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." videowatch a chinese official defend the move »
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." ireport.com: share your olympic spirit
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.
北京奥运开幕式上，一小女孩和她的歌声，俘获了数以百万观众的心。可是，他们看到的和听到的却不是来自同一个人。
举办者承认，当队伍举着中国国旗在周五的开幕式上进入会场的时候，歌唱《祖国颂》的歌手却根本没有在唱。
林妙可只是在对另一个7岁女孩的杨沛宜的口型。大家只能听到杨的声音而看不到她，是因为很显然，她看起来不那么可爱。
“为了国家利益。”陈其钢，开幕式音乐导演，在一个国家电台的采访中说，“在摄像机前的孩子，应该毫无瑕疵，具有内涵和表现力。。。林妙可在这些方面无可挑剔。”
陈说，这是最高层做的决定
他说：“我们只能这样做。我们得经过几次检查。他们都非常严格。当我们现场彩排时，他们会从不同的角度看过来。尤其是从政治局领导（座位）的角度。他们给出的意见我们必须得改。”
观看开幕式的人很少注意到了这一花招。周二的中国日报头条报道说:"小歌手赢得了国家的心."
"林只有9岁，而她感人的表演，却在她未来星途上走出了精彩的一步。”文章赞颂连连，却只字未提她未曾唱过一个音符。
当消息传到网络上，一些中国博客写手出奇愤怒了。
“如果你长得不好看，那么不管你怎么唱，你都无法上台。你知道，你们是在误导整个一代人吗？”一条评论说道
另一条评论说：“如果外国人发现了，他们会想，我们甚至找不出一个既会唱，又有表现力的女孩。”
对杨沛宜来，有援引她的话说，她很自豪能在开幕式上表演，虽然很少有人能意识到她那部分表演有多少。