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CCTV comes again
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Wu Yan
IT was not the first time for CCTV (China Central Television) to make eventful production in the city's theme parks. Again, on Wednesday, it videotaped Meeting in the New Century with the Same Song in the square of the Window of the World, which was broadcast yesterday evening, the last day of this century, marking the coming of 2001 as well as the 21st century.
The performers alone number 3,000, indicating the grandeur and expense of the show. Of course, the importance of the timing makes all that worthwhile. Further emphasizing that importance is the participation of all those dazzling stars from Chinese mainland, Taiwan, USA, South Korea, Hong Kong, and Indonesia.
The show was started by a number called The Millennium Bell Tone that features 1,000 primary school students holding candlelights and posing around the central stage and the local orchestra posturing as giving accompaniment to the singers - a six-year-old girl and Mo Hualun, a Chinese American tenor - who were the centre of this first show.
Then followed by Jiang Yuheng, a famous singer from Taiwan, and the country's best-known pop singers as Na Ying, Tian Zhen, Liu Huan and over a dozen others. Something in common among the singers is that almost all of them sang old popular songs, both well liked and time-tested. Jiang Yuheng, for example, gave a song entitled Looking Back Again, which was a hit around the late 80's. Despite his kind of husky voice , his performance was very melodious and moving.
Something smacking local was a group dance by 60 people who are the semi-finalists of the city's on-going Contest of Youth Stars for TV Images. Though less experienced than other performers, their enthusiasm and the well-chosen music rendered them special.
What struck the audience most were eight Korean performers - seven male dancers and a female dancer-singer. Theirs were two perfectly made numbers, strong, dynamic and shining, both the songs and the dances grasping the audience's attention so tightly that they received the warmest applause for the whole night.
The finale included Li Yundi, an 18-year-old local pianist who recently won the first place at the 14th Frederic Chopin International Piano Competition, marking the country's highest musical achievement in these days. He played with the Shenzhen Orchestra. The tune he played was Walk into a New Era, a composition converted from a popular namesake song.
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