ARTS / CULTURE & LEISURE
Live performances, nostalgic vibes mark New Year’s Eve celebrations in China
CCTV gala secures top spot in viewership rating table
By Li Xing and Published: Jan 01, 2024 10:20 PM
Photo: VCG
On major television networks, China ushered in the New Year with a spectacular array of perfor-mances that featured "authentic singing," a blend of traditional Chinese elements and Western art and a nostalgic flair.From China Central Television (CCTV) to regional channels like Hunan TV, Jiangsu TV, Zhejiang TV, and Shanghai's Dragon TV, along with the online streaming platform Bilibili, the country embraced musical extravaganzas that made headlines with high viewership ratings.
According to viewership data from the ky.live platform, CCTV's New Year's Eve Gala secured the top spot with a 4.83 percent viewership rating, followed by Hunan TV with 2.17 percent and Dragon TV with 0.67 percent.
Meanwhile, hashtags related to New Year's Eve celebrations topped the trending list on China's X-like Sina Weibo, with the hashtag "New Year's Eve Gala" garnering more than 450 million views as of Monday night and more than 2.5 million comments.
One noteworthy selling point of this year's festivities was the emphasis on "authentic singing" following controversies surrounding lip-syncing by the popular Taiwan band Mayday. Jiangsu TV heavily promoted its "authentic singing" performances ahead of the event.
On Sunday night, as the performances created a festive atmosphere, online discussions regarding whether the artists were indeed singing live, as well as comments about on-stage accidents, trended on social media.
"Opinions on lip-syncing may vary among different industries in China. For the music industry, singing skills are the foundation for singers, so lip-syncing is not allowed in the industry. However, to ensure the quality of programs, lip-syncing has become common in the broadcasting,"Zhang Peng, a film researcher at Nanjing University's National Research Center of Cultural Industries, told the Global Times on Monday.
In terms of guest lineups, while new-generation and popular artists dominated, seasoned performers from across the Taiwan Straits were also a major presence. Hunan TV featured renowned singers such as Han Hong and Jolin Tsai, while Jiangsu TV included music veterans like Wakin Chau and JJ Lin.
Meanwhile, Shandong TV opted for a musical concert format featuring both Chinese and Western classics. Besides symphony, piano, and violin performances, a suona (a high-pitched traditional Chinese musical instrument) performance of the classic "Hundreds Of Birds Worshipping The Phoenix" and an erhu (a traditional Chinese two-stringed bowed musical instrument) performance of "Horse Racing" were also staged.
Dragon TV went international by inviting Japanese music sensation GARNiDELiA, known for Japanese singer Risa Ono.
Bilibili, as the sole domestic online streaming platform to hold a New Year's Eve event, maintained its distinct identity with a focus on comics and animation and the youth demographic, which won applause from netizens. The show's lineup included popular characters like Tom and Jerry, Spider-Man, and the game Honor of Kings.
In addition, the performance combined elements from Harry Potter with traditional Chinese symphony orchestras, wowing viewers, who described the event as an "audio-visual feast."
"The content and format of the gala also took into account the preferences of Bilibili's users and the popular content within the Bilibili community over the past year," a staff member of Bilibili told the Global Times.
According to the staff member, Bilibili's New Year's Eve Gala followed a "3+X" logic, where "3" refers to film, gaming, and animation, and "X" denotes innovation.
Featured major IP from film, animation, and gaming with the addition of the innovative orchestra, the event distinguished itself from mainstream galas, integrating "Bilibili's unique ACGN (anime, comic, game, novel) culture with mainstream youth culture, which allowed content IP from various circles to be visually and musically showcased in a unique manner," she said.
In terms of guest lineups, while new-generation and popular artists dominated, seasoned performers from across the Taiwan Straits were also a major presence. Hunan TV featured renowned singers such as Han Hong and Jolin Tsai, while Jiangsu TV included music veterans like Wakin Chau and JJ Lin.
Meanwhile, Shandong TV opted for a musical concert format featuring both Chinese and Western classics. Besides symphony, piano, and violin performances, a suona (a high-pitched traditional Chinese musical instrument) performance of the classic "Hundreds Of Birds Worshipping The Phoenix" and an erhu (a traditional Chinese two-stringed bowed musical instrument) performance of "Horse Racing" were also staged.
Dragon TV went international by inviting Japanese music sensation GARNiDELiA, known for Japanese singer Risa Ono.
Bilibili, as the sole domestic online streaming platform to hold a New Year's Eve event, maintained its distinct identity with a focus on comics and animation and the youth demographic, which won applause from netizens. The show's lineup included popular characters like Tom and Jerry, Spider-Man, and the game Honor of Kings.
In addition, the performance combined elements from Harry Potter with traditional Chinese symphony orchestras, wowing viewers, who described the event as an "audio-visual feast."
"The content and format of the gala also took into account the preferences of Bilibili's users and the popular content within the Bilibili community over the past year," a staff member of Bilibili told the Global Times.
According to the staff member, Bilibili's New Year's Eve Gala followed a "3+X" logic, where "3" refers to film, gaming, and animation, and "X" denotes innovation.
Featured major IP from film, animation, and gaming with the addition of the innovative orchestra, the event distinguished itself from mainstream galas, integrating "Bilibili's unique ACGN (anime, comic, game, novel) culture with mainstream youth culture, which allowed content IP from various circles to be visually and musically showcased in a unique manner," she said.
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