Legion of Angels News Archive

BEIJING, China (CNN) — A little girl and her song captivated millions of viewers during the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics. But what they saw was not what they heard.

Games organizers confirm that Lin Miaoke, who performed “Ode to the Motherland” as China’s flag was paraded Friday into Beijing’s National Stadium, was not singing at all.

Lin was lip-syncing to the sound of another girl, 7-year-old Yang Peiyi, who was heard but not seen, apparently because she was deemed not cute enough.

“The reason was for the national interest,” said Chen Qigang, the ceremony’s musical director, in a state radio interview. “The child on camera should be flawless in image, internal feeling and expression. … Lin Miaoke is excellent in those aspects.”

The decision was made at the highest levels, Chen said.

“We had to do it,” he said. “We’d been through several inspections. They’re all very strict. When we rehearsed at the spot, there were several spectators from various divisions, especially leaders from the Politburo, who gave the opinion it must change.”

Few who watched the Olympic ceremony realized the deception. “Tiny singer wins heart of nation,” read the headline in Tuesday’s China Daily newspaper.

“Lin Miaoke might be only 9 years old but she is well on her way to becoming a star, thanks to her heartwarming performance,” the article gushed — without mentioning she never sang a note.

But as word has gotten out on the Internet, some Chinese bloggers are outraged.

“If you’re not good-looking, no matter how well you sing, you’ll not be onstage. Do you know you’re twisting a whole generation?” read one comment.

Another said, “If foreigners found out, they’d think we can’t even find a girl who is good at both.”

As for Yang Peiyi, she’s been quoted as saying she was honored to have had a role in the opening ceremony, even though few realized just how big her part really was.

Source — CNN

BEIJING, China (AP) – Not all was what it seemed during the spectacular opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics.

Beijing organizers confirmed Tuesday that some of the fireworks display featured prerecorded footage.

Fireworks that burst into the shape of 29 gigantic footprints were shown trudging above the Beijing skyline to the National Stadium near the start of the ceremony.

Though the footprint-shaped fireworks were real, some of the footage shown to television viewers around the world and on giant screens inside the “Bird’s Nest” stadium featured a computer-generated three-dimensional image.

“It was confirmed that previously recorded footage was provided to the broadcasters for convenience and theatrical effects — as in many other big events,” Beijing organizing committee spokesman Wang Wei said. “On the day of the ceremony there were actual footprints of fireworks from the south to the north of the city.

“However, because of the poor visibility of the night, some previously recorded footage may have been used.”

The computerized images were produced by Crystal Digital Technology Co. of Beijing.

“We did our best to create a rendering that would look like the shot was taken live,” company spokesman Lei Ming told the Beijing Times. “Most people could not tell the difference.”

NBC said broadcasters Bob Costas and Matt Lauer told viewers the display was cinematic.

“This is actually almost animation,” Lauer said on the air.

The ceremony won rave reviews around the world and was watched by more than 1 billion people.

In the United States on NBC, the ceremony averaged 34.2 million U.S. viewers, making it the biggest American television event since the Super Bowl.

Source — CNN

Jazz duo Carlos Boozer and Deron Williams will be named to Team USA for the Beijing Olympics, the Salt Lake Tribune reported Saturday.

USA Basketball managing director Jerry Colangelo wouldn’t confirm the report when talking to the newspaper.

“They are two highly thought-of candidates to be on the team,” Colangelo said. “We’ve said that all along, but we’re not pre-announcing anything.”

Both have experience with Team USA. Williams played last summer in Las Vegas at the Olympic qualifying tournament. While Boozer sat out that tourney, he did play on the ‘04 Olympics team which took bronze.

The duo led the Jazz past the Rockets in the first round of the playoffs this season, winning the series 4-2. Utah lost by the same result to the Western Conference champion Lakers in the second round.

Boozer averaged 21.1 points and 10.4 rebounds while shooting 54.7 percent from the field during the season, and Williams contributed 18.8 points and 10.5 assists per game.

So far, the Team USA roster is rumored to include Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, Dwyane Wade, Dwight Howard, Jason Kidd, Michael Redd, Tayshaun Prince and Chris Paul.

Amare Stoudemire and Chauncey Billups took themselves out of consideration, with Stoudemire sitting out to rest a repaired knee and Billups withdrawing for personal reasons.

Source — Fox Sports