Director lineup announced for 2021 Spring Festival Gala

China Media Group (CMG) held a meeting on Monday to launch preparations for the 2021 Spring Festival Gala and announce the official list of chief directors for the prestigious annual event.

Shen Haixiong, president and editor-in-chief of CMG, announced Chen Linchun would act as chief director, with Xia Yu, Zou Wei and Zhao Yue as deputy chief directors.

This means the Spring Festival Gala of 2021, celebrating the arrival of the Year of the Ox, has officially entered the preparatory stage.

Chen Linchun, who has been involved in more than 10 Spring Festival Galas, has always had special feelings for and a firm belief in this important annual national celebration. He was chief director in 2008 and 2011, and chief producer from 2017 to 2020.

The Spring Festival Gala is closely related to my name, for it and the gala both have the Chinese character '春' (pronunciation is 'chun') , which literally means 'spring', he said.

The Spring Festival Gala is more than just a musical jamboree, also bringing to the audience a special warmth of company on Lunar New Year's Eve. It's the wish of every member of the staff to stage a Spring Festival Gala in a creative manner.

Chen said 2020 was an unusual year as the country marched forward firmly and the people united and face great challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

In this special period, the Chinese people all yearn for a joyful year of reunion in the ensuing 12 months. To highlight people's need for a better life during the gala indeed poses a big challenge for the crew and every member feels heavy responsibility.

Difficulties, pressure and audiences' expectation for the Spring Festival Gala will run through the whole preparation process, but they also motivate the crew to produce a great event.

The Spring Festival Gala offers a national stage, which should be open, inclusive and diversified. said director Xia Yu, who has always emphasized innovation and evolution throughout her directing career.

Xia directed the programs of song and dance as well as the magic and acrobatics in 2005, 2006, 2009, 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020. She has also handled Lantern Festival Galas.

In a spirit of positivity and creativity, she is seen as someone who always brings audiences a large number of classic original shows, such as the acrobatic dance Beyond the waves, Love Confession sung by Jay Chou with magical stage effects, and so on, leaving people with fond memories.

Director Zou Wei took in charge of the song and dance sections for the 2016 Spring Festival Gala. The songs Snow Love, I Want to Tell You and Let's Follow the Path of Peace that he directed were awarded the prize of excellent work in promoting China's spiritual civilization.

When producing such programs, Zou always endeavors to offer fine works based on the ideas of innovation and media convergence.

During the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, Zou directed a special program for China's Youth Day called Youth with Sweat is the Most Beautiful. This program was remotely recorded and exquisitely packaged, breaking through the bottleneck of cloud production and triggering heated discussion on the internet.

The part of the gala featuring comedians has always been the most anticipated and most watched, thus making it a tough task to present such shows in a satisfactory fashion.

I hope the comic segments can reflect the life of ordinary people enjoying every Spring Festival Gala and convey feelings to which the audience can relate, said Zhao Yue, who has already been director of comedian routines for five consecutive years from 2016.

The crosstalk I Can't Tolerate in 2016, the comic sketches of The Son Is Here in 2019 and Mother-in-law vs. Daughter-in-law in 2020, that drew keen audience interest, are among Zhao's well-known works that represent normal people's life.

Since the annual live broadcast began in 1983, the Spring Festival Gala has been held for 38 straight years, and watching the gala has gradually become an indispensable custom for the Chinese people to celebrate the Lunar New Year. It has become one of the most-watched shows in the country and attracts billions of audiences from home and abroad.