CRI听力:Spring Festival Gala Anticipated

The playbill for this year's show was released on Saturday.

The 39 performances on the list will start from 8:00 pm Sunday and last into the first day of the lunar New Year.

As widely expected, popular domestic trio "the fighting boys" will make their debut at the country's most-watched variety TV show.

Singer Wang Junkai said they will use the opportunity to keep the audience well entertained.

"This is the first time that we've been invited to the gala. So exciting! We have watched the show since we were young. In our minds, the stage of the Spring Festival gala is of special significance for every performer. We will surely try our best and not let the audience down."

The past Spring Festival Galas have each featured a song that promotes family love and that has quickly become popular with the public.

This year, singer Tong Tiexin and actor Yang Yang will sing a new song named Father and Son.

Tong Tiexin, who will act as the father, explained his understanding of the lyrics.

"As a son, he loves and cares about his parents. And it's more true for the parents. People say that most fathers and sons are tolerant to each other for most of the time. When they watch TV and listen to this song, Father and Son, I hope young people will be reminded of their father. If their father is not by their side, that they may send a message of just a couple of words to their parents. I think that is the power of this song."

This year's show may also bring a sense of nostalgia.

A Mongolian family that performed song called Jixiang Sanbao back in 2006 will return.

This year, the family will return to the gala's sub-venue stage in their hometown of Hulunbeier in north China's Inner Mongolia.

Wurina is the mother of the family.

"Jixiang Sanbao came out of our hometown ten years ago and it allowed a large number of people to know us. Ten years later, our family came back to the sub-venue in our hometown. It is a great honor for us."

Also, their new song "the Spring Comes" will be performed in Mandarin instead of Mongolian.

Also different from ten years ago, the couple will sing with their daughter this time, rather than their niece who appeared on the show a decade ago.

The CCTV New Year's Gala was first held in 1983.

Commonly abbreviated in Chinese as Chunwan, it has a yearly viewership of over 700 million.

As usual, this year's show will be closed with a performance of the song "Can't forget tonight", originally performed by famous singer Li Guyi.

But Liu Xiao Ling Tong, who is deemed the country's best monkey portrayor, will miss the gala despite earlier calls from the public for his participation.

For CRI, this is Li Jianhua.