The Paper's reporter Wang Yi
Editor's note: Shen Li, China's first television announcer and cCTV host, died in Beijing on July 28 at the age of 87 due to illness.
In 1958, the 25-year-old Shen Li and the 19-year-old Chen Duo jointly knocked on the door of Beijing Television (the predecessor of CCTV) and became the first batch of television workers in New China, witnessing the development of China's television industry for more than half a century. In 1980, the three words "host" appeared for the first time on the Chinese television screen, followed by Shen Li's "Serving You", Zhao Zhongxiang's "Beijing Middle School Students' Intelligence Competition", and Chen Duo's and Hongyun's "Talking about the Yangtze River" and "Talking about the Canal" columns, which became the "troika" that was popular on the screen at that time...
Chen Duo, a famous program host and well-known recitation and performance artist, still remembers the 2006 Chinese TV host ceremony "25 Stars in 25 Years" held in Shanghai more than a decade ago. "At that event, Shen Li and Zhao Zhongxiang won the 'Outstanding Contribution Award'. I remember Zhao Zhongxiang's testimonial was to thank the vast number of dear spectators for allowing him to fill the whole field like an athlete. Shen Li's speech was to feel that the pie was falling from the sky, and 'this pie is very big and heavy'. I also won the award at that time, this award was personally awarded to me by Sister Shen Li, and I would like to say that this 'stuffing' is a surprise. In an exclusive interview with the surging reporter, Chen Duo remembered the situation at that time.
2006 Chinese TV Host Ceremony "25 Stars in 25 Years", Shen Li presented the award to Chen Duo. Images of this article are provided by the interviewee.
In 2020, when it was the 40th anniversary of China's TV host industry, Zhao Zhongxiang, the "national face" at the beginning of the year, died of illness, and now the highly respected Shen Li is gone, and the departure of two old colleagues, Chen Duo can not hide his sadness. As for Shen Li, from green silk to white hair, Chen Duo said that he had always called her "Old Shen", "She is six years older than me, I am four years older than Zhao Zhongxiang, and we will all call him 'Little Zhao'." ”
During the interview, chen Duo, 81, choked up several times and lost his voice, considering the physical health of the interviewee, and suspended the suspension at the right time after obtaining the consent of his family. The following dialogues took place twice in the afternoon of July 29 and the early morning of July 30.
In 2005, Shen Li and Chen Duo went on a program together to talk about the development of China's television industry.
"She on the screen is a typical image of China's intellectual women"
The Paper: Shen Li is your old colleague and is very hesitant to dial the phone at such a moment. What comes to mind first when you think of her?
Chen Duo: Old Shen is gone, and I think we must first have a fixed frame for her life's work and achievements. Her portrayal of Chinese television is dignified, kind, sincere, elegant, beautiful, gentle and generous, showing the virtuous and understanding side of Chinese women's tradition. On the screen, she is a typical image of a Chinese intellectual woman. So much so that when people mention her, they will use some words like this to describe. Although the early TV shows were very promotional, even when she was broadcasting serious news, she could make people feel her temperament, which made people feel like a spring breeze.
Lao Shen was the first official TV announcer in China, and some of the trial broadcasts before her were undertaken by tv drama troupes, but the first announcer in China was mentioned, that is, Lao Shen. At that time, television was still a new thing, and radio was just hearing its voice and not seeing its people, it was precisely television, which could see both people and hear sounds, and at the beginning it was very close to the audience.
The Paper: When Shen Li worked at the Central People's Radio, the famous announcer Qi Yue was her teacher, how did this experience help her later appear on TV shows?
Chen Duo: There are some differences between the broadcast method of TV news and the broadcast method of radio news, as long as the radio news is clearly spoken, the language is expressed accurately, including punctuation marks, paragraph pauses, and emotional expressions must be in place, which can be in the broadcast. For television, the audience not only hears your voice, but also sees your image, your hairstyle, dress, what kind of expression, what kind of attitude, sitting and standing posture, everyone will use some standard to measure.
The broadcast of the Central People's Radio, whether from a technical or artistic point of view, is the purest and most authentic, and there is no doubt about the national team. Shen Li was originally a choir member in the Cultural and Labor Troupe, and she was selected to train and study at the Central People's Radio. After all, broadcasting is different from singing and daily speech, announcers can not be contrived, not to twist posture, people engaged in this profession of course understand, but to really in a variety of environments to cope with the abundance, put away freely, do TV we have no experience before, we have to learn from the radio. After Shen Li received training from the Central People's Radio, she put these (acquisitions and experiences) on television broadcasting, which just has her own characteristics.
The Paper: Shen Li's video as a newscast is now hard to find. There were a lot of major news to be broadcast in that era, can you tell us more about her broadcast features?
Chen Duo: She is very kind, no matter how important and weighty the article, no matter how passionate the manuscript, she will seem very kind. Such kindness, whether it is broadcasting a large article or a daily program, will make the audience feel that they are not far away.
Specifically, our grasp of proportions is not the same. At that time, the Central People's Radio broadcast some statements on the Taiwan Strait, including some editorials, such as the "anti-revision" article, and the scale of these was absolutely accurate and in place. In the 1960s, Mayor Peng Zhen (then mayor of Beijing) told several excellent announcers on the stage, "I wrote a manuscript, and I read it myself." When you read it, the punctuation marks are clear, and the emotions are rich and accurate. ”
Television is also a mouthpiece, the same need for attitude, emotion and position, but at that time television technology was not very developed, sometimes with voiceover to broadcast, the content of the article with subtitles out, then the subtitles are handwritten. Some important manuscripts, after review and determination, have taken the sound of the radio station to use it entirely. For us TV announcers, the particularly important commentary articles at that time were basically not undertaken, because the broadcasts of radio and television stations could be shared.
In the 1980s, Chen Duo and Shen Li visited Qingdao shoe companies.
"Lao Shen is an 'all-around athlete'"
The Paper: As a generation and an old colleague, I remember that you once recalled to me that Zhao Zhongxiang's nickname in Taili was "Big Bear", what did you call Shen Li back then, and what friendship and stories can you share after work?
Chen Duo: I just call her Lao Shen, and I have always been like this. She was six years older than me, I was four years older than Zhao Zhongxiang, and we would all call him "Little Zhao" at that time. In the early days of entering Taiwan, she was on the TV news side, and we were in different departments on the TV literature and art side. At that time, on the SIDE OF TELEVISION literature and art, there was no video (equipment) of TV dramas, they were all live broadcasts, and they had to launch one per month on average, and the task was very heavy, and the TV news side was even more so.
At that time, the working conditions of the TV station were very difficult, the draft did not have the current teleprompter, that is, to rely on the back draft; the control of the temperature and humidity in the broadcast room could not be talked about at all, the heat of the summer was not good, the face light, the top light, the background light, the various work light sources Some even had a few kilowatts, that did not dare to open the fan, afraid of blowing away the draft, generating noise ... All these can only rely on the concerted efforts of various types of work to overcome many difficulties.
In the first few years of the establishment of Beijing Television (the predecessor of CCTV), Lao Shen can be said to be an "all-round athlete", news, social education, literature and art, sports, including the live broadcast and broadcast of some large-scale activities. Later, the male announcer came to Zhao Zhongxiang and Bai Gang, and the female announcer had Lu Dayu, and helped her share the task little by little. Lao Shen is the leader of the broadcast team. After the columnization, she was in charge of the "Cultural Life" column as the team leader, and the broadcast was handed over to the younger Xing Qianbin and others.
Old Shen turned to choreographer, the burden is actually heavier, because the coverage is wider, pay attention to more subjects, she is still doing middle school, doing in school. I have seen Lao Shen's interview, she will not ask those pieces of soup words, must have done her homework. "Cultural Life" was also a refreshing and popular program for the audience at that time. Lao Shen later became the secretary of the Secretariat of the All-China Journalists Association, and this social position allowed her to hold because she was quite representative.
The Paper: In the early 1980s, social service programs began to shine, Shen Li and "For You", Zhao Zhongxiang and "Beijing Middle School Students Intelligence Competition, You and Hongyun's "Talk about the Yangtze River", "Talk about the Canal" and other programs have become popular at that time, and now the classic. In your opinion, what are the reasons why "At Your Service" is so popular?
Chen Duo: The reason why these programs you mentioned came out in that era and became classics or the people like to hear about them is that in the final analysis, thanks to reform and opening up, everyone's mood is more relaxed and happy, and people's material living standards have also been correspondingly improved. For example, Lao Shen said, before that, where did everyone wear satin clothes? With such clothes, how to take care of them? Another question. The audience wrote to ask, and she had to find a way to solve it.
From "Cultural Life" to "At Your Service", the two of us did have some work intersection. Go to Qingdao to do knowledge competitions, and also go to state-owned enterprises in northeast China to do similar programs and forums, and feel the vitality of Chinese entrepreneurs at that time. In 1990, the state set up the "Pioneering Cup" gold award for broadcast hosting, and for the first time awarded the practitioners of the radio and television system. Five people won the award that year, and the TV station (identity) was Shen Li, Zhao Zhongxiang and me. Everyone was very excited, there were also performances at the award ceremony, Zhao Zhongxiang and Yang Lan performed a magic trick, and I played Othello in Shakespeare's play to perform a play, but I didn't want to put on makeup and walked in front of Shen Li, she didn't recognize it (laughs). She is a very simple, very cute big sister.
In 1990, he won the Special Gold Medal of the Pioneering Cup, the third Chen Duo on the left, Zhao Zhongxiang on the second from the right, and Shen Li on the right. Photography by Huang Wen
"She is exchanging her sincerity for the audience's true feelings"
The Paper: Shen Li retired on time at the age of 55, and returned to the screen to host "Sunset Red" at the age of 60, can you recall the situation at that time?
Chen Duo: 55 years old is a line for lesbian retirement, and we were in an office later, of course, knowing that she was going to retire. I remember chatting at the bottom, I said, don't you quit, let's do a few more years together. Because at that time, she was very agile in her voice, health, and thinking, and she was so experienced, three young people may not be able to stand up, and it is a pity to retire at the age of 55. I remember that she told me in a serious tone that there were many reasons for this, and I also felt sorry for my husband and children, because of the nature of her work, she really couldn't take care of the family a little bit sometimes, and now she finally had the opportunity to "teach my husband and teach her son", but she advised me to be relieved.
She left in the regret of many colleagues, in fact, the most unwilling is her audience, in those years, audiences across the country wrote so many letters to her, some viewers fascinated her, a stitch and thread knit sweater, scarf sent over... She really is, alas, exchanging her sincerity for the true feelings of the audience, and she is a very popular and good person. Later, "Sunset Red" finally invited her back, and it was a large number of audiences, many old friends, many children, and was deeply loved by the audience. To say that these programs she made, her image, will remain in people's hearts for a long time...
In December 2000, the "Golden Wedding" party was hosted by Shen Li and Chen Duo.
The Paper: As a famous recitation artist, have you cooperated with Shen Li on stage in recent years?
Chen Duo: As an artist with a vocal performance background, Shen Li's voice is naturally very sweet. In terms of acting, she didn't get involved much. Of course, there have been recitations on stage, which is the basic skill of the broadcast host. In the program of "Sunset Red", I remember that she recited some fragments of "Talking about the Yangtze River", both hosting and reciting. We organized a cruise ship to swim in the Three Gorges of the Yangtze River, the elderly party, many elderly friends of the golden and silver weddings participated together, including Chen Peisi's father, Chen Qiang and his wife, Pu Cunxin's father - Su Min and his wife, me and my wife, and Shen Li and her husband are on it. She is also a choreographer and a host here, interspersed with performances, or very active.
Mr. and Mrs. Chen Duo and Mr. and Mrs. Shen Li traveled together.
At that time, the two families traveled together, and we could feel that she had reached the age of the back and had a warm family, and we felt happy from the bottom of our hearts, and we were also happy for her. A few years ago, I didn't expect her to be sick, for a while our two sons wanted to see her, how can not contact, anxious, and then asked her son to know the condition.
Lao Shen has contributed to the cause of Chinese television, and she herself has never reached out to the organization to explain conditions and requirements, and even once assumed huge pressure and so-called "responsibility" that should not have been borne by her personally. Many viewers may not imagine that Lao Shen's family has a refrigerator very late, but she has already introduced the maintenance of these household appliances in "Serving You".
The stories behind these, bit by bit, are all coming up now... Our old colleagues are very worried about her, and dare not visit her more, afraid that she is too excited to be detrimental to the recovery of the disease, did not expect her to leave... She is our good teacher, good sister, good friend.
Editor-in-charge: Cheng Yu
Proofreader: Shi Gong