Published : 2025-01-24
Every Chinese New Year's Eve, grand galas would be held across Mainland China, known as the Spring Festival Gala, or "Chunwan" (春晚) in Chinese, and the one held by China Central Television (CCTV) are undoubtedly the biggest one which draws the most attention.
Among them, the CCTV Spring Festival Gala in 1983 was an important milestone, why is that?
1983 CCTV Spring Festival Gala: Switch to live broadcast
Holding the Spring Festival Gala was originally a tradition of China Central Television. In the early days following the founding of the People's Republic of China, the predecessor of CCTV, "Beijing Television," also held the Spring Festival Gala every year, but it was later stopped due to the Cultural Revolution.
In 1978, Beijing Television resumed the Spring Festival Gala, although it was still recorded rather than broadcast live.
At that time, televisions were not yet widespread in China, and only government agencies and their employees had access to televisions. The total number of television sets nationwide was very limited, only over 1 million, thus the influence of CCTV Spring Festival Gala was far less than it is today.
By 1983, amid the wave of Reform and Opening-up, then-CCTV Spring Festival Gala Chief Director Huang Yihe (黃一鶴) decided to conduct a major reform— to host the gala with a live broadcast and to enhance interaction with the audience.
From this year onwards, the Spring Festival Gala became a year-end celebration for the entire nation, embodying the image of today's Spring Festival Gala in the general public's mind.
New hosts of Spring Festival Gala
During the preparation stage, the actors and directors were actually unsure about the framework and content of such a special Spring Festival Gala in 1983.
At the time, old mindsets still prevailed, and any new attempts risked being overly scrutinised or criticised. The organising team could only proceed with extreme caution, feeling their way forward step by step.
Later, a member of the organising team suggested emphasising the idea of "joy" — focusing only on happiness incorporating too much political rhetoric. As long as the audience had a good laugh and enjoy the hight, it would be considered a success.
After setting the tone as "joy," Director Huang Yihe boldly appointed Chinese crosstalk comedians and theatre actors as hosts.
Once the hosts were finalised, the next step was to find guest performers.
In the 1980s, Chinese performing artists were typically affiliated with specific work units, receiving a fixed salary and certain allowances.
To have them perform at the Spring Festival Gala, it was necessary to first contact the artist's supervising unit, clearly specifying when and where the performance would take place. Only after the approval of the unit's leadership could they be "borrowed" for the event.
At that time, Li Guyi (李谷一) was the most popular female singer in the country, and the organising team was determined to secure her performance at the Spring Festival Gala.
However, the Central Orchestra, to which Li belonged, had already scheduled a performance in Shenzhen on the first day of the Chinese New Year. The performance was mainly for audiences in Hong Kong and Macau, and tickets had been already sold out.
In the early stages of the Reform and Opening-up, Shenzhen's infrastructure was not well-developed, with no airport or expressways. To get to Shenzhen, one had to start from Guangzhou and undergo border control document checks along the way.
Even if Li Guyi did not take a break and performed at the CCTV New Year's Gala on New Year's Eve, it was almost impossible for her to arrive in Shenzhen by the night of the first day of the Chinese New Year.
To ensure Li could attend the CCTV New Year's Gala, the organising team coordinated with the Ministry of Public Security to formulate a plan.
After the gala, CCTV dispatched a special vehicle to send Li Guyi to the airport to catch the morning flight from Beijing to Guangzhou. Then, the local public security department used a special vehicle to take her through a special channel, and sent her to Shenzhen without going through inspections.
A small episode: Li Guyi's "Xiang Lian" no longer banned
There was also a small episode during the 1983 CCTV New Year's Gala that reflected the gradual ideological liberation in the early stages of the Reform and Opening-up.
At that time, the songs sung by Teresa Teng (鄧麗君) were secretly popular in the Mainland China in pirated form, and her singing style was very well-received by the audience. Li Guyi also used a similar singing style in her song "Xiang Lian" (鄉戀).
"Xiang Lian" elevated Li Guyi's singing career to heights but also drew criticism, with some claiming that this singing style did not align with the principles of socialist art and labelling it as "decadent music". As a result, it was banned.
But during the call-in request segment of the 1983 CCTV New Year's Gala, there were a large number of audience requests for "Xiang Lian".
The Minister of Radio, Film, and Television, Wu Lengxi, who was present, initially chose to ignore them, but he ultimately conformed to public opinion and approved Li Guyi to perform this song.
First appearance of HK singers on Spring Festival Gala
It's worth mentioning that the first appearance of a Hong Kong singer on the New Year's Gala happened in 1984, the year when Sino-British negotiations on Hong Kong's return took place. The theme of the CCTV New Year's Gala was "Patriotism, Unity, and Solidarity."
The organising team invited Cheung Ming-man (張明敏), a relatively unknown male singer in Hong Kong, to perform "My Chinese Heart" (我的中國心) at the gala.
By chance, Cheung became the first Hong Kong male singer to appear on the New Year's Gala and became famous overnight.
When talking about the New Year's Gala, different age groups may have different feelings. But undoubtedly, influenced by the wave of Reform and Opening-up, the CCTV New Year's Gala held in the early 1980s successfully pioneered many new trends and left behind some of the most unforgettable memories.
Read more: Reform&Opening-up｜Spring Festival travel rush witnesses changes of transportation
