Most Chinese like CCTV Spring Festival gala

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-01-27 09:50

BEIJING -- The annual CCTV Spring Festival gala continued to receive overwhelming attention and affection from Chinese people, according to a survey by CTR MarketResearch Co. Ltd.

In this video frame grab taken from the China Central Television Station (CCTV), a dancer performs during the annual CCTV Spring Festival gala on the eve of the Chinese Lunar New Year, January 25, 2009. Chinese people all over the world usher in the Lunar New Year, or the traditional Spring Festival, on January 26, 2009. [chinadaily.com.cn]

Of 2,034 families from 406 counties around China that were interviewed through telephone, 1,872 watched the gala on television Sunday night. The survey lasted three hours, starting half an hour after the gala started at 8 p.m. till midnight.

A weighted average of 95.6 percent of all families watching television were enjoying the CCTV show on the eve of the Spring Festival, according to the survey.

In this video frame grab taken from the China Central Television Station (CCTV), the model of China's target vessel Tiangong I, or Palace in Heaven I, makes debut at the CCTV's Spring Festival gala in the capital city of Beijing, Sunday, January 25, 2009. The eight-ton "space laboratory module" is planned to be launched between 2010 and 2011. In two years after the launch, Shenzhou 8, Shenzhou 9 and Shenzhou 10 will dock with Tiangong I to form China's first space station. [chinadaily.com.cn]

A total of 55.2 percent of the interviewed families thought the show was "very good", and 25.9 percent rated it as "fairly good".

The show featured major events in 2008, including relief efforts after the 8.0-earthquake in Sichuan Province, the Beijing Olympic Games and the successful spacewalk during the Shenzhou 7 mission.

Popular singers, dancers, actors and Chinese crosstalk actors presented more than four hours of performance. It also used a multi-media backdrop and sophisticated staging structure.