I was so disgusted by seeing this article today. I am including it here with my commentary below:
From John Vause CNN
BEIJING, China (CNN) -- 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.
Yang Peiyi's voice was heard during Friday's opening ceremony, but her face was never seen.
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. "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."
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.
We all know how so many other countries are notorious for exploitation of women and children. China being no exception. So it shouldn't be surprising that this is another example of that. I guess the saddest part to me is that they would use her voice and prop this other girl up as the supposed singer in an Olympic competition. In effect making her the Milli Vanilli of the Olympics. That's fine if you are American Idol crafting the next pop wonderkind, but isn't there supposed to be something genuine about the Olympics? Isn't that why we test for steroids and performance enhancing drugs? Don't we teach kids that if they work hard they can end up on the Wheaties box? Now they are given the idea that if they don't look the part then they just don't measure up. Next time you go to the Opera try to see how many of those amazing voices are coming out of supermodels. Not many. In a world where we need to be encouraging the next generation of young men and women these leaders are ruining them. I'm glad CNN ran this story. Bring some shame to these people for their careless attitudes of who this girl is and should be. Is the Olympics genuine? Nope. I guess it's like everything else.
