By Chen Min and Cheng Zhongyu | wuhudaily.cn

As night falls and the city lights up, singing, applause and laughter fill the air in Wuhu. The second season of Wuhu Takeoff · Yangtze Grand Stage — the 37 Interactive Entertainment Voice of Wuhu Singing Chart — recently kicked off.

What began as a pilot on a downtown pedestrian street in early spring has now expanded citywide, with all counties and districts joining in. Guided by the municipal publicity department, cyberspace administration, culture and tourism bureau and federation of literary and art circles, and backed by local listed company 37 Interactive Entertainment, the project is produced by the Wuhu Art Theater. The mass-culture live-streaming brand has stayed true to its mission of public participation and citywide sharing. It was selected for the "Five Major Cultures" research project of the Anhui provincial publicity department and has pioneered a new model for popular arts where government guides, the public leads, the market drives and digital tools enable.

Zero threshold, two-way participation: everyone is a star

"No tickets, no barriers — just open your mouth and you're the star of the stage." This is the essence of the Yangtze Grand Stage. Designed to discover, showcase and empower grassroots talent, the project offers an open-access platform for anyone with a passion to perform. To date, over 500 ordinary citizens have taken the singing stage, from seniors in their sixties to young students.

Mei, a Wuhu native working for China Railway Shanghai Group, could barely contain his excitement as he sang on the stage in his hometown. "I love singing. I signed up in April. Only when I got on stage did I realize I was surrounded by so much talent," he said. After performing the hit song The Boy, the cheers from the audience and the flood of supportive comments online left him too thrilled to sleep. "I had expected a modest local stage, but what I found was a fully professional setup — the lighting, the sound, the stage design. It felt like being on the Spring Festival Gala. For a community stage of this caliber, just participating makes it incredibly worthwhile," he said.

Registration for Season 2 stays true to the "universal participation, citywide sharing" spirit. Beyond official recommendations from each county and district, citizens aged 18 to 65 can sign up via private message on the official Douyin account or register on-site to audition for their home district stage. Participants are automatically assigned to their corresponding district team.

A new "Singing Chart" feature has also been introduced. From Wednesday to Sunday, five live-stream sessions each week place judging power entirely in the hands of the public. Daily champions and weekly top-three finalists are determined by online voting, with netizens engaging through bullet comments, votes and short video interactions. Weekly results are unveiled in live-streamed ceremonies across the city. Whether on stage, in the audience or behind a screen, everyone can fully engage in the event.

New upgrades, multiple highlights

This summer, the Yangtze Grand Stage expands its footprint further. Season 2 runs from July 1 to August 30, spanning nine weeks across all eight counties and districts of Wuhu — Wuwei, Nanling, Jinghu, Jiujiang, Yijiang, Wanzhi, Fanchang and the economic and technological development zone. The Wanzhi district has already opened the season, with other districts following in succession, culminating in a grand final where the strongest teams from each district will compete.

This year's upgrades go far beyond geographic coverage. A new team battle format replaces the solo competition, with eight district teams vying for the city championship. The rewards have also been upgraded: the champion team will take home a cash prize of over 10,000 yuan, along with professional opportunities including signed partnerships with the Wuhu Art Theater, IP incubation and promotion, and access to professional performance resources.

The stage is no longer limited to nighttime. Daytime sessions feature cultural tourism promotion live-streams, while evenings offer public-benefit cultural performances. Nighttime brings audition competitions, mystery gift boxes, intangible cultural heritage experiences and chart-unveiling ceremonies — creating a round-the-clock cultural experience that transforms a single performance into a citywide cultural carnival.

Speaking about the sponsorship, a representative from 37 Interactive Entertainment said: "Our mission is to bring joy to the world. Sponsoring the Yangtze Grand Stage is our way, as a local enterprise, of bringing joy to our fellow citizens." The company will leverage its strengths in digital technology, new media and youth engagement to help boost Wuhu's grassroots cultural activities across the city, turning accessible community arts events into a fresh window displaying Wuhu's youthful vitality and cultural tourism appeal.

The river breeze never stops, and neither does the singing. Officials from the Wuhu Art Theater said the next phase will focus on strengthening the Wuhu Takeoff · Yangtze Grand Stage brand, refining the "online live-streaming plus offline performances" operational model, and forging closer ties with universities, businesses and tourist attractions. The goal is to develop the project into an iconic cultural brand that showcases the charm of Yangtze River culture and reflects Wuhu's city image, contributing cultural momentum to the city's development as a provincial sub-center.