chris Lee, Huang Xiaoming, Jay Chou, Liu Qian, Show Luo, Song Zuying, Super Junior M, Tan Weiwei, Xue Zhiqian, Zhang Jie, Zhang Liyin
January 27, 2009 at 8:34 pm
omggg TOP COMBINE was awesome…
so was jay, that 9 yr old, chris lee, magician guy and BOBO and everyone else!!!!
xin nian kuai le!
January 27, 2009 at 9:33 pm
Good, I’m not the only one who noticed that there weren’t many pop singers on CCTV! Did they invite the wrong people or what? If they’d had LeeHom, I’m sure he would have sung well enough. I’m glad they let Jay perform!
After seeing this performance, there’s no wonder in my mind why Jay would have wanted to sing with Song Zu Ying, especially considering that she was once nominated for a Grammy. Jay dreams of winning a Grammy singing in Chinese.
I liked that funny bit with the fighting on CCTV. The bit with the guy with the fan and woman with the frying pan stuck to her arm. That was hilarious! What was that called? The version I watched didn’t introduce the songs and dances.
January 27, 2009 at 11:03 pm
^It was called gong fu shi jia/kungfu family.
Generally, CCTV tries to have a balance of Taiwanese/Hong Kong/mainland pop singers.
Most of the Taiwanese/Hong Kong “pop” singers they invited this year were old (ie. Jackie Chan and Super Band). All the mainland ones they invited were either actor-singers or random not famous people who also can’t sing…and like I said before, almost all of them got kicked out. Even Han Xue, whose like CCTV’s own daughter. Needless to say, I’m not very fond of the way CCTV deals with mainland pop artists. It really needs to grow up. For many overseas, it’s the only glimpse they get into the Chinese entertainment scene, and CCTV is giving them a very unrealistic and disappointing glimpse.
January 28, 2009 at 12:00 am
@idarklight: Thanks! I should have figured that out from the banner they were holding, but my brain wasn’t working, LOL!
Why on Earth did they pick such random people?! I mean, Jackie Chan? I think some people will think that Jay Chou is Chinese because they have him on there so much. He was the only Taiwanese singer there, wasn’t he? Is he the only good Taiwanese artist they could find this year? They used Fei Yu Qing last year when it was all lip-synced, and you’d think he’d sing well enough live. Of course, I’m not complaining about Jay being there almost every year because I’m such a fan, but only him from Taiwan? They do need to choose more talented mainland pop singers for these things, I agree, with the other channel using all the good mainland artists you’d hope for on CCTV.
January 28, 2009 at 1:14 am
There was actually a significantly greater number of Taiwanese stars this year. Generally, it’s only two pop singers. This year, there’s Super Band (Luo Dayou, Zhang Zhenyue, Li Zongshen and Zhou Huajian), Jay, Liu Qian and the two “xiang sheng” actors. I think there was one other Taiwanese pop singer, but he got kicked out during the rehearsals.
CCTV is the only gala on New Year’s Eve. Dragon’s is the next day. Hunan’s the week before on Little New Year’s Eve. Everyone else is pretty minor and airs at random times during the holiday season. So CCTV has no one to blame for “taking” good artists.
You know, CCTV has gorgeous stages and background dancers…maybe they can just have Jane Zhang sing and then shoot the stage/background dancers? It’s her voice that matters anyways.
January 28, 2009 at 5:45 am
idarklight, I agree with you about Jane Zhang. She has an amazing voice so I dunno why CCTV didn’t invite her.
I hope CCTV will include more mainland popstars in the future like Hunan TV. Still, I really enjoyed the gala. The stage was just exceptional!
January 28, 2009 at 9:09 am
Holy crap, the dances this year were amazing! I thought nothing could beat Red is Red, Green is Green, but the Butterfly-Flower Love dance is amazing!
January 28, 2009 at 11:25 am
nice find.. Jays performance was interesting. I gotta say, his recent music has been a bit disappointing to me though. I think he has just been too busy with everything lately instead of concentrating solely on music. I think I’ve seen that kid before. Apparently he is pretty famous in China. Not to be mean, but I noticed that his rapping was quite a bit off-key and off-beat. Pretty good dancer though. I saw other videos of him breakdancing as well. Seems like his breaking hasnt really improved at all. He is still doing the same ol headspin and people still love it. I dont understand it. But, I thought he did a great job with the other dance choreography with Jay. really nice. Im just not so high on his so called “breaking” skills. I’ve seen other kids that can break much better than him. One thing I found awkward was his name. Its 4 characters. Hardly ever see that in Han Chinese names. Whats up with that?
January 28, 2009 at 1:58 pm
Billy: I think Jay was trying to sound cute with the rapping, which I didn’t like. I agree that he hasn’t been doing his best recently. His last album was definitely his worst, IMO, but I don’t think everyone really noticed.
The kid’s name was weird. Hou Gao Jun Jie? Gaojunjie is an awful long first name! I haven’t seen his dancing before, though, so I have no way of seeing how much he’s improved through his short career.
January 29, 2009 at 3:41 am
^ That’s just his dad’s last name, his mom’s last name, and Junjie. ><
I haven’t watched Dragon TV’s yet, but I think they had 2? One with all those stars you mentioned and the other one was people calling in and picking songs and they had to sing whatever without rehearsal.
January 29, 2009 at 6:40 am
Yeah, It was his weakest album IMO. Then he had to go act in Kungfu Dunk which was horrible. Definitely a big step down from Secret. Whatd u think of Wang Leehoms heartbeat album?
I think the kids name is his full name. Not just his first. I’ve never seen a person use both their father and mothers last name in their name though. kinda interesting. I just kinda guessed or assumed he was some kind of Chinese minority(not Han Chinese). Actually, watching the video again, I think I was being a bit too critical. He wasnt off beat or off key too much. He is a great dancer for sure. China has always marketed him as a breaker though which I dont get. His breaking is so-so even for a kid. All I have ever seen him do is the headspin and that was like 2 years ago. Other than the breaking though, all the dance choreography he did with Jay was really good. kid is very skilled
January 29, 2009 at 8:03 am
Thank you for posting the performance cuts. I was trying to watch that entire new years night show thing (alsdjdlk, I don’t know what it’s called) but omg, I just got so bored. The huge dance performances just aren’t my thing. Like, I don’t think my grandma even watches the whole thing anymore…
I actually did see the Jay part before though, although since my Chinese sucks, I thought for whatever reason it was a guy imitating Jay, but then I was like, “wow, he looks so similar to Jay!?!?! That’s so weird!!!” *Fail*
January 29, 2009 at 2:09 pm
pearlyswirly: OK, I wasn’t sure whether that was all his first name, and “Junjie” seems pretty common, like JJ Lin’s name. It was just confusing that he’d use two last names. I get it now, thanks, but when I saw the video of the interview with him and Jay, I was confused.
Billy: I loved “Secret,” but I think it was Jay’s best because he directed it and knew what worked for him. He didn’t direct “Kung Fu Dunk,” so it didn’t have the plot “Secret” had and Jay didn’t get to really show off his talents in it. I thought LeeHom’s album was so-so. Judging by his other newer albums, I had higher expectations, but he didn’t take the rock thing far enough. Some of the songs are growing on me, but “Yao Gun Zen Me Le!!” wasn’t as good as his other Zhongguo Feng songs, IMO. It was kind of weird for him, it didn’t really work so well. Some of the other songs were really good, but I’m not much of a ballad person. I guess the ballads weren’t so boring with the guitar bits, but not really my thing. I want to get a LeeHom album, but it’s going to be either “Shangri-La” or “Gai Bian Zi Ji.”
January 29, 2009 at 5:17 pm
Great post! Hey, idarklight, in the magician’s clip, after the host picked the egg, did the magician say, This is a hao dan (good egg), that’s a hun dan (bastard)? Haha! Or did I misunderstand since my Chinese is really really bad.
January 29, 2009 at 5:25 pm
Suzy: You mean “huai dan”? That’s what I heard, too. LOL!
January 29, 2009 at 5:43 pm
@ hobielover – Yeah, I listened again and it sounds like “huai dan” which is probably less umm… shocking than 混蛋 “hun dan” to say on a broadcast like that. I don’t know… I don’t know much Chinese but I enjoyed that!! haha
January 29, 2009 at 8:45 pm
@ windowwatcher You’re welcome. There are actually several pretty good skits, also, but I didn’t put any of them. I’m a big fan of dances, and I like folk songs, so I almost always watch the whole thing. My family actually videorecorded two copies of it to pass around the Chinese community here.
As for Jay and Leehom. I liked Leehom’s new album better than Jay’s. Generally, I only like two or three songs from Leehom’s albums, and three or four from Jay’s. This time, I think I like about three songs from Leehom while none really stood out for me from Jay.
January 29, 2009 at 9:42 pm
Lol, I used to love the xiao pin or whatever they’re called when I was little, but now I find their moral message underpinings a little heavy handed. I didn’t know the whole show was live though. It’s cuz of that new rule following the olympics right?
January 29, 2009 at 10:12 pm
The new rule only applies to “shang yan,” or commercial performances, and I don’t think the Gala is a Commercial Performance.
A lot of people have actually been complaining of the lack of moralistic messages in recent years. I don’t think any this year (minus the political overtunes of the Panda/Olympic/military ones) were very moralistic… in fact, there were a few that I was surprised they let on since I thought they might offend some people (and they did).
January 29, 2009 at 11:53 pm
oh okay. The only one I watched this year was the first one with the security guards and the sister. I just don’t like how it would start out funny, but then randomly get weepy for no reason. Which one(s) offended people? That sounds interesting to me…
January 30, 2009 at 6:18 am
haha my parents were watching this except they skipped all the interesting pop acts and went for the veteran singers that I didnt know…
January 31, 2009 at 9:55 am
This was my first time watching Top Combine sing live, and not lip synching… they WERE singing live right? =/
January 31, 2009 at 2:43 pm
I LOVE SHANGHAI. my hometown. i like the vid. haha. isnt anson hu a beijinger? his shanghainese was pretty good.
January 31, 2009 at 8:29 pm
@mrpeng Anson Hu’s a Shanghainese. He’s also composing the theme song for the 2010 Shanghai Expo.
@JJJ They have sang live as a group for some interviews and variety shows. They have all sang live solos numerous times, especially Zhang Yuan. Zhang Yuan has a gorgeous voice live.
Two of my favorite lives by him:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-yQhqBC_7cs
February 1, 2009 at 11:48 am
i watched this year’s spring fesitval gala. i actually thought it was AWESOME! espcially the xiao pings. since i’ve been so into xiao sheng yang’s acting after it. i thought it was done better than all the others years. but it’s just that some of the large groups of dances was actually quite boring. but overall i thought it was great.
February 21, 2009 at 5:54 am
Thanks for this blog! Great now I’m finally on my way to broadening my horizons chinese music wise. The Chinese and my people do in fact share a rather vivid and prickly history. But as the saying goes, let bygones be bygones and live and let live. Actually, I’m glad Jay wants to write/compose a song for Song Zuying. I’m Miao like her and we have the same last name too except mine is spelled Xiong. Anyways, Yay for that.
Chinese music is in fact garnering a lot of attention I noticed and it’s a very good thing. I hope one day China, Taiwan, HK and other places will come together infinitely and not just through music, though it is a good place to start. If only people will stop getting “political” about it and sometimes even, “politically incorrect”.
Music is one language and it is universal.
Where you are from is a matter of geographical difference. How you lead your life, yes there is a difference too.
But isn’t music a personification of a bridge where men could meet each other half way and live in understanding and acceptance?
What is equally immature is the broadcast systems but then that’s a fact all over the world and not just China, though where I am, they aren’t childish enough to “Banish” competition winners.
February 28, 2009 at 7:20 pm
OH! *That* Superband! For some reason, I though the winners of that Singaporean show! That’s completely different! I missed that part somehow when I watched the gala. I like 纵贯线 so far. I’m kind of sad now that I missed the preview of their new song until now, when the full song has been released. Their performance was good!
May 8, 2009 at 2:38 pm
jay’s performance was horrible by his standards