Taylor Swift and all-star gala boost China's super shopping spree
- By Zhang Rui
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E-mail China.org.cn, November 12, 2019
Alibaba Group is clearly seeking a breakthrough in becoming more international and have a bigger say in China's annual biggest shopping spree day on Nov. 11, as it invited pop superstar Taylor Swift and other heavyweight Chinese stars to a dazzling gala to promote the extravagant online sales.
American country music singer-turned pop icon Taylor Swift took to the stage amid the loudest cheers and screams from fans at the end of the Alibaba's 11.11 Global Shopping Festival Countdown Gala at the Mercedes-Benz Arena in Shanghai on Sunday evening. She performed concerts there four years ago, which made her a little nostalgic.
She performed three songs from her new album "Lover," two of them with backup dancers. These were "ME!" and "You Need to Calm Down" while playing the title track alone on a piano. Her performances were enhanced by the visually magnificent, wildly imaginative and technologically advanced stage and set designs provided by Alibaba.
Swift was among 86 solo stars or groups benefiting from the vividly amazing stage designs wowing the audience that night. Other headline acts included China's heartthrob pop stars Jackson Yee, Li Ronghao, Na Ying, Tengger, Han Hong, Jason Zhang, Chris Lee as well as Chinese superstar pianist Lang Lang and his wife Gina Alice Redlinger, Russian soprano Aida Garifullina, Israeli magician Master Mentalist Dimitri, Spanish tap dance group Los Vivancos, Japanese voice actress and singer Kana Hanazawa and the top street dance crew Kinjaz from the United States.
More than 40% of performers of the gala were from outside China, and many Chinese performers sang English songs. Alibaba Group said in a statement that from cultural clashes to global broadcast, the gala has "built a stage for cultural exchanges among countries and become a window to show the world the modern and the future China."
According to the e-commerce giant, the gala reached a vast global audience, as the broadcasting rights were sold to 106 countries and regions, while people in more than 200 countries and regions were able to watch the four-hour show via Alibaba's Youku app.
At the same time, Zhejiang TV and Dragon TV broadcast the show separately on their channels for the domestic audience, topping with ratings for the night with up to 15% of viewership, the TV rating tracking agency Kuyun reported.
However, reaching out globally is not the only ambition for Alibaba this year. The company, for the first time, added a charity section to the gala, which was seen as the biggest highlight while showcasing Alibaba's corporate social responsibility, and for which 41 entertainers promoted and helped the poverty alleviation program.
Alibaba estimated that a total of 51.44 million audience members and consumers also visited the gala's charity live booth set up backstage of the gala where six stars and rural officials within minutes sold out agricultural products from China's 21 poverty-stricken areas during the live broadcast, earning more than 100 million "likes."
"We don't want to make poverty alleviation as a task or make consumers feel pressure," said Lin Zhiqiang, vice president of Youku and general producer of the gala.
In its 11th year, "Singles' Day" has now become the world's biggest shopping day of the year, this time creating a "Triple 11." The annual 24-hour event generates more revenue than the online sales of Black Friday and Cyber Monday combined. The event first became popular in China, coined by Alibaba, as a day for unattached people to celebrate being single and buy gifts for themselves, but is now popular with everyone.
The Singles' Day gala was launched in 2015 and has been described as a massive variety show that count down to the national shopping bonanza, managing to lure international megastars Mariah Carey, Pharrell Williams and Jessie J to its stage.
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