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Li Yong, a TV 'King' in China
By JIM YARDLEY (New York Times)
Updated: 2006-01-21 15:00
The third floor of the fashionable coffee shop is empty, so when Li Yong
reaches the top of the staircase and steps onto the landing, his entrance is
greeted with silence. But Mr. Li, a popular television host known for his
flamboyant style, makes an entrance, nonetheless.
“I don’t talk in
slogans. I don’t distinguish the stage from life. My habits and flaws come
out on the stage", said Li Yong. [New York
Times] |
He is dressed in a black leather jacket with studded metal shoulders matched
by studded leather pants. His white boots are faux alligator skin. His
fingernails shimmer with translucent white polish. His famously flowing mane of
brown hair is streaked with gold highlights. He is not your typical Beijing
coffee shop patron.
"I've just come from a fitting," he offered by way of explanation as he
dropped into a large red chair, seeming a bit tired.
In recent days, Mr. Li, 37, has juggled rehearsals, fittings and other
demands as he prepares for the annual Spring Festival Gala, the four-hour-plus
variety show to be broadcast next Saturday. The program, perennially one of the
world's most-watched shows, falls on the eve of the Lunar New Year holiday, when
Chinese families get together to eat dumplings and, not always gleefully, watch
the gala.
There are more than 500 hosts and hostesses on CCTV," he said. "Each of them
wants to be part of the gala. I'm very honored to be chosen."
Known for his theatrical gestures, his exuberant style and his slightly
unorthodox looks, Mr. Li is considered one of the most popular and bankable
stars among a stable of more subdued personalities at China Central Television,
or CCTV, the central government's television network. One study publicized by
state media - though not independently verified - declared that Mr. Li was the
most valuable host in China, with a projected annual value of $50.8 million to
CCTV.
Mr Li uses a trademark punching gesture on one game show while on another he
has taken to flicking away question cards in Lettermanesque fashion. He
sometimes speaks with bits of slang even though censors forbid hosts from using
the Hong Kong or Taiwanese accents that are popular with Chinese youth.
"I don't talk in slogans," he said. "I don't distinguish the stage from life.
My habits and flaws come out on the stage."
His big break came in 1998 when he was host of a game show called "Lucky 52."
He had never imagined himself a television celebrity, growing up in the remote
western region of Xinjiang. His parents had moved there to heed the "patriotic
call" from the party to develop the west. Mr. Li said his fondest childhood wish
was to get away. "I just wanted to get away from parents and family, have an
independent life and do as I pleased," he recalled.
His chance came when he enrolled at the Communication University of China in
Beijing. He graduated in the early 1990's, when the competition for jobs was
less fierce than it has become, and was assigned a job at CCTV. He worked on the
news side as a reporter and producer, but it was his shift to entertainment that
made him famous.
He said his style on "Lucky 52" - his sweeping hair, his stylized attire and
his loose on-air demeanor - was so unorthodox that scholars invited him to
attend a conference to discuss whether he should be encouraged or if the show
should be canceled. But these days, many commentators have come to see his style
as far preferable to that of hosts who seem to be stiffly reciting memorized
lines.
"The concept of hosting has changed," said Wang Xiaofang, a prominent
journalist who covers the entertainment industry. "Now the audience expects to
see brains, technique and charm."
Mr. Li is still the host of "Lucky 52," as well as two other programs. He
said he had sometimes studied British game shows but did not actually watch much
television. He lives in one of the fashionable apartment developments in
downtown Beijing with his wife and their 3-year-old daughter. His wife, a
college sweetheart, is a CCTV producer who is often credited in helping her
husband's rise.
The foibles of China's television and movie stars feed the growing corps of
paparazzi, but Mr. Li and other CCTV stars are expected to keep a relatively low
profile. He reportedly bristled over articles about his Porsche. He was also
once scolded in the news media after he was photographed smoking in public, a
habit shared by most men in China.
This will be the fifth consecutive year that Mr. Li has been a host for the
Spring Festival Gala. When it started in 1983, the show attracted almost every
person with a television set. But with growing competition and changing public
tastes, it has steadily lost viewers, even though it still is believed to have
an audience of a few hundred million people. Often, the show is playing in
Chinese households, even if no one is watching.
Producers, eager to attract younger viewers, have signed up popular singers
in recent years. But Mr. Li emphasized that the show also had political, social
and cultural "responsibilities," given that it is expected to announce the
government's theme for the year. For 2006, it is harmony, a reflection of
President Hu Jintao's call for a "harmonious society."
Mr. Li said his role on the program was that of a tailor, stitching one
performance to another. By comparison, "on my own programs, I am a king," he
said, laughing at his own joke.
He said he had tried out a new gesture to match his trademark punch - blowing
kisses.
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