Olympic Lip-Syncing
Politics August 12th, 2008I just heard on the news that it was revealed that the little girl singing at the Olympic opening ceremony was, in fact, lip-syncing and that the voice itself belonged to another little girl. The reason given? The one you saw on the TV was cuter.
Personally, I didn’t see the opening ceremony. I’m not big on the Olympics; they’ve never interested me. But from what I’ve heard, they’re supposed to stand for something. You know, that people can do amazing things. Are the Olympians beautiful? Some might be. But is that a qualification? It sure better not be!
Sure, the little girl (both the singer and the model) aren’t Olympians. But their performance was there to represent the Olympics. Personally, I think it would have been more heartfelt if a not-as-cute little girl were the one to sing (eg. for it to be one girl rather than two). That would show that this whole thing isn’t a beauty pageant.
You don’t have to be beautiful to be talented. Or are they trying to tell us that talent/ability doesn’t matter if you’re not beautiful?
August 12th, 2008 at 5:11 pm
When I was watching it, I new something was wrong… But it figures. I guess China went Ashley Simpson on us. I agree - I would rather see the actual vocalist sing.
August 12th, 2008 at 7:43 pm
Actually, the opening ceremony of any Olympics is always designed to showcase the country in question, not necessarily the Olympic spirit. The latter is merely a sidenote.
And if you’ll note, the Chinese official responsible for making the switch said: “The child on camera should be flawless in image, internal feelings and expression. Lin Miaoke is excellent in those aspects but in terms of voice Yang Peiyi is perfect”. It’s about projecting the right image of childlike innocence, of representing the country as best as one could.
And really, is lip-synching and appearance not the hallmarks of the Western world? When was the last time you saw anyone on American TV look anything less than immaculate? I’m sure there are journalists and reporters out there with a multitude of talent, yet they never manage to make it on TV - why then don’t people criticise that?
It’s very easy to latch onto China and say “OMG, evil”, but when you can make the exact same accusation to those doing the accusing, it loses its effect. Shouldn’t the accusors fix their own problems before criticising others?
August 12th, 2008 at 7:46 pm
And if you’ll note - Liu Huan the male vocalist is hardly an oil painting. If they were really going for appearance over talent, they would have chosen Jacky Cheung to sing with Sarah Brightman.
Talent matters to the Chinese, but in this particular case, the depiction of Chinese youth was more important.
August 12th, 2008 at 8:02 pm
Amanda: I’m not saying China is evil. And I’m not saying this is the only case. It happens all the time and I dislike every occurance of it. IMO, it’s telling people that beauty is most important. I, personally, feel that this is wrong.
August 13th, 2008 at 11:26 am
Imagine being the official to tell the little girl’s parents “I’m sorry, but we’re not going to put her in the cermony any more; she’s too ugly.” :/
August 14th, 2008 at 4:28 am
Well apparently, a senior member of China’s ruling Communist Party politburo could’ve partially been a culprit - see, he attended a rehearsal and told the organisers that “there was a problem, so FIX IT.”
Sad, really. *sighs* Personally, after looking at the two, I wouldn’t have minded the original singer being on stage; nevermind the being “chubby and having uneven teeth” - she’s a KID; do we expect perfection from them?!
But Amanda’s right too.