Camera, Lights, Action!

What happens when you are a foreign kid in China?

You get asked to do a TV gig!

In preparation for China’s biggest holiday, Spring Festival, Jolie and Isaac along with 4 of their friends were asked to sing alongside of Taiwan’s pop singer, Vanness or Wu Jian Hao.

China’s Spring Festival shows are one of the main ways Chinese celebrate their Lunar Calendar New Years. As one of my friends explained, “Almost every Chinese family will sit and watch CCTV’s Spring Festival show from Beijing and eat jiaozi.” As a precursor to the big CCTV show, some provinces will air their own show prior to the New Years Day which is Jan. 23rd.

Lots of variety shows, (dancing, magic, comedians),one after the other, make up a Spring Festival show!

This is where Jolie and Isaac come into the picture!

In our neighborhood lives a TV producer. He asked a friend of ours if he knew of any foreign children who would be interested in participating in our province’s Spring Festival show.

At first my kids were hesitant and then the mention of being paid perked them up.  After “try outs” Isaac decided there was no way he could memorize the mandarin required to sing the chorus. I explained this to the producer who refused to take Isaac’s attempt to back out and said in his most dramatic way, “He must come! His yellow hair is beautiful!”

In other words, Isaac wasn’t being selected for his singing ability, but instead his hair!

Making a silly face for the commercials!

We had some grueling hours to contend with, some days spending 12 hours at the theater, but by the time we were finished, the kids had gotten used to the “hurry up and wait” game of show bizness and commented as they left, “Let’s do that again next year!”

So, what did they do?

Dressed as royalty, they hold their lighted stars and wait for their turn!

As the singer, Wu Jian Hao, sang his love song about meteor showers, a small group of children came out from the backstage through the fog and lights and walked with him to the front singing the chorus with him, while young women danced as angles in the background. That small group of children, included my two older ones!

Earlier in the month they recorded their voices in a recording studio at the TV station, so that on the day of the live performance they could just lip sing and not forget the words, while Wu Jian Hao performed live.

Jolie is the second girl on the right of the singer and Isaac the boy next to her. Front and center is Wu Jian Hao or Vanness

The kids never actually met Vanness, he was only on stage for the Live performance and because of their positioning during the performance, they didn’t actually have a chance to meet him. (minus the night he arrived and practiced with the kids once at 11 p.m….the kids didn’t even realize he was on stage as he stood behind them!) They were rushed off after the practice and he was put to work on the next act before meeting the kids.

In the end, the only thing I regret is not asking to speak with or get Wu Jian Hao’s autograph. I learned later he is a Christian and now in retrospect believe it would have been nice for my children to have met the “star” whom also shared in their beliefs about Christ.

The show will air on Jan. 21st at 8 p.m. through this television station: Liaoning Satellite

You may even be able to view straight from the website after the airing!
Happy 2012 Spring Festival!