If China wants to fake fireworks for the Olympics that is one thing, but to allow some other little girl to sing, but not be televised, because "she wasn't good looking enough for the ceremony" is just wrong. So, I for one didn't watch the opening ceremony, because I didn't have a four spare hours to kill, but apparently nine year old Lin Miaoke who was hailed as the star of the future and just absolutely precious wasn't good enough to sing the song they wanted her to sing. Therefore they brought in a seven year old girl who had the voice of an angel but was too ugly for television.
The parents of the spurned girl said they were honored that their daughter sang and didn't mind that she was not given credit for singing. Uh huh. Sure they are. Meanwhile, the dad of the "singer" said he "still cannot believe his daughter had become an international singing sensation."
Umm, she isn't.
I know, righ??? So any talent, skill, knowledge you have counts for shite. The IMPORTANT thing is too look good!
ReplyDeleteYou know, I think the little girl who sang is adorable! They said they didn't like her "buck teeth". How wrong is that???? That little girl will always remember that she wasn't "good enough" despite her talent.
Such crap. Way to keep your people repressed. Just destroy any shred of self-esteem that a kid has.
I just hope that after the press leave the country no one involved gets jailed or shot. :(
ReplyDeleteThe little girl that sang was only 7 years old. The stand in was 9. I only mention it because I thought it was pretty impressive for someone that young.
ReplyDeleteAnd she didn't have buck teeth. They were crooked, not repulsive. What is repulsive is that she got rejected because she was simply not born perfect.
sign me, no fan of the chicoms
Okay I'll admit that I don't think I have EVER seen a new born baby and thought that it was cute. They all look like red squishy aliens and they're just not t h a t cute until they are a good month old.
ReplyDeleteThat being said, I would never look at a baby and go "Jesus lady, your baby is fug." No. And a BABY can't understand when you say that it's ugly.
But a seven year old girl? And it's not like it remained a secret that her parents just knew and that she'd never have to know that she was too "ugly" for tv, no, it's splashed everywhere and across the entire w o r l d for everyone to see and she will never forget it. How shameful and disgusting.
First of all, I can not believe that China was even given the opportunity to host the Olympics, with all the political and social upheaval they experience, not to mention the horrible area quality .. any way, is it really a surprise that the same people who gave us sony also gave us an ashlee simpson moment?
ReplyDeleteI think the audience would have viewed the singer as an extremely talented girl, & not noticed her teeth. However China wanted to present the perfect looking China doll, & in doing so totally wronged the girl with the talent.
ReplyDeleteLet's see, some of the fireworks during the opening ceremonies (which I didn't watch) were actually computer graphics, a little girl lip synchs a song, and the gymnastics team is clearly underage (some of the kids look to be about 11; what 16 year old weighs 67 lbs.?). Why does anyone ever think the Chinese are going to be honest about anything? No one should be surprised by any of this.
ReplyDeleteThe Olympics have only been underway a few days; by the time this all over I'm sure we'll hear about several more dishonesties. If anything remotely like this had been done when the US was hosting the Games it would have been a major international scandal, when the Chinese do it the world just shrugs and says "Oh well."
Isn't it the same here?
ReplyDeleteHow many mediocre singers are out there because they look "HOT" and therefore are marketable? Unfortunately it is the era we live in.
I agree with you Donna, I thought it was quite shocking that they were given the Olympics in the first place.
ReplyDeleteThis story makes me sad. But, you know, she could be telling the truth when she says she is honoured to just have been part of it - she's a kid but sometimes they can say the most mature things. Still makes me sad though.
Although, there are a lot of great singers out there who have appeared on multi platinum albums and never got any credit for it.
@reese
ReplyDeleteYou forgot to mention the 'cheer squads' brought in to add bums on seats in supposedly sold out venues. Their sych diver girls were def under-age too.
If they've faked all that what next, the scores?
oh well:(
This story bummed me out too. But I'm a little glad that the shitty shallowness of the Chinese government was exposed for all the world to see. They've been claiming moral superiority over the US and other capitalist countries for years, and now they've just been busted for operating the same way: style over substance. Heh. Fuckers.
ReplyDeleteRemember Milli Vanilli? They looked good but couldn't sing worth crap!
ReplyDeleteIt is terrible that they didn't give credit to the deserving real talent. Hopefully the 7 year old will get her props now that the truth is out.
Well, the Beijing Olympics are proceeeding nicely. Everything according to plan. China's doing everything the world expected them to do, and then some.
ReplyDeleteLet's hold the world's most esteemed athletic competition in a tragically-overpopulated, polluted-beyond-belief country where human rights violations are the norm! Nice statement to send to the rest of the world. I was against this from the very beginning.
No offense to Chinese-Americans reading this blog: your heritage is a rich and gorgeous one (the Silk Road, anyone?) to be proud of, but China should NOT have been chosen as the host country.
We all know how much China loves and values little girls, anyway.
When I first saw her picture, I didn't think anything about her teeth. I just thought she looked like a cute kid.
ReplyDeleteAnd we have plenty of mediocre singers with looks and little talent, but we're talking about a child with talent who just happens to be getting her permanent front teeth. She's adorable.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1043806/Cute-girl-forced-mime-Olympic-ceremony-China-banned-girl-crooked-teeth.html
... Chinese girl who "lip-sync'd" = "Mirri Vanirri".
ReplyDelete... BTW... China was "given the Olympics" because *they* have the Olympic Committee by their COLLECTIVE BALL$. Face *it* kids... due to the LIBERAL West's STUPIDITY, *Communism* will soon be THE MAJOR WORLD "Political" POWER. Russia never stopped being COMMIES or "Em"XPANSIONISTS either. The IGNORANT West thought when the Berlin Wall "fell" that Communism was then 'DEAD'... but THAT WAS MERELY A RUSE meant to make Us COMPLACENT so We'd DISARM OURSELVES and "down-size" Our MILITARY. Now LOOK WHAT'S *happening*...
That's what I was thinking MontanaMarriott! How is it any different here? Isn't this Disney's bread and butter?
ReplyDeleteI'm not surprised at all. For a one time only production this large in scale I expect some of the music and singing to be prerecorded. Especially with children involved - I always figure they prerecord the part with a children's choir and then get a group of kids to lip sync the track no matter who's putting together the event.
I did watch the opening ceremonies and thought it was amazing. However, this little girl barely made an impression on me. The most memorable kid there was the earthquake survivor who walked in with Yao Ming. Now if they're lying about that...
As for the fake fireworks, the NBC commentators mentioned a particular portion of the fireworks were animation/a cinematic device.
I will say the Chinese gymnasts of questionable age is the controversy that should be getting the most attention. The Chinese have been pulling that crap for years.
Yes, the chinese have been cheating for years in girl's gymnastics. So, why reward them by giving them the 2008 Olympics?
ReplyDeleteI can understand how we use a carrot/stick to try to get these countries to be more democratic. But, all I've seen so far with China is one big propaganda show.
Shocked that they got the Olypmics? I'm not - China has a lot of money. That's all it takes to get the IOC to give you an Olympics bid.
ReplyDeleteCould it be that the Chinese gymnasts just look young? I don't know, I haven't seen them. My boyfriend was asking what the minimum age was because he thought the Chinese gymansts looked like they were 10. I thought he was being a typical clueless man but I guess he was right.
ReplyDeleteMy husband and I have been laughing at how whitewashed the coverage has been about China. Bob Costas and Matt Lauer were gushing about how open and free China is now and how the artists are leading the way. I loved the part during the opening ceremonies where somebody said that the state can now guarantee the safety of the Chinese children. NBC reporters stand in Tienneman (sp?) Square and no one mentions what happened there.
ReplyDeleteShocked that they got the Olypmics? I'm not - China has a lot of money. That's all it takes to get the IOC to give you an Olympics bid.
ReplyDeleteThe IOC awarded them the games with certain stipulations to clean up their act. But as the human rights violations continued the IOC didn't even enforce their own rules.
You're on the nose about that one.
i dunno about anyone else but this just disgusts me
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure it's just $$. Didn't Salt Lake cough up some prostitutes? I'm sure you can find underage ones by the bag full in China. It's not like they'll be protecting a girl from pedophilia if it gets them international news coverage and loads more $$.
ReplyDeleteI'm boycotting the damn things. This is irresponsible, money laundering behavior. You're caving to the mob, much like the Nobel Prize now goes to the person with the biggest body count, the Games go to the country with the worst human rights but the most money to throw around.
The fact American news people can stand on hallowed, bloodied ground and claim China is free makes me want to send a Chinese tank to mow them down like they did in '89. Only difference would be, Matt Lauer getting shot down wouldn't cost as much to humanity as the loss of life of those who fought (and sadly lost) to try to gain freedom for their people.
There is blood on the hands of the IOC, and blood money in their numbered Swiss accounts. Another day, another death, another dollar in the IOC world. Ho Hum.
I haven't watched much, and I'm glad. What a crock of shit it all is. My youngest daughter was surprised and appalled when I told her that China has no freedom of the press and that people are in prison for speaking against the government. And yet, they get to host the Olympics? Good grief.
ReplyDeleteI'm not clear on the controversy regarding the CGI footsteps during the opening ceremony - it was clearly announced by Bob Costas (or one of the broadcasters) that it was CGI while it was being shown. The last footstep bursting over the stadium was real and the whole sequence was absolutely fantastic - symbolic and aware. How is this shocking news?
ReplyDeleteWith regard to the little girl, I'm actually pretty disgusted. Is anyone really evaluating the relative hotness of a 7-yr old while singing the national anthem? Puh-lease. Would anyone (other than pervs) see anything other than a lovely voice, a smile full of pride and joy and wonder, and a little kid having the time of their life? Puh-lease. To replace the real singer with a "prettier" version is symbolic and aware as well, but in all the wrong ways.
OT - does anyone know if NBC plans to release the opening ceremony on DVD? I know a lot of people that missed it and I'd love to watch it again - that was one for the ages.
http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/08/12/china.promises/index.html
ReplyDeleteWow, shocking—CNN claims that the Chinese "have fallen short" on the promises they made to the IOC to get the Olympic games. Stunning.
Synchronized diving is on; those Chinese girls look about 12.
I'm gobsmacked.
That kid is the singer from the notorious blind about the lipsyncer isn't she? I knew it would come out soon enough!!!
ReplyDeleteWell.. while I am totally not shocked to learn that the odds are stacked again those of us who are not beautiful but are talented .. I am really sad to see this kind of thinking is not limited to the US mindset. Apparently, this BS happens every where. Pretty damn sad.
ReplyDelete"Wow, shocking—CNN claims that the Chinese "have fallen short" on the promises they made to the IOC to get the Olympic games."
ReplyDeleteWow, that IS shocking!!! I'm sure they tried really hard, though. China is always so concerned about doing the right thing.
p.s. As Ernestine said, no insult intended to the Chinese people, just their government. I know the difference between the two, as I hope most of the world knows the difference between Americans and our crappy government. (Not to mention the freaks on reality tv!)
This isn't any different from what is done in America with singers and performers. It just isn't generally done so young.
ReplyDeleteI think everyone is being harsh on China. It's a country of over a billion people, and you're tagging them with their government. Yes, they have some *serious* issues (Pollution...Tibet, etc) but think about all the Olympics are doing for China! It's provided jobs, at least forced them to clean up their act somewhat, and it's brought people in from around the world to mingle in Beijing. They're certainly not perfect, but the Olympics will be a big step in helping the Chinese people and making life better for them. Just having people of different nationalities, religions, and ideas around will bring the winds of change into China.
That said, I do think both girls are very adorable...they should have let the 7 year old sing, or at least acknowledged her.