Chinese New Year celebrations will officially kickstart with the live broadcast of CCTV Spring Festival Gala from Beijing on Friday, January 27, at 8pm GMT. It is expected to be one of the most-watched television programmes of the world with a viewership of over 700 million.
Chinese New Year 2017: Here is everything to know about CCTV Spring Festival Gala
The annual event, which is also known as Chunwan in Chinese, will feature several creative and comic performances by popular celebrities, rookie artists, popular-culture groups and young students.
Show features Jackie Chan
Some of the programmes to be showcased in the Year Of The Rooster include a musical concert by former EXO member Lu han in collaboration with Hong Kong singer William Chan and a special dragon song by popular martial arts expert-cum-actor Jackie Chan.
The Great Wall star shared his excitement over being a part of the show and revealed that he is honoured, especially because it is the 20th anniversary of Hong Kong's return to China.
Adding on, the L.O.R.D.: Legend of Ravaging Dynasties actor spoke about their on-stage performance and revealed that it is originally a slow song. "We want to change the song to something that fits our images and we hope we can turn the song to a more upbeat one," he said.
The Skiptrace star also spoke about his joint venture with a group of college students and said that he taught them a few hand gestures besides re-recording and re-audio mixing. "I would like to thank the behind-the-scene workers of the programme for helping me arrange so many college students," he added.
Since many of the Chinese families in and across the country consider it as a ritual to watch the popular television show with their loved once on the New Year 's Eve, the organisers will be changing the overall structure of the programme this year by adding more innovative and creative layouts.
"We will strive to make the Spring Festival Gala one of the best gifts for the audience and we will feel content when the people enjoy the view, sound and laughter," said Yang Dongsheng, chief director of Spring Festival Gala 2017.
The Spring Festival Gala, which is also known as the New Year's Gala, will be broadcast live by Chinese Central Television through its flagship channel CCTV-1. It is also be available online on other broadcasting networks, including CCTV-4, CGTN, CGTN Russian, CGTN French and CGTN Spanish.
Click here for online streaming of CCTV Spring Festival Gala tonight at 8pm GMT to watch the on-stage performances of popular Chinese celebrities, such as boy band TFBoys.
Check out the official trailer below:
