At ostentatious spectacle, the CCTV Spring Festival Gala on New Year's Eve, I couldn't help but feel underwhelmed.

For there before my eyes, was this extravaganza of fading over-paid foreign pop stars and all the gaudy rest, which had more to do with over-indulgence than the Year of the Snake or the Spring Festival. For some years now CCTV's Spring Gala's connection with the Chinese Lunar New Year and traditional Chinese culture has become more and more tenuous as its array of star-spangled acts and technological wizardry has increased.

If Chinese are expected to live a more ethical, frugal and moderate lifestyle, the organizers and admirers of the CCTV Spring Festival Gala should reflect on such an expensive four hours of television.

Ross Grainger, via e-mail

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(China Daily 02/20/2013 page9)