China Digital Times

China news tagged with: Olympics fakes (14)

• China Outlaws Lip-synching after Olympics Row

  

  In response to the furor over the Olympics lip-synching incident, China is set to ban the practice of pantomiming to songs. From Telegraph:

  Now, the Ministry of Culture plans to name and shame performers caught lip-synching.

  Those who are caught miming twice will have their performing licenses revoked, according to proposed new legislation.

  Sun Qiuxia, an official with the Ministry of Culture, said: “People who perform for profit should not cheat audiences with fake singing or by pretending to play instruments.”

  Lip-synching has long been common practise in China. Yesterday, one Chinese pop star claimed that less than 20 per cent of singers actually sang when performing live.

  » Read more
  • November 14, 2008 6:56 PM

• China Says Paperwork Error Led To Cheat Claim

  

  From the Canberra Times:

  Earlier yesterday, China’s deputy sports minister blamed an ”administrative error” for the confusion surrounding the age of He Kexin. Cui Dalin told a press conference that officials transferred He Kexin from a local team to the national team at an inter-city competition last year. He said the discrepancy between He Kexin’s stated age and actual age occurred during the process of registering the move.

  ”So it was the appearance of a mistake in the process of transferring teams that the misunderstanding appeared,” he said.

  » Read more
  • August 24, 2008 7:35 PM

• Sam Eifling: China’s Potemkin Olympics

  

  Editor, reporter Sam Eifling writes in the Columbia Journalism Review:

  The swell of sour press about the Olympics may have begun with a couple of crooked teeth. It was clear to anyone who’d ever watched a person sing while smiling that nine-year-old Lin Miaoke was lip-synching her rendition of a national ode at the opening ceremonies, but that, by itself, is hardly a scandal. What stunk was the revelation that she was mouthing words sung by seven-year-old Yang Peiyi, who was excluded because she didn’t look, according to the subsequent admission of the musical director, “flawless in image, internal feelings, and expression.”

  The media had accepted Beijing’s ban on public spitting and its efforts to scrub its filthy air as acceptable Olympics-prep primping. For China to shame a homely child for insufficient cuteness was another matter. Since then, China has continually played into what’s becoming the new motif of Olympics coverage: the fallback narrative of China as a land of polar contrasts has been reduced to one of a single China, in which much of what was built to dazzle the world is, at second glance, a crock.

  … Sports journalists, like political journalists, have a high pomp threshold. They acknowledge that schmaltz and canned enthusiasm are the trademarks of spectacle, and they will let most hokum slide. Outright manipulation, though, raises their dander, and toy department or no, reporters live by free speech. It’s probably too much to expect the contractual broadcaster – NBC, in this case – to call for more openness; the network did, after all, pay nearly $900 million for its own exclusive rights. But bully for the print journos, including star writers at two sports media titans, finding another grand theme to these games besides Michael Phelps-as-Aquaman.

  Why did it take so long for the press to find its voice? The drumbeat of critical coverage has been audible since China was awarded the Games, and only intensified with every broken promise of Internet freedom and Beijing’s pre-Games expulsion of the homeless. Everyone expected surly China to clamp down on dissent harder than Athens or Sydney; that was no surprise, so in one regard, it wasn’t as newsworthy as the sports everyone came to see. What observers didn’t predict is the general tackiness of China’s crackdowns. After giving their hosts the benefit of the doubt, the Western press has become increasingly skeptical because of the outright abuses, yes—but also because of the petty fibs and overall “phoniness.” In attempting to project strength, China instead advertised its own insecurities, and became a ripe target for criticism.

  » Read more
  • August 23, 2008 12:46 PM

• Lip-synching? Let’s Pretend It Didn’t Happen

  

  Joel Martinsen writes in the Danwei blog:

  The Global Language Monitor, a Texas-based organization whose biggest claim to fame is its dubious pursuit of the millionth word in the English language (they’re up to 996,341 right now), recently released its latest analysis of the media buzz surrounding various Olympic personalities.

  Michael Phelps topped the list, and Yao Ming was #3, but second place belonged not to an athlete but to Lin Miaoke, the girl in the red dress who lip-synched “Ode to the Motherland” at the opening ceremonies.

  The top headline of this evening’s Mirror announces these results, but something seems to be missing:

  » Read more
  • August 23, 2008 8:33 AM

• IOC Launches Probe into He Kexin’s Age (Updated)

  

  Following their previous report on a hacker who found more evidence of gymnast He Kexin’s real age, the Times is now reporting:

  An IOC official told The Times that because of “discrepancies” that have come to light about the age of He Kexin, the host nation’s darling who won gold in both team and individual events, an official inquiry has been launched that could result in the gymnast being stripped of her medals.

  The investigation was triggered as a US computer expert claimed today to have uncovered Chinese government documents that he says prove she is only 14 – making her ineligible to compete in the Olympics – rather than 16, as officials in Beijing insist is her age.

  

  UPDATE: From AP:

  Despite persistent questions about the ages of several members of the Chinese women’s gymnastics team that won the gold medal, the International Olympic Committee said Friday there is still no proof anyone cheated and believes the controversy will be “put to rest.”

  China has again given the governing body of gymnastics documents that show its athletes are eligible, and coach Lu Shanzhen said the girls’ families are “indignant” that the issue won’t go away.

  “It’s not just me. The parents of our athletes are all very indignant,” Lu said in an interview with The Associated Press. “They have faced groundless suspicion. Why aren’t they believed? Why are their children suspected? Their parents are very angry.”

  …”Surely it’s not possible that these documents are still not sufficient proof of her birthdate?” Lu asked. “The passports were issued by the Chinese Foreign Ministry. The identity card was issued by China’s Ministry of Public Security. If these valid documents are not enough to clarify this problem, then what will you believe?

  “The Chinese government and the Chinese athletes must be respected,” he added.

  But many bloggers are not as convinced as IOC officials. Here is one Chinese blogger’s additional findings and analysis about He Kexin’s age. Here is also a Hong Kong based blogger’s take – “No happy ending to gymnasts scandal”

  People asked why lip-sync girl, the digital footprints and non-ethnic ethnic children — all from the Opening Ceremony — were such a big deal. They weren’t, taken individually. But together — along with gymnast Yang Yun’s statement that she was under the legal age when she won two bronzes in Sydney — they set a tone that made people even more suspicious when the serious issue of falsifying documents came up.

  » Read more
  • August 21, 2008 2:08 PM

• Hack the Olympics! (Updated)

  

  American blogger Stryde writes in his blog:

  There’s been some widely publicized controversy regarding the competition age of the Chinese women’s gymnastics team recently. Rather than be too CNN, I decided to take a page from my friend Johnny and investigate on my own. I have an Internet connection, that means I should be able to verify the age of the gymnasts in question with primary state-issued documents and find out for myself if someone’s cheating, right? Right. Let’s go to work.

  First, the rules.

  1. Gymnasts must be 16 to compete. This means they must be born in 1992 or earlier.
  2. Only publicly available, primary, linkable information can be used.

  Who are we talking about?

  Let’s take a look at He Kexin (何可欣). Her Chinese issued passport lists her birthday as 01/01/1992, 16 years old and old enough to compete. However, allegations cited on her Wikipedia page put her birthday as 01/01/1994, fourteen years old and not eligible for competition. Which is the truth? Let’s find out.

  Read also: Olympic Hacking Part II – Let’s go for the Gold:

  What is this post really about? I don’t really feel that it’s about the gymnastics age limit, or even really about whether fraud occurred. At this point, I believe that any reasonable observer already understands that age records have been forged. This story now is really about Internet censorship, the act of removing evidence while at the same time claiming that the evidence is wrong. For the first time I watched search records shift under my feet like sand, facts draining down a hole in the Internet. Will this stand?

  UPDATE: Read Hacker uncovers ‘proof’ that Chinese gymnast is underage, from the Times:

  Just nine months before the Olympics, the Chinese government’s Xinhua news agency gave Ms He’s name as 13. Officials have since dismissed that report saying Xinhua had never been given her age and had made a mistake.

  Stryde, who was later named by the technology news site Information Week as Mike Walker, concludes: “Much of the coverage regarding Kexin’s age has only mentioned ‘allegations’ of fraud, and the IOC has ignored thematter completely. I believe that these primary documents, issued by the Chinese state … rise to a level of evidence higher than ‘allegation’.”

  » Read more
  • August 21, 2008 10:53 AM

• Xu Xing: Apology for No Reason

  

  Beijing-based writer Xu Xing (徐星) wrote the following post on his Xintianyou blog, translated by CDT:

  I had coffee with two foreign colleagues. We naturally talked about the Olympics. They asked me, with smiles on their faces, about the fake singing child at the Opening Ceremony. They asked me whether it is true. I could tell that they were not mocking it. It was a very cautious smile. I could tell that they did not want to offend me with this question. I said from what I saw on the news that’s what it is. It is probably true. Then there was a long silence. Abruptly I said, “I am sorry……”

  I thought about this afterwards: Why did I say “I am sorry?” Why should I say that? Who the f–k do I think I am?

  » Read more
  • August 20, 2008 8:17 AM

• BOCOG: “I Do Not Think There Was Any Wrongdoing”

  

  Beijing-based legal scholar Xu Zhiyong (许志永) writes on his blog, translated by CDT:

  Seven-year-old Yang Peiyi sang a lovely song for the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympic Games. However, audiences all over the world thought that the song was sung by another girl, Lin Miaoke, whose picture was published on the New York Times and who became a household name after the ceremony. Lin replaced Yang to appear on stage because she was better-looking. Nobody knew that the lovely voice actually was Yang’s until a music director revealed the truth accidentally. Many Chinese people became outraged at the lie. Why did they cheat? How could the appearance of a seven year old affect China’s national interest?

  However, Wang Wei, Executive Vice President of Beijing Olympic Organizing Committee said, “This is a collective decision. It was done to achieve the best dramatic effect. I do not think there was any wrongdoing.”

  They covered up this typical cheating behavior as “cooperation,” and thought that it was quite normal! If it was cooperation between Yang and Lin, why didn’t they announce that the voice was Yang’s? Intellectual property rights have been emphasized a lot for the Olympics, how come they forgot about it? In fact, such a cover-up didn’t make much sense, because we know that they were lying. It’s such a great pity that they have never learned how shameful it is to lie in the civilized world.

  Fireworks were forged at Salt Lake City Winter Olympics, and Pavarotti’s singing was actually a recorded audio. However, those who cheated then were not as unscrupulous as officials of the Beijing Olympic Organizing Committee. They admitted that the fireworks shown on TV were to create a festive atmosphere, and Pavarotti didn’t sing because he was suffering from cancer. They asked for forgiveness. However, the Beijing Olympic Organizing Committee just said “Oh, it’s nothing.”

  BOCOG may feel wronged, or even feel that anti-China media are again making trouble out of the blue. Actually the media’s reaction was quite normal. Reporters are normal people, and all normal people would be angry if they knew the truth after they cheered for Lin. The world was acting in a normal way. It’s the BOCOG bureaucrats who were abnormal. Although they’ve tried very hard, they still are not used to an open and civilized modern society, and they are not used to public criticism, which an official in a democratic society often encounters…

  Also, they made a grand announcement of opening three parks for demonstrations, which I had thought to be a sign of openness. However, several petitioners who I am familiar with have disappeared after they applied for demonstrations. It has become a trap. The whole world knows what has happened, but the BOCOG still says that all applications for demonstrations have been “properly handled.” They might think that all mankind are idiots.

  China’s image is being ruined by these people who tell lies shamelessly to the world. They should just admit when they do something wrong. What can be lost if they sincerely make an apology? If they take a little bit of responsibility for China’s international image, they should have realized that it’s better to boost China’s image through telling fewer lies than staging an extravagant opening ceremony.

  » Read more
  • August 18, 2008 2:41 PM

• With Same Score, China’s He Beats Liukin in Uneven Bars

  

  Juliet Macur reports in the New York Times:

  He, who is listed as 16 but whose age has been at issue at these Olympics, won the gold. Liukin, the all-around Olympic champion, won silver, her fourth medal of these Games. China’s Yang Yilin, whose age also has been questioned, won bronze, with 16.650.

  To be eligible for these Olympics, gymnasts this must turn 16 this year. Some Chinese sports registration lists suggest that He and Yang may be as young as 14.

  » Read more
  • August 18, 2008 10:08 AM

• In An Ancient Land, Age Is Just A Concept For Some Competitors

  

  Christie Blatchford reports in the Globe and Mail:

  What is of real interest in the reporting of this story is, unusually, the reporting.

  Credit is due bloggers here in China, and ex-pat professor Xiao Qiang (now at the School of Journalism in Berkeley, Calif.) and his China Digital Times Internet research group for leading the way on some of the major fraud-and-fakery stories of these Olympics.

  It is the Chinese who allegedly have been cheating and falsifying the ages of at least three of their girl gymnasts, most recently the sprite He Kexin, around whom the latest controversy rages.

  What is really creepy about what’s emerged from the reporting of the gymnastics controversy is how state-owned agencies have rewritten themselves online to “correct” the record – in other words, rewritten history and attempted to expunge any contrary evidence.

  … So, in the end, it’s not the Chinese gymnasts or how old they are that counts; it’s the Chinese censors propagandists and professional liars, and what they’re doing, that tells the tale.

  » Read more
  • August 16, 2008 4:14 PM

• One More Olympic Secret: How Old is He Kexin (何可欣), Really? (Updated)

  

  While Reuters just reported that “China not rattled by age questions,” here is an archived online news report mentioning the age of He Kexin (何可欣), one of China’s famous six. The news was posted on November 3, 2007, written by Xinhua News Agency.

  

  Translated caption: The thirteen-year-old He Kexin, from Wuhan, met opponent Yang Yilin, who is on the National Team. Amid cheers from her hometown audience, the young girl excellently executed the full set of moves in the finals, and just beat out Yang Yilin, who already had high scores. Lu Shanzhen, the General Coach of the National Gymastic team, also applauded her performance. 　

  But according to the Reuters’ report:

  He, Jiang and Yang’s eligibility for the Games had been called into question by American media.

  Online records seemed to suggest the trio may have broken International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) rules that state athletes must turn 16 by the end of an Olympic year.

  [...] Question: “He, can you tell us a memory from your 15th birthday please, how did you spend your 15th birthday, did you spend it at home, did you spend it with gymnasts? Can you tell us about that special day.”

  Answer: “I was with my team. It was an ordinary day, I didn’t go home, usually we don’t go home when it’s our birthday, we just celebrate with our team mates.”

  So the news conference went on and not once did the so-called underaged gymnasts trip up.

  Just in case anyone was not satisfied by the answers, coach Lu Shanzhen added: “You may check with the IOC (International Olympics Committee) and the FIG. All our registrations are done with legal evidence. You may also search on the Internet or even check with China Public Security Ministry.”

  UPDATE: While coach Lu Shanzhen was so confident about the online records of He Kexin’s age, informtion discovered by Chinese bloggers may surprise her. Here is a partial list of Chinese domestic media reports mentioning He Kexin’s age, translated by John Kennedy in the Global Voices Online:

  1、《生活报》2007年11月5日报道：13岁的体操高低杠选手何可欣出色地完成了“李娅空翻”的全套动作，战胜了刚刚获得世锦赛季军的国手杨伊琳。

  Life Daily, November 5, 2007: 13 year-old uneven bars athlete He Kexin spectacularly completed the entire “Li Ya Flying Flip” routine, defeating national champion Yang Yilin who herself had just taken bronze at the World Cottbus Cup.

  2、《法制晚报》2008年1月22日报道：记者在平衡木训练场地上看到，13岁的小将何可欣正准备做下一组动作，突然被自己的一阵咳嗽打断……

  Legal Evening Post, January 22, 2008: On the balance beams training area, the reporter saw 13 year-old newcomer He Kexin preparing her next move, suddenly disrupted by her own coughts……
  …..

  3、《北京晚报》2007年12月12报道：张佩文口中的“秘密武器”就是最近涌现出的新星何可欣。这名13岁的小将不仅能轻松地完成“李娅空翻”，还在比赛中表现出了与年龄不相符的稳定。

  Beijing Evening Post, December 12, 2007: The “secret weapon” mentioned by Zhang Peiwen is none other than the recently-appeared new star He Kexin. At just 13, this newcomer has not only completed the “Li Ya Flying Flip” with ease, but performs in competitions with unusual stability for someone her age.

  4、搜狐体育 2007年12月1日报道：张佩文口中的秘密武器，原来就是最近涌现出的新星何可欣。这名13岁的小将不仅能轻松地完成“李娅空翻”，还在比赛中表现出了与年龄不相符的稳定。（值得表扬的是，现在该网页已经将“13”改成了“15”，知错就改，善莫大焉。——王小山注）

  Sohu Sports, December 1, 2007: Zhang Peiwen’s secret weapon is none other than new star He Kexin. At just 13, this newcomer has not only completed the “Li Ya Flying Flip” with ease, but performs in competitions with unusual stability for someone her age. (Worth noting here is that now the “13″ has already been changed to “15″ )

  5、《长江商报》2007年12月1日报道：13岁的体操高低杠选手何可欣相当漂亮地完成“李娅空翻”的全套动作，战胜刚刚获得世锦赛季军的国手杨伊琳。

  Changjiang Business Post, Dec. 1, 2007: Thirteen year-old uneven bars athlete He Kexin beautifully completed the full set of moves in the “Li Ya Flying Flip” routine, defeating national champion Yang Yilin who herself had just taken bronze at the World Cottbus Cup

  6、《人民日报》2007年11月3日报道：13岁的何可欣在女子体操比赛中出色地完成高低杠“李姮空翻”。2007年11月3日报道：13岁的何可欣在女子体操比赛中出色地完成高低杠“李姮空翻”。

  People’s Daily, Nov. 3, 2007: Thirteen year-old He Kexin spectacularly completed the “Li Ya Flying Flip” on the girls’ uneven bars gymnastics competition.

  Here is also some information originally on the www.sport.gov.cn (deleted already) from China’s National Sports Administration:

  translation: List of Athletes… He Kexin, Birth date: Jan. 1, 1994.

  补充公布第一批城运会交流运动员名单

  信息来源：国家体育总局 录入时间：2006-3-16

  第六届全国城市运动会各参加单位：
  　　根据第六届城市运动会竞赛规程总则的要求，现补充公布第一批城运会交流运动员名单（附后）。各单位可登陆国家体育总局网站进行查看，网址：www.sport.gov.cn。

  二○○六年一月二十七日

  运动员交流交流协议名单

  项目：体操

  序号 姓 名 性别 出生年月日 原注册单位 现交流单位
  …
  10 何可欣 女 199411 北京体育局 武汉体育局

  

  In the speech given by Liu Peng (刘鹏), Director of China’s National Sports Administration on November 13, 2007, Liu also mentioned He Kexin’s age: 13.

  Also from David Flumenbaum in the huffingtonpost.com:

  EXHIBIT A: A China Daily article dated May 23, 2008 titled “Uneven-bars queen the new star in town” about He Kexin. This is the cached version (thanks Google) of the article as seen on August 4, 2008.

  

  EXHIBIT B: The same China Daily article dated May 23, 2008 titled “Uneven-bars queen the new star in town” about He Kexin. This is the version currently available online. As you can see, when compared to EXHIBIT A, everything is identical. Except for one little thing. The state-run newspaper has changed He’s age.

  

  Read also:
  * China’s early press coverage of “secret weapon” He Kexin from China Media Project.
  * In An Ancient Land, Age Is Just A Concept For Some Competitors by the Globe and Mail
  * Hack the Olympics by blogger Stryde.
  * International Olympic Committee Launches Probe into He Kexin’s Age by The Times

  » Read more
  • August 14, 2008 4:40 PM

• Chinese Children in Ethnic Costume

  

  From The Wall Street Journal:

  In the Olympic Opening Ceremonies, a procession of children bore a large Chinese flag into the Bird’s Nest stadium, each child wearing a costume representing one of China’s ethnic minorities.

  However, the children actually were members of the Han majority, an arts official said in an interview. Yuan Zhifeng, deputy director of Galaxy Children’s Art Troupe, said the children were drawn from the all-Han Chinese troupe. “I assume they think the kids were very natural looking and nice,” Ms. Yuan said.

  Games organizers did not immediately respond to requests for comment, and it is not clear what their motive was for using Han Chinese in ethnic costumes.

  The ceremony has already been marred by news that a girl who appeared to sing a patriotic song was lip-synching to a recorded version sung by a girl who was deemed less attractive. Games organizers also said parts of one fireworks display were recorded and digitally enhanced for television.

  China’s 55 minority groups are officially celebrated, often as curios in pageants to the country’s self-image as a harmonious, multiethnic society. But many live on the margins of the mainstream, poorer and less-educated than their Han countrymen.

  Here is a proud mother’s blog post, bragging about her daughter Xixi (Han) wearing Hezhe costume, holding the Chinese national flag at the Opening Ceremony.

  

  

  

  » Read more
  • August 14, 2008 12:02 PM

• Another Olympic Secret: Who Was Actually Singing as the National Flag Entered the Stadium? (Updated)

  

  Lin Miaoke (林妙可)，the adorable nine-year-old girl who sang “Ode to the Motherland” 《歌唱祖国》when the Chinese national flag entered the Bird’s Nest Stadium during the Olympics Opening Ceremony, is now the hottest child star in China. Her image was also on the front page of the New York Times and thousands of other print media reaching billions of readers around the globe. But in a recent interview with Beijing People’s Broadcasting Station, Chen Qigang (陈其钢), the General Music Designer of the Opening Ceremony, revealed that the voice everyone heard singing at the Opening Ceremony was actually a pre-recording of another child, Yang Peiyi (杨沛宜), a student of the Attached Primary School of Beijing University at Zhongguancun. Chen is a renowned contemporary composer and French citizen. The following excerpts are from the interview with Chen Qigang, translated by CDT:

  Chen Qigang: The first condition was that the director wants the image to be very cute. We selected about ten children… Then we had to choose one from those who had a good image who can sing well…

  We chose one ten-year-old child, whose voice was really good. All the rehearsals were using her singing… In the end the director thought her image was not the most appropriate, she was a little too old… so regrettably, we had to let her go.

  Then, as we chose another singer, the standard was that she needs to be seven years old. Lin Miaoke (林妙可) was one of them, another was Yang Peiyi (杨沛宜), and there were others.

  Then we went to the Central People’s Radio Station to do the recording…

  Finally we made the decision that the voice we would use was Yang Peiyi’s.

  Interviewer: Yang Peiyi?

  Chen Qigang: Yes.

  …The reason was for the national interest. The child on camera should be flawless in image, internal feelings, and expression.

  Lin Miaoke is excellent in those aspects. But in the aspect of voice, Yang Peiyi (杨沛宜) is flawless, in each member of our team’s view.

  Interviewer: … So the one in front of camera is Lin Miaoke, but the voice [we heard] is from Yang Peiyi?

  Chen Qigang: Yes. This was a last minute decision, we had to do it. We had been through several inspections，they were all very strict. When we rehearsed at the spot, there were spectators from various divisions, especially leader(s) from the the Politburo, who gave the opinion: It must change. This is to say, we had no choice.

  … We have a responsibility to face the audience of the whole country, to give this explanation. Everyone should understand this in this way: this is in the national interest. It is the image of our national music, national culture. Especially the entrance of our national flag, this is an extremely important, extremely serious matter. Then we made such a choice. I think it is fair to both Lin Miaoke and Yang Peiyi.

  That is to say, we have a perfect voice (in our team’s view), and a perfect image and representation, two combined together.

  …But as far as Lin Miaoke is concerned, since we have two recordings – one from Lin Miaoke, another from Yang Peiyi – and their voices are not too different, so when Lin Miaoke was singing, she may not have realized that was not her own voice.

  The actual interview is on sina.com:

  Update: Beijing based financial magazine Caijing published a commentary entitled Olympics Lip-Syncing Performance Violates the National Interest and Opposes the Olympic Spirit on their wesite. The author Yang Binbin (杨彬彬) wrote:

  In the early morning of August 9, after the Olympics Opening Ceremony ended, the entire directing team met the press. The General Director Zhang Yimou said, the most moving scene for him during the entire Opening Ceremony was when the nine-year-old Lin Miaoke sang the “Paean to the Motherland.” “When this little girl sang the ‘Ode to the Motherland,’ I was moved every time we did a rehearsal on this, from the bottom of my heart,” said Zhang.

  … To our countrymen, if “fake drinks,” “fake medicine,” “fake soccer competitions,” and “fake joint ventures” are all like the “fake singing,” becoming common vocabulary in our lives, and even justified and glorified in the name of “national interests” or “interests of the state,” this is really unfortunate for the Chinese economy.

  Many Chinese bloggers expressed their anger about the director’s final decision. The following photos of Yang Peiyi are from Chinese BBS and blogs, collected by supporters of Peiyi:

  See also:

  * Olympic child singing star revealed as fake from the AFP.

  * Olympics: Child singer revealed as fake from the Guardian.

  * China Olympic ceremony star mimed from BBC.

  * Is It Live? Or Is It Beijing? from the Wall Street Journal blog.

  * Not only were the Olympic Fireworks fake, so was the 7 year old singer from The Inquisitr, Australia.

  * Olympic Balladeer’s Voice Was Dubbed from the New York Times.

  * Official Acknowledges Opening Ceremony Lip Syncing from the Washington Post.

  * Olympic girl seen but not heard from CNN.

  More of this news on the Web, via GoogleNews.

  What do Chinese bloggers think about this story? Here is a widely spread one sentence comment from long time blogger Shiniankanchai (十年砍柴)：

  The motherland is never to be sung for, but to be cheated. （祖国哪是用来歌唱的，而是用来忽悠的）

  John Kennedy of Global Voices translated some netizens’ responses from Chinese cyberspace:

  * (From a twitter:) Motherfucker, this “Ode to the Motherland” thing has already gone way beyond just lip-synching; putting in a stand-in singer is no fracking different from having a stand-in test-taker, and this is a huge misguidance to the youth of China. Zhang Yimou, you get your butt out here and apologize!

  * Through his actions, Zhang Yimou has effectively told all the impressionable minors and children of China that for “harmony”, for “odes to the motherland”, children can be made to deceive!

  * Both of these kids are outstanding, but I think both of them will be hurt as a result of this~ Aye, this whole thing was done too…even if one of them didn’t have a perfect child’s voice, or if one wasn’t shockingly pretty, we’d have been able to accept it…

  But now, never mind that we can’t accept this, do you think that the kids can stand it?

  Adults made the decision, but they have to deal with the consequences, which are unfair to these two little girls~

  For anyone thinking of defending this incident, please just think: what if Yang Peiyi was your own child? What if Lin Miaoke was your own child?

  Sometimes, things like the bottom line and principles are more important than national interest; at least they would be if those were my kids.

  More Chinese bloggers’ comments are here. Many of them are already censored by authorities. English bloggers’ comments are here.

  The following video clips captured explanation from BOCOG and IOC officials:

  » Read more
  • August 11, 2008 6:08 PM

• Olympic Secret: Most Firework-footprints Faked in Broadcast

  

  Translated by CDT from the Beijing Times, via qq.com:

  In yesterday’s Opening Ceremony, a step-by-step series of fireworks-sequenced footprints that “walked” from Yongdingmen along the central axis to the Bird’s Nest pushed the whole night into its climax. Many viewers, via live TV broadcast, were amazed by the spectacular Beijing nightscape. A video team employee of the opening ceremony told the reporter that TV viewers and spectators inside the stadium saw mostly an animated three-dimensional video that was made over a year’s time. It was not, actually, live shots, except the last foot.

  Due to the flight restrictions and the timing and angle of filming, the employee said, the director’s staff decided to replace a live broadcast with a 3-D video rendering. The TV audience saw a 55-second sequence of 29 footprints. Only the final footprint, which stepped into the Bird’s Nest, was from a real-time camera image.

  The video was produced by a company called Crystal Stone, or shui jing shi （水晶石） in Chinese. The production went from June last year till July this year and it went through numerous edits, including issues such as two feet or one foot and the length of the video, etc.

  In order to enhance the fidelity, the video also took into consideration of pixelation of the images and slight vibration of filming from a helicopter, etc. It also added some fogginess according to the weather forecast.

  “But from seeing it today, the video was a little brighter than the real effect,” said Gao Xiaolong, the video employee. “But most viewers thought it was live shots, and our work achieved its effect.” He was worried that they would be massively criticized by viewers after the ceremony. Seeing that most comments online were positive, he was much relieved.

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  • August 9, 2008 9:11 PM

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