What? Some Of The Olympic Opening Ceremony Was Faked?
You mean in this day and age of CGI and technical wizardry, that somebody would tweak the broadcast of the Opening Ceremony of the Olympics? Horrors!
Actually, file this one in the "I'm So Totally NOT Surprised" file:
I knew something was strange when the Chinese and Olympic flags blew dramatically in a breeze that did not exist anywhere else in the suffocating National Stadium.Turns out, they were powered by special devices in the flagpoles.
I also thought it was odd that, while everybody back home was praising the fireworks displays, those of us in the stadium saw nothing more than your average Friday night post-Angels-game display.
Well, turns out, many of the fireworks seen on television were digitally created because, according to officials, the smog was too bad for anyone to see the real ones anyway.
If that wasn’t bad enough, now comes the news that even the only truly human part of the ceremony was fabricated.
That tiny, red-dressed, 9-year-old girl named Lin Miaoke who so touchingly sang "Ode to the Motherland"?
It was an ode to a fakery.
The voice actually belonged to 7-year-old Yang Peiyi, but poor Peiyi was not deemed cute enough for a world audience, so Lin lip-synched to Peiyi’s recorded voice.
The saddest thing being, Chinese officials actually publicly bragged about making the switch.
"After several tests, we decided to put Lin Miaoke on the live picture while using Yang Peiyi’s voice," said musical director Chen Qigang in an interview with Beijing Radio. "The reason for this is that we must put our country’s interests first. The girl appearing on the picture must be flawless in terms of her facial expressions and the great feeling she can give to the people."
I realize I've been a bit sarcastic in this post. But come on. Did anyone really expect China, host of their first (and quite possibly only) Olympics, to settle for anything but what they judge to be first-rate? Look at the history of sport in China. Look at what they put their Olympic hopefuls through, from the time they are old enough to toddle. Look at the country's history, from the Cultural Revolution back through Puyi and back through time immemorial. It's China's show and they wanted "perfection". Is anyone truly surprised? Continued on the next page
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