Fake singer at Olympics 2008, Lip-syncing done for National Interest

Agnel · 10:35 PM

A little girl and her song captivated millions of viewers during the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics. But what they saw was not what they heard.

Games organizers confirm that Lin Miaoke, who performed "Ode to the Motherland" as China's flag was paraded Friday into Beijing's National Stadium, was not singing at all. Lin was lip-syncing to the sound of another girl, 7-year-old Yang Peiyi, who was heard but not seen, apparently because she was deemed not cute enough.

Lin Miaoke

Yang Peiyi

YouTube

YouTube

The reason was for the national interest," said Chen Qigang, the ceremony's musical director, in a state radio interview. "The child on camera should be flawless in image, internal feeling and expression. ... Lin Miaoke is excellent in those aspects."

The decision was made at the highest levels, Chen said.

"We had to do it," he said. "We'd been through several inspections. They're all very strict. When we rehearsed at the spot, there were several spectators from various divisions, especially leaders from the Politburo, who gave the opinion it must change." Few who watched the Olympic ceremony realized the deception. "Tiny singer wins heart of nation," read the headline in Tuesday's China Daily newspaper.

"Lin Miaoke might be only 9 years old but she is well on her way to becoming a star, thanks to her heartwarming performance," the article gushed -- without mentioning she never sang a note.

But as word has gotten out on the Internet, some Chinese bloggers are outraged.

"If you're not good-looking, no matter how well you sing, you'll not be onstage. Do you know you're twisting a whole generation?" read one comment. Another said, "If foreigners found out, they'd think we can't even find a girl who is good at both." iReport.com: Share your Olympic spirit

As for Yang Peiyi, she's been quoted as saying she was honored to have had a role in the opening ceremony, even though few realized just how big her part really was.

Source : Olympic girl seen but not heard - CNN.com

Nonsense

Sick idiots.
What else can I say?

Safin

The Fake olympics continue.
Abhinav should get his medal checked also,,

What lengths the Chinese have gone to show their "supposed" might. Only thing it has shown is you can't fool all the people

bottle

this is sad, a lot of girls already have a complex, things like these are going to make it worse

Agnel

Originally Posted by bottle

this is sad, a lot of girls already have a complex, things like these are going to make it worse

Actually the one who was shown on tv is gonna be forced to look prettier for life. Cos 10 yrs or 20 years down the line, people will compare who looks better then

Btw, imagine the pain the child's parents would be going thru.

patch01

Why are the media whining about the lip-synch.......... Have so-called adult celebrities not lip-synched before, your Britney's, Lohan's, the infamous Ashleigh Simpson, remember when she started singing the wrong song.......

.... "but, it was the band's fault" stammers a red-faced Simpson............. "Yes, Ashleigh, it was the band's fault" nod's the rest of the world as they struggle to contain their laughter...

So the Chinese had a girl lip-synch, so what? look at how young she is, what if in singing live, all of a sudden, she'd gotten stage fright under the international spotlight...........

It strikes me, that all of this meaningless nit-picking by the media, is simply straight-out jealousy on the part of other nations........ China put on a great spectacle, their athletes are making the utmost of home ground advantage...... Get over it................

bottle

Originally Posted by patch01

So the Chinese had a girl lip-synch, so what? look at how young she is, what if in singing live, all of a sudden, she'd gotten stage fright under the international spotlight...........

well they could have lip synched using the original girl as well right ?

the only problem here was them saying she was replaced because she didnt look good enough

patch01

Originally Posted by bottle

well they could have lip synched using the original girl as well right ? the only problem here was them saying she was replaced because she didnt look good enough

All little kids are cute, but if I was living in a totalitarian regime, where the government has a tendency to shoot troublemakers and then send a bill for the cost of the bullet to the grieving family, I wouldn't be too quick to rock the boat either..........

"What, you want my child to be seen and not heard? Yes Sir, Thank you Sir!" and with that taken care of, the Olympic official leaves the little Chinese family, followed by his PLA escort...................

Safin

It strikes me, that all of this meaningless nit-picking by the media, is simply straight-out jealousy on the part of other nations........ China put on a great spectacle, their athletes are making the utmost of home ground advantage...... Get over it................

The only problem is that the reason is rather lame.
"She was not cute enough"

Btw initially, i also thought it was recorded. For a kid to sing at that stage would be unreal. That raises the question, why have such small kids anyway. If they wanted to show Chinese kids are super smart at 5, they failed miserably.

medpal

there will so many controversies that perhaps this olympics will recorded as olympics of shame.

Look at the gymnosts of chinese womes team already there is controversy erupting over their right age.

Yesterday an australian shooter complained about biased judging by chinese officials as a chinese competititor missed the target clearly stilll they awarded as hit.

i am afaid this will not stop easily.

bottle

Originally Posted by medpal

there will so many controversies that perhaps this olympics will recorded as olympics of shame.

Look at the gymnosts of chinese womes team already there is controversy erupting over their right age.

Yesterday an australian shooter complained about biased judging by chinese officials as a chinese competititor missed the target clearly stilll they awarded as hit.

i am afaid this will not stop easily.

not really all said and done they did have one of the grandest openings for the olympic

think of it as a movie i guess

but regarding the other things i guess you are right