The government has finally approved the 2010 shanzhai (copycat) Spring Festival Gala Evening, which is considered to be a challenge to the CCTV Gala.
Shi Mengqi, the planner of the evening, received the official license from the Dongcheng Cultural Committee Saturday. “I am challenging CCTV and want to break their monopoly,” Shi said.
Compared to the CCTV Spring Festival Gala, none of the staff of the shanzhai event are professionals but people who like music or performing, so they’ve called it “the grassroots’ own evening” and it will also be held on China’s New Year’s eve.
Shi said that the gala evening would last about 210 minutes, including over 30 programs such as dance and acrobatics.
“Over 100 websites will take a live telecast for my gala, and we are negotiating with some TV stations to join in, like Hoya STAR,” he said.
“Copycatting” was replaced by “folk” in the gala’s formal name. The first copycatting gala failed last year due to too many restrictions by the government although it gained a lot of attention.
Spring Festival Evenings, held by CCTV for 25 years since 1983, have become an important part of the festival in China. The 2009 gala attracted over 1 billion people, according to data from the China Television Research Company.
But the gala has been criticized for being rigid and isolating the people in recent years. “Even the laughing and applause have been designed,” said someone who once participated in the CCTV gala.
“My party aims to provide a stage for common people to show grassroots culture,” said Zhuang Yan, the Executive Director of the shanzhai gala.