老外看中国:一个在北京的美国人对春晚的八点看法
倍可亲(backchina.com) 一位正在北京工作的美国博士生Jeremiah Jenne，入乡随俗也跟着看了央视春节联欢晚会，还在自己的博客Jottings from the Granite Studio（花崗齋雜記）上写下了对春晚的八点看法（Highlights from the CCTV Spring Festival Gala ）。原文部分有部分字句与主旋律跑调，估计系统管理员那里说不过去，只能摘要翻译，仅供各位参考。!
1. 国际巨星云集，比如章子怡、周杰伦唱歌，不过周杰伦比章子怡更音乐（musical）一些。我的意思是，章固然著名，唱得也认真，可是我不禁在问：下面是不是该姚明跳街舞（breakdance）了？
2. 各种题材，从交通规则，公共交通，贪婪的开发商直到非理性股市投资，应有尽有。题材几乎敏感，但安全第一，好比在硬地上都垫上了软垫子。
3. 雪灾板块，以诗歌向与风雪抗争的成就致意。不过，广州没能回家过年的那些工人们没有多少人露出灿烂的笑脸，谁能埋怨他们呢？
4. 你不知道有很多外国人都会说中国文吗? Really, it’s true.
5. 出现了毛、邓、江、胡领导人的形象， Where was Hua?
6. 最可乐的两个小品“三个女人和一个水兵”（老公，我爱你）和宋丹丹赵本山（Song Dandan and Zhao Benshan）回答奥运问题（英语怎么说“茶”？Tea。英语怎么说“绿茶”？绿tea。赵本山的麻将太极次最可乐）)
7. 央视干了件好事，没有用奥运作为主线煽情（至少直到最后一个小时都没有）。不过那个投篮的杂技节目对于没看过的人来说还真挺震撼
8. 最后，宇航员出场很讨巧，谁不稀罕宇航员呢？
Highlights from the CCTV Spring Festival Gala
Last night, in between mass consumption of jiaozi and the occasional trip outside to blow shit up, we gathered around the television for the annual CCTV New Year’s Gala. I’m a cornball at heart and I actually get a kick out of the program, so in the spirit of Chunjie, I thought I’d pass along eight random thoughts on the 2008 broadcast.
1. Good list of international stars–Zhang Ziyi and Jay Chou did musical numbers, though Jay’s was a helluva lot more musical than Zhang Ziyi’s. I mean, I know she’s famous and all but seriously. I turned to YJ and asked, “What’s next? Yao Ming break dancing?” On an unrelated note, who wins in this deal: Is Song Zuying lucky she bagged Jiang Zemin and so gets invited to every gala from now until the Great Wall falls down or is old panda eyes the one who should be thanking Marx that Song gives him the time of day? Not sure how to score that one.
2. Sorta topical with sketches on traffic rules, public transportation, dishonest real estate developers and irrational investing in the stock market, plus yet another bit this year celebrating migrant workers. It was almost edgy. I mean, in a well-rounded, safety first, pillows on every hard surface kind of way.
3. A tribute to the snow disaster last week, complete with a group reading/song recapping the struggles and triumphs battling the storm. (Though I kept waiting for a Kayne West moment that never came.) That said, I’m not sure what the propaganda department was drinking when they cut to shots of the Guangzhou ‘celebration’ held for the workers who couldn’t get home. Not many happy cheery faces in that room, and who can blame them? Not good times, bad times.
4. Did you know a lot of foreigners speak Chinese? Really, it’s true.
5. Montage of leaders: Mao, Deng, Jiang, Hu…Where was Hua? Wtf.
6. The two funniest sketches? The “three women and the sailor” bit (Lao Gong! Wo ai ni!) and Song Dandan and Zhao Benshan answering questions on an Olympic trivia quiz show. (Q: What is the English word for ‘cha’? Song: “Tea!” Q: What is the English word for ‘lucha’? Zhao: “Lu Tea!” Runner-up: Zhao Benshan’s ‘Mahjong Tai Chi.’)
7. CCTV did a decent job (at least until the last hour) of not burying the telecast in Olympic schmaltz, though the basketball demonstration was probably more impressive to people who have never seen And 1.
8. Finally, nice touch at the end with the astronauts. Who doesn’t give it up for astronauts?
After the show, we went outside to watch total bedlam. One neighbor was carrying around strings of exploding M-80s, another was shooting sparks out of his 3rd floor apartment onto somebody else’s brand new car below. YJ’s parents live next door to a fire station, and the trucks were coming and going all night. Renao, indeed.
