Bloggers were up in arms today over China’s decision at the Olympic opening ceremony to have a pretty little girl lip-synching for the real singer who had crooked teeth. Many said they felt cheated because one of the most touching moments of the critically acclaimed ceremony was not the real deal.
“Frankly, I think that’s disgusting. Honestly, they’re seven and nine years old! So young!” one New York teenage girl wrote angrily in her blog.
Nine-year-old Lin Miaoke was praised for her cute performance but organisers admitted today that she was a photogenic stand-in for the real singer, Yang Peiyi, who was rejected because of her appearance.
“I find it sad that they ruined an otherwise pretty awesome ceremony with those fakes,” another blog argued. “So forget Beijing 2008. Best opening ceremony so far is still SYDNEY 2000! They didn’t see it necessary to use computer generated images to impress the world.”
A search on Google blogs showed what a can of worms had been opened. Indignation ranked alongside astonishment as their primary reaction. “Apparently, the little girl whose voice was used, Yang Peiyi, wasn’t cute enough. It was deemed bad for China’s image to show a little girl with crooked teeth,” one complained.
They accused the Chinese authorities of being control freaks. “China wants the Olympics as a stage to present a picture-perfect image to the outside world and perfection was clearly the goal for the dazzling opening ceremonies,” one wrote.
Accusations of hypocrisy were also levelled at Beijing. “Eager to put on a perfect Olympics, Beijing has swept its streets of fake designer handbags, pirated DVDs and phony corporate logos. That dedication to authenticity apparently does not extend to Olympics ceremonies,” said another blogger.
But the organisers were unrepentant. Beijing Games spokesman Wang Wei said: “The song was pre-recorded … The artistic directors just picked the best voice and the best performer.”
(Source: Reuters)
- Our own commentary:
How the Chinese duped the world’s broadcasters at Olympics opening ceremony
on Aug 13th, 2008 at 13:09
Since when have governments ever cared about what internet bloggers thought
of them, and as for moaning about cheap imports, then I suggest those moaners
complain to there own government to restrict imports until China deals with the
problem, and as we all know that wont happen.