Online Spring Festival Gala: Revolution or Flash in the Pan

 

For the first time ever, Chinese audiences will not have to wait in front of a television for the traditional China Central Television (CCTV) "Spring Festival Gala" to begin on Lunar New Year's Eve. They will have an alternative online via the Internet.

But, whether a new online Spring Festival gala will replace the traditional gala in the hearts and minds of the Chinese people and alter television viewing habits remains to be seen.

Four of China's major Web sites, http://www.dahew.com, Henan Province's largest Web site, http://china.org.cn, http://www.sina.com.cn and http://www.99114.com are launching the first online Spring Festival gala evening.

Since 1984, when CCTV hosted its first Spring Festival Gala, it has become an annual, routine, four-hour treat for hundreds of millions of viewers. It is one of the most popular CCTV programmes and is played over and over again during the festival week. Most Chinese families consider watching the gala a tradition and essential entertainment during the festival.

For more than 20 years, the CCTV Spring Festival Gala has brought happiness and laughter to millions of Chinese, while it has also become a cultural bridge between the Chinese and other people around the globe. But with increasing audience expectations and varying tastes, preparing the gala has become a tough task for the CCTV staff. People, especially the young, report they are disappointed with the gala's lack of innovation and originality.

In 2005, the success of the "Super Girls" singing contest—somewhat modelled after the "American Idol" show in the United States—and the peculiar BBS star Sister Lotus created whirlwinds in the showbiz world, challenging the conservative nature of the Chinese media, epitomized by the CCTV Spring Festival Gala. Bored by the traditional gala's audio-visual and intellectual entertainment values, a new-generation social and consumer culture is demanding a completely new Spring Festival experience. This reveals that a revolution is taking place in the field of personal entertainment, which is emerging within a swirl of profound social change. The new generation expects something more individual, interactive and innovative. But, will the joint-efforts of four major Web sites in China and the "Spring Festival Gala Evening in 2006 for Global Chinese and Chinese Origins on the Internet" meet their needs?

With the rapid development of multimedia technologies, the Internet is becoming a more important part of people’s daily lives. By the end of April 2005, there were 103 million "netizens" in China, making China the world's second-largest home of online users after the United States. It seems a perfect time for the birth of a brand new online "Spring Festival Gala."

Unlike the CCTV gala, anyone, as long as they have a computer and access to the Internet, can upload their programmes to the organizer. After two rounds of selections, the online Spring Festival Gala is to be shown live from 6 p.m. to 12 p.m. on January 26, 2006. Thereafter, all the programmes will be accessible on the Internet, and viewers can choose whatever they want to watch.

 

The online gala has eight parts:

n        "Spring Fairy Tale" will reflect children's longing and beautiful dreams for the Spring Festival season via flash animation, cartoons and campfire songs.

n        "Singing Internet Hits Together," will play Internet hit songs and original songs collected by the gala's organizers.

n        "Chinese Abroad Missing the Motherland" will showcase folk customs from around the world.

n        The fourth part will feature comedy skits, dialogues and acrobatics.

n        The fifth will present traditional Chinese drama and opera.

n        The sixth part will feature local folk art from the mainland, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macao, in celebration of national unity.

n        The seventh involves an SMS Greetings and Couplets Contest.

n        During the grand finale, New Year’s Eve songs will be sung aloud to represent the Chinese people's yearning for peace, truth, kindness and beauty.

 

Officials promised this gala will bring forth new ideas and performance styles, will showcase the achievements of the Chinese people over the decades, and will give Chinese around the world a chance to exchange festive greetings.

Executive Vice-President Li Jiaming of http://www.china.org.cn said the gala is significant. He said this will be the first time for China’s Internet companies to join hands to hold a grand cultural event for Chinese people, and it will mark a courageous attempt to combine live performances, festival celebrations and the Internet.

However, even the organizers have expressed little confidence that their first-ever online Spring Festival gala will challenge, much less replace, the CCTV gala.

Chief director Qu Jianxin said that, for the time being, the online gala will likely fail to compete with the traditional CCTV gala. It will take a while to change Chinese audiences' viewing and festival-celebration habits.

Some say the CCTV "Spring Festival Gala" represents a "living-room culture" while the "Spring Festival Gala Evening in 2006 for Global Chinese and Chinese Origins on Internet" represents a "study culture." Obviously the former better suits the Chinese tradition of getting together on New Year's Eve. So whether the online gala will be a successful revolution in the field of personal entertainment or a mere flash in the pan will remain unsettled for a time. 

Nevertheless, it seems an inevitable trend that more conservative traditions will fade away as the society relies more on high technology and the Internet in search of more individuality and originality.