Young Olympics singing star didn't really sing
Official ruled true singer, 7, wasn't cute enough, so rival lip-synched instead
The Associated Press
updated 8:26 a.m. ET, Tues., Aug. 12, 2008

BEIJING - A 7-year-old Chinese girl was not good-looking enough for the Olympics opening ceremony, so another little girl with a pixie smile lip-synched "Ode to the Motherland," an official said.

In the latest example of the lengths Beijing took for a perfect start to the Summer Games, a member of China's Politburo asked for the last-minute change to match one girl's face with another's voice, the ceremony's chief music director said in an interview with Beijing Radio.

"The audience will understand that it's in the national interest," Chen Qigang said in a video of the interview posted online Sunday night.

The news follows reports that some footage of the fireworks exploding across China's capital during the ceremony was digitally inserted into television coverage, apparently over concerns that not all of the 29 blasts could be captured on camera.

China has been eager to present a flawless Olympics image to the world, shooing migrant workers and so-called petitioners who come to the central government with grievances from the city and shutting down any sign of protest.

'Instant star'
The country's quest for perfection apparently includes its children.

Lin Miaoke's performance Friday night, like the ceremony itself, was an immediate hit. "Nine-year-old Lin Miaoke becomes instant star with patriotic song," the China Daily newspaper headline said Tuesday.

But the real voice behind the tiny, pigtailed girl in the red dress who wowed 91,000 spectators at the National Stadium on opening night really belonged to 7-year-old Yang Peiyi. Her looks apparently failed the cuteness test with officials organizing the ceremony, but Chen said her voice was judged the most beautiful.

"The national interest requires that the girl should have good looks and a good grasp of the song and look good on screen," Chen said. "Lin Miaoke was the best in this. And Yang Peiyi's voice was the most outstanding."


During a live rehearsal soon before the ceremony, the Politburo member said Miaoke's voice "must change," Chen said in the radio interview. He didn't name the official.

So Peiyi's voice was matched with Miaoke's face.

"We had to make that choice. It was fair both for Lin Miaoke and Yang Peiyi," Chen told Beijing Radio. "We combined the perfect voice and the perfect performance."

Chen couldn't be reached for comment Tuesday.

Crooked teeth
A photo of Peiyi posted Tuesday on popular Web site Sina.com shows a smiling girl with bangs and crooked teeth. A China News Service story posted with the photo says a China Central Television reporter asked Peiyi whether she felt regret over the opening ceremony.

Peiyi responded that just having her voice used for the opening ceremony was an honor.

Whether the move was unethical, or unfair to both girls, has become a hot topic among Chinese and is racing across the country's blogosphere.

"The organizers really messed up on this one," said Luo Shaoyang, 34, a retail worker in Beijing.

"This is like a voice-over for a cartoon character," Luo said. "Why couldn't they pick a kid who is both cute and a good singer? This damages the reputation of both kids for their future, especially the one lip-synching. Now everyone knows she's a fraud. Who cares if she's cute?"

Zhang Xinyi, 22, who works in marketing in Beijing, disagreed.

"I can understand why they picked the prettier girl. They need to maintain a certain aesthetic beauty during the opening ceremonies. This situation is not so bad, especially since it gives two people an opportunity to shine rather than just one."

Peiyi is a first-grader at the primary school affiliated to Peking University. Her tutor, Wang Liping, wrote in her blog that Peiyi is both cute and well-behaved, with a love for Peking opera.

"She doesn't like to show off. She's easygoing," Wang wrote. She and other school officials couldn't be reached Tuesday.

Little blogger
Miaoke, however, was a minor celebrity even before the opening ceremony. The third-grader appeared in a television ad last year with China's biggest gold medal hope, hurdling champion Liu Xiang, and she was in an Olympics ad just before Chinese New Year, China Daily reported.

Miaoke has her own blog, and one of the latest photos posted since the ceremony shows her looking up nervously at the ceremony's director, film director Zhang Yimou. "Giving the child encouragement," the caption says.

Her father, Lin Hui, told China Daily he learned Miaoke would be "singing" only 15 minutes before the opening ceremony began. The newspaper wrote Lin "still cannot believe his daughter has become an international singing sensation."

It was the second straight Olympics where the opening ceremony involved lip-synching.

Luciano Pavarotti's performance at the 2006 Winter Games in Turin was prerecorded. The maestro who conducted the aria, Leone Magiera, said earlier this year that the bitter cold made a live performance impossible for Pavarotti, who was in severe pain months before his cancer diagnosis. Pavarotti died in September 2007 at age 71.

well that's crappy....they should have let the girl sing cute or not...not use her voice

and also if anyone read or not, during the opening ceremony when they did the supposed footprint fireworks they showed from the air.....FAKE as well...they talked to the programmer guy who made the CGI sequence it took him a year..

i mean seriously wtf is going on..lol

yeah I saw something about the footprints being fake this morning on tv

Just more proof that the olympic games hav lost any spirit they had, now all anyones interested in is winning or being perfect & with this particular incident our superficial society has sunk even lower.

i think its also a product of how china works/does things to begin with..i mean when you hand out flyers to your people showing them the 2 or 3 government approved ways to CHEER at the games....it is what it is...

yeah communism is pretty fucked

I hate all this image crap

does it matter if they fake some of the fireworks, or if the pretty girl lip-syncs ? Seriously - who cares. Its not like the games are being rigged or anything - its a show - entertainment, you act like you never saw a special effect before or heard of a performer lip syncing their performance

you don't think the Olympics is a special enough event it shouldn't have to be faked and forged and cgi and lip synced...and for the rigging...well thats always to be debated...chinas gymnastics girls team dint look 8 yrs old let alone 16..lol but thats neither here nor there i suppose...

i guess a "fake" Olympics so to speak fits right in then with everyones fake life..and thats the other problem today that goes beyond the Olympics, is as john said, who cares..and that is the problem right on, most people dont..but some still do..

True but this IS the Olympics after all. Considering it is one of if not THE most prestigious events in sporting history you'd think that they'd use authentic preformances, effects, etc.

IMO the Olympics are becoming more and more of a joke as times goes by. They are quickly becoming more and more about money & tourism than sportsmanship or national pride. Considering the fact that pride was the main ideology behind the games when they started thousands of years ago, it's a damn shame these days lemme tell ya.

But what I also find pretty funny and ironic, is the fact that (out of all places) an ASIAN country are now deeming people "not cute". I mean come ON You'd think that they'd be the last country to judge others on appearance y'know.

no doubt dude,I wouldn't even be surprised if they said the whole f'n thing never even happened

hmmm maybe the chinese olympic contenders are actually cyborgs pretending to be human

actually i think all the countries voted on the outcomes and dreamworks and toho combined in a joint effort to create the best cgi movies ever..."olympics 08" lol

I personally could care less about any of it, BUT....I do find it morbidly fascinating to watch all these stories coming out, mainly because they're coming out AND PEOPLE ACTUALLY CARE ABOUT IT? !!It reminds me of the doofs who buy the Enquirer thinking it's legit.

yeah i agree, who should care about the olympics....i mean how dare they..

well...I mean...if you're THAT bored.....

I care for one and that doesn't make me a doof either Joey......what I care most about though is them damn chinese female gymnasts that certainly weren't 16 by any means

Ok. That's cool and all, but my life will go on without the Olympics, lol. As for the age of the gymnasts, what difference does that make, ya know? What I mean is: first of all, they're from China, it's IN China, and unless there's some age level you legally have to be at....I don't see how it matters .

well in the RULES it says you have to be 16

yeah a good portio of them looked to be a good solid 8 yrs old...and im sorry 16 yr olds of any nationality dont come up to an adults waist..lol unless they are a dwarf or midget..lol but fuck it...

Ah, ok....I did not know that. Learn something new all the time.

yeah its a silly rule, but it is a rule none the less

I can't really see how its an advantage for an athlete to be younger though, but still - everyone should play by the rules