Olympic ceremony singer faked performance

By Mure Dickie | FINANCIAL TIMES (United Kingdom)
August 12, 2008

Organisers of the Beijing Olympics opening ceremony faked a young girl's rendition of a revolutionary anthem following a late intervention by top leaders of China's ruling Communist party, the event's musical director revealed.

State media had hailed nine-year-old Lin Miaoke as a budding star for her role in the show that kicked off the games on Friday, but musical director Chen Qigang said she was actually only lip-synching to the voice of seven-year-old Yang Peiyi, another girl who had been judged unsuitable for the role because she was not attractive enough.

"I think all China's viewers and listeners should understand that was a matter of national interest," Mr Chen said in an interview with Radio Beijing.

The involvement of senior leaders in the decision to substitute Ms Lin's voice for Ms Yang's reflects the political importance placed on the lavishly produced opening ceremony, which was presented a carefully calibrated picture of China to the nation's citizens and viewers around the world.

However, news of the move prompted an immediate backlash from some Chinese who felt deceived - and angry at the way Ms Yang had been treated. "It's laughable and disgusting," wrote one poster on Radio Beijing's website. "Yang Peiyi is cute enough too ... I doubt these people's values. Hypocritical. Superficial," wrote a user of the popular Sina.com site.

Games organisers also confirmed on Tuesday that spectacular images of firework "footprints" marching across Beijing that were broadcast worldwide during the ceremony had not actually been live shots, but prerecorded footage prepared using computer special effects. A local newspaper quoted a spokesman of the company that worked on the footage said it had "done its best" to make them look like live images.

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