Military History | How To Make War | Wars Around the World Rules of Use How to Behave on an Internet Forum
China Discussion Board
   Return to Topic Page
Subject: Opening ceremony organisers admit faking it on fireworks, child star
gf0012-aust    8/12/2008 5:30:08 AM
h**p://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/08/12/2333233.htm?section=justin&site=olympics/2008 Opening ceremony organisers admit faking it on fireworks, child star Posted 17 minutes ago Four days after the world was dazzled by the Beijing Opening Ceremony, details have emerged that organisers were forced to fake some key moments in the three-hour spectacle. Games organisers say that poor visibility on the night forced them to run animations of fireworks and they also admitted that the star child singer was actually only in the stadium because of her good looks. The fireworks around the Bird's Nest stadium were real, the television footage of fireworks in other parts of Beijing was not. It turns out some opening ceremony footage was produced before the Games as a back-up and the vice-president of the Beijing Organising Committee for the Olympic Games (BOCOG), Wang Wei, says it was needed because of the city's chronic air pollution problem. "Because of the poor visibility on the night some previously recorded footage may have been used," he said. However Wang Wei says most of the fireworks seen by billions of people around the world did actually happen on the night. Keeping up appearances The little girl who starred at the Olympic opening ceremony was miming and only put on stage because the real singer was not considered attractive enough, the show's musical director said. Pigtailed Lin Miaoke was selected to appear because of her cute appearance and had not sung a note, Chen Qigang, the general music designer of the ceremony, said in an interview with a state broadcaster. Photographs of Lin in a bright red party dress were published in newspapers and websites all over the world and the official China Daily hailed her as a rising star on Tuesday. But Chen said the girl whose voice was actually heard by the 91,000 capacity crowd at the main Olympic stadium was in fact seven-year-old Yang Peiyi, who has a chubby face and uneven teeth. "The reason why little Yang was not chosen to appear was because we wanted to project the right image, we were thinking about what was best for the nation," Chen said in the interview that appeared briefly on the popular news website Sina.com on Tuesday before it was wiped from the Internet. Lin was seen to perform the patriotic song "Ode to the Motherland" as China's national flag was carried into the stadium, a key moment in the three hour opening ceremony. "The reason was for the national interest. The child on camera should be flawless in image, internal feelings, and expression," he said. "Lin Miaoke is excellent in those aspects. But in terms of voice, Yang Peiyi is perfect, each member of our team agreed," he said.
 
Quote    Reply

Show Only Poster Name and Title     Newest to Oldest



 Latest
 News
 
 Most
 Read
 
 Most
 Commented
 Hot
 Topics