Li Yong

Li Yong (; 3 May 1968 – 25 October 2018) was a leading host on China Central Television (CCTV). He was known for hosting the programs Lucky 52, Super 6+1, and various editions of the CCTV New Year's Gala. He was known for his unorthodox presentation skills and flamboyant outfits. Biography Li's family originated from Shandong, but he was born and raised in Urumqi, Xinjiang, in the far-west part of China. As a child, he was interested in painting. He excelled in the National College Entrance Examination and planned to become an actor. From 1987 he studied radio at the then Beijing Broadcasting Institute, where he began dating Ha Wen. The two subsequently married; Ha has both produced Li's programmes for CCTV and been his publicist. Li was a member of the Communist Party of China. After graduating, he joined CCTV's in 1991 as a choreographer. While he also worked in news, he made his name in light entertainment. He lived in central Beijing and the couple had a daughter born in 2002. Since 2001, he had been one of the six main hosts of the CCTV New Year's Gala, which had a regular audience estimated at several hundred million people each year. He was often used in on-screen and printed promotional material as the public face of CCTV. Li was launched to fame by Lucky 52, a CCTV-2 gameshow with audience figures around 50 million. Based on a British gameshow format (possibly Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?). The show aired on Saturdays at 6:55pm. The last air was 25 October 2008 and its repeats, as Li announced/CCTV announced that Lucky 52 would go off air.