New voices take the stage

A Spring Festival web gala attracts young viewers with a variety of talent, Deng Zhangyu reports.

Who do young people care about, what are their favorite things and how do they embrace a new year?

The 2023 Spring Festival Web Gala broadcast online and on China Central Television on Saturday, tried to answer such questions through various performances intended to resonate with young people, the annual event's target audience. By Sunday, the web gala had received more than 900 million views. This year, the number of viewers aged 15 to 24 increased compared to last year, according to the show's producers.

"Young people are main residents of the internet. They express themselves online and live in cyberspace. We wanted to present a web gala that showed real life in a vivid and vigorous way," says Tang Xiaoyan, chief producer of the web gala produced by CCTV.

Many grassroots people were invited to perform onstage. Popular video bloggers of food, travel, fashion, fitness and lifestyle also performed at the show's opening. A young electrician who loves to dance, a village teacher who speaks English with an interesting accent and a couple of farmers who are fond of dancing while doing farmwork were invited to perform along with popular singers in the show's section, Walk Gracefully Once.