Fake Fireworks, Lip-Syncher Used In Olympic Opening Ceremony
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The title says it all.
Remember the amazing opening ceremony in Beijing? Well, if you go, you might recall the camera footage taken from a helicopter while fireworks shoot by its side, making it look like the fireworks were to lead the helicopter to the Bird’s Nest. To bad it was all computer-generated fireworks, including a fake shake to simulate helicopter filming, because of the city’s hazy skies, Chinese officials said.
“People feel as if they have just eaten a great meal and later on you tell them there was a fly in it,” Xiao Qiang, director of the China Internet Project and an adjunct professor at the University of California at Berkeley, said in a telephone interview yesterday”.
But that’s only half the story, or half of the fake things at the ceremony in Beijing. Apparently, directors were panicking to replace a 7-year-old singer with an older, more prettier girl, said musical director Chen Qigang on Beijing Radio.
- Lin Miaoke, right, replaced Yang Peiyi for the Opening Ceremony performance of Hymn to the Motherland because she was cuter.
”The reason was for the nation’s interest,’” Chen said in the interview. “The child on camera should be flawless in image, internal feelings, and expression.”
They chose 9-year-old Lin Miaoke, who wore a red dress, to lip-synch to Yang’s recording of “I Sing For My Country”, state-run China Central Television reported yesterday. Chen, the music director, told CCTV the switch was made because Lin looked better on television while Yang had a better voice.
What do I think?
China needs to look good. They are the black horse of world powers and with this years Olympic games being hosted in there capital, Beijing, this is their moment to shine. With that being said, this is an opportunity to open the world to their country; it does not mean they have to spoil it with false details. China can try their best without over doing it, can’t they? If they wanted to blind side people who were watching the games worldwide, I would have much rather liked the games to be held in Paris or Osaka.
Feel free to comment.
- Sources: Bloomberg, The Australian (picture).
7 Comments
Karen Vern
August 13th, 2008
at 2:12am
Lol, yeah I just heard about this today too.
It’s pretty sad that people feel that they have to do this, and maybe that a lot of us really are that superficial. I just feel sorry for the first kid.
ate
August 13th, 2008
at 5:30am
1. Do you know Pavarotti lip-synched his performance at the opening ceremony of the Turin Winter Olympic Games in 2006? It was later revealed by Leone Magiera, who worked with Pavarotti for years, a recently published book.
(Google for : Pavarotti lip-synched his last performance: maestro)
Chinese told the truth immediately after the ceremony, for the organizer felt the background girl deserves the credit. And what we got for being honest? Harsh critics and a label of liar from the Western meida.
2. Fake Fireworks? Let’s get it straight here: 28 of the 29 gigantic firework footprints had been pre-recorded and worked on, but the 29 firework footprints were REALLY & Live lit and displayed at night on 8.8.2008 in Beijng.
Here is a video filmed by an amateur camera, in which you can hear loud cheers from the spectators and see the firework footprints lit up the night sky of Beijing.
(Google on Youtube: AAA29 footprints fireworks beijing olympic opening ceremony” )
There are also articles in Chinese recounting the detials of the firework footprint at that night. (Unforturenately, this website does not allow to post links.)
BTW, ever heard of the fire in the NBC studio fireplace during the 2002 Salt Lake Games? NBC also has augmented its Olympic coverage in the past to set the right mood.
(Google: NBC blowing smoke with TV ‘fireplace’ )
Why would it become such a heck when NBC had already set an example before Beijing Olympic organizers? Let’s not be an hypocrite!
R. John Quisenberry
August 13th, 2008
at 12:30pm
Their actions reveal the true nature of their country. They are the beautiful, polished, ripe, red, apple… But the core is rotten and putrid.
me
August 14th, 2008
at 2:33am
1. Pavarotti didn’t lip-sync to someone else singing and pass it off as his own.
1b. The revelation was made by the director of music for the opening ceremonies, who is a French citizen, and he did so against the wishes of the Beijing Organizing Committee.
2. The fireworks really happened, but they didn’t show the real fireworks, they showed fake ones to the world. And they lied about it. No one was saying there were no footprints, but rather that the ones we saw on TV weren’t the real ones.
The NBC connection… I don’t get how you could even think that’s relevant. We are talking about the host country trying to trick everybody, and you compare it to a TV network’s Olympic coverage set? Get real.
As far as I’m concerned this is more like painting an old horse before you sell it to make it look younger. Then, when you get caught you say, “I just wanted to make you feel better about your purchase.”
In case it matters, I’m not Chinese but I live in China and have for years. This kind of thing is nothing new, there’s just more people paying attention this time.
Matt Bickford
August 14th, 2008
at 5:57pm
Great post Michael. The background image is cool too! My Lockergnome application was accepted, but they’re apparently having some technical difficulties with the set up.
regards,
Matt
Michael Forian
August 14th, 2008
at 6:11pm
Thanks Matt! It’s good to hear that you’re in!!! Sorry to hear about the tech problems… Bob really works hard around here, so I think he’ll fix it soon :)
Cheers!
Michael
Daan Berg
August 15th, 2008
at 1:40am
Hi Michael,
Just saw your comment on my blog about the little ‘error’ at the Olympics with the beamer ;)
Thanks for commenting.
Now, over here in the Netherlands, we were able to see that the fireworks were fake. Actually already when we saw it for the very first time.
Also, the Blue Screen of Death was on there at our television station for like 10 seconds, then probably the camera operator saw it and turned away quickly… it wasn’t really visible, but we’ve taped it and yes, if you looked good enough, it was there.
It was at the moment where that man was going to light up the Olympic Flame (no idea how you say that in English, but you get me…).
Michael, again: thanks for visiting, and I think that after the Olympics, China will be criticized even more about the human rights in Tibet. We’ll see…
Have a nice day!
Daan.