China banned child singer with crooked teeth from singing at opening ceremony Jane Macartney and Ashling O'Connor in Beijing div#related-article-links p a, div#related-article-links p a:visited { color:#06c; } ''The cute little girl whose sweet-voiced rendition of one of China’s favourite revolutionary anthems started off the Olympic opening ceremony performance may not have been all that she seemed. Little Lin Miaoke, it has been revealed, was only lip-synching. Officials have now admitted that the voice that rang out through the vast Bird’s Nest stadium was really that of seven-year-old Yang Peiyi, who may have had the voice of an angel but whose crooked teeth made her unsuitable for the opening ceremony's top spot. The revelation has stirred up an online furore in China’s Internet chat rooms and on comment pages. Many are not amused to learn that the nine-year-old whose coy smile and pigtails won the hearts of the world during Friday night’s opening extravaganza was chosen more for her cuteness than her talent. The English-language China Daily announced today that little Miss Lin was well on her way to becoming a star. The Internet has been littered with pictures of the little girl going back to school after her stirring performance that had millions singing along to “Ode to the Motherland” -- a paean to the revolution -- in homes across China. The newspaper said: “The 9-year-old songbird said she was thrilled to be part of Friday’s performance, mostly ‘because I felt so beautiful in my red dress.' ” But the songbird looked better, it seems, than she sounded while little Yang Peiyi, unfortunately for her own ambitions, sounded better than she looked Chen Qigang, music director for the ceremony said in an online article: “Little Yang Peiyi’s failure to be selected was mainly because of her appearance, because we were concerned with the interests of the nation.” It appeared that while the seven-year-old child's voice could not be faulted, her crooked teeth were not deemed suitable for a ceremony required to show a flawless China. Mr Chen’s explanation drew furious comments online. One said: “What does it mean to say you are worried about image? Seven year old girls are all little angels. Why say this. It’s really ridiculous.” Others were less polite. “That’s bullshit. Any little boy or girl who is not so good looking and sees such an explanation will sob their heart out.” It was not the only moment when the ceremony diverged from reality. Gao Xiaolong, head of the visual effects team, said the opening fireworks were computer graphics of the “footprints of fire” inserted into coverage since the actual fireworks were too difficult to film. It took almost a year to create the 55-second sequence. Actual fireworks exploded but officials said it was logistically impossible to film them by helicopter. Hence the decision to engage in digital fakery. In a further twist, Chinese Olympic organisers today admitted to deploying "cheer squads" to create atmosphere and disguise blocks of empty seats in the sports venues. The legions of spectators wearing matching yellow t-shirts and banging together oversized inflatable batons have been highly visible at the first sold-out Games. But Wang Wei, vice-president of the Beijing Olympic Organising Committee (Bocog) revealed they were volunteers shipped in to “create a good atmosphere” by cheering for both sides at team events. Sitting in seats not taken up by sponsors, Olympic officials and spectators arriving later as sessions get more interesting, they are being used to cover up the embarrassment of having empty rows at events that are supposed to be full. “If people turn up they will let them take their seats,” Mr Wang said.''
Yeah, I heard this on the radio this morning. It's kinda sad, in my opinion... Oh well, it woulda worked if no one had leaked it!!!
So sad, if this was in another country this would not have happened... And who else notices that China has the most gold medals...
Having the Olymipics in China was a poor decision. We're only a week in and look at all the trouble that is being caused...
Trouble? How is this trouble? As long as those drummers were real, I'm fine with whatever else they faked.
Problems caused by the Olympics being held in China: 1. People in China forced from their homes and given no alternate shelter 2. Atheletes not allowed into China for political reasons. 3. China "faking" many aspects of the Olympics 4. Polution in China is causing harm to atheletes and cancelation of certain events There are many more, but those are the ones I could think of off the top of my head.
Which is why I said "Communist China" instead of "Communism". Although I've yet to see a country successfully use Communism without screwing the population over.
They've got their values, but they certainly aren't close to ours. I know that Chinese people don't always do the right thing, but you shouldn't generalize an entire race, because of some (well, it might be a lot) people do stupid stuff.
Poor ugly asian girl! ; [ I feel bad for her but china wants them selves to look good , its wrong though but its their choice to do this.
Its funny how typical china this ceremony was. Making themselves look better Using man-power instead of machine (ok, yes it was cool but think about it, its typical huck finn stuff, do this labor and you will be happy)
I think that last point you just said is well rather exaggerated, really no matter what country its hosted in there's going to be 'pollution'. Title Name is horrible she isn't ugly, she has crooked teeth.