CCTV reality show held for Spring Festival Gala

CCTV is putting on a reality TV show, and the winners will perform at next year's Spring Festival Gala, CCTV's annual variety show held on the eve of Lunar New Year. The first round of competitions will be held Sunday night.

After nine rounds of cuts, the top three winners get a chance to take the Spring Festival stage.

CCTV's Reality Talent Show "Express to Spring Festival Gala", is held among 36 contestants, all of which are high-ranking contestants from 12 popular talent programs from all over China. The program includes previous contestants from CCTV's "Starlight Avenue," "Super Idol" from Taiwan TV, and the immensely popular "The Voice of China" from Zhejiang Satellite TV.

Jin Chi, contestant for "Express to Spring Festival Gala", said, "I would like the audience to know my song "Night Night Night". The contestants are all very excellent. And the program acts as a platform for us to learn from each other."

The performances from the first episode will decide the arrangement for the following 8 elimination rounds. Judges, as well as the public, through internet and text message, will give their scores to each contestant.

Qin Xinming, planner of "Express to Spring Festival Gala", said, "We have three channels, professional judges, voting from internet and through messaging. The professional judges account for 50 percent, while internet and phone messages each account for 25 percent."

The top three winners of the program will perform at 2013's CCTV Spring Festival Gala, which falls on February 9th. It's a stage that most everyone in the Chinese speaking world hopes one day to perform on.