The change of CCTV's Spring Festival Eve Gala from a program for the people to the stage for celebrities has disappointed its viewers time and again, says an article on the website www.rednet.cn. The following is an excerpt:

The Spring Festival Gala held by the CCTV began its first rehearsal a few days ago and the quality of the shows disappointed the audiences and the director team.

In these years, the annual gala evening has always had people longing for it before its start, while disappointing the viewers after it's over. Earlier, the gala evening was like a delicious meal placed before the people. What a happy thing it was to watch wonderful shows while reuniting with family members on Lunar New Year's Eve.

The change of the gala evening actually echoes the change of the times. The popularity of television sets in the 1980s paved the way for the birth of the Spring Festival Gala, which added flavor to the already improved life of the people. In the beginning, the gala showed its sincerity and warmth to the viewers, making people feel that the program was just designed for them. With time passing by, the gala evening has been transformed into something different and disgusting - the stage of the evening has been rendered into an arena of entertainment celebrities seeking fame.

Whom is the gala evening designed for? It seems not for the viewers at all, but for the performers who seek the opportunity to show up before the national viewers.

The stage becomes larger and more fashionable and colorful but the viewers are not attracted to it any more.

(China Daily January 21, 2009)