Sticking with the Olympics today, I want to know what's up with China with all her faking. Amidst all kinds of controversy before the Olympics started last Friday especially when it came to China's actions on human rights. The dragon nation wanted to show how "perfect" it was but as we all know about China's products, you may get them cheap and they might look like the real deal but give it time, you get to know they are not the "real McCoy."So it is with the opening night ceremony, China committed two blunders. First blunder: See the above picture? Aren't they cute? Well, China's Olympics organizers don't seem to think so; at least for one of the girls - Yang Peyei (the bottom picture). Yang was the one who has the amazing voice by winning a singing competition and was slated to sing at the opening ceremony but at the last minute, she was switched for not being "cute enough."
I'll give China this: they didn't lie or made silly excuses - a shock for this American. This was part of the organizers explanation: "The reason was for the national interest. The child on camera should be flawless in image, internal feelings, and expression." So Yang sang but was not seen while Lin Maoke (the above picture) lip-synched. But Yang took it with grace (and she's only seven, what do they teach these kids?), she said "I am satisfied that my voice appeared in the opening ceremony,'' Huh! Can you say culture shock for this writer .
Moving right along, second blunder: fireworks forgery! I know three people in my family who asked me if I watched the opening ceremony and how BEAUTIFUL it was. No I didn't, I caught the highlights. But I'm glad I didn't because what did I hear yesterday? The dazzling lights and out-of -this-world special effects was just that, it was computerized for the TV viewers. Guess what the head of Visual Arts reasoning was? "Since everyone thought it was filmed live, he couldn’t see a problem with it." Wow! It's all semantics y'all. As long I'm doing it live and I only filmed the last footprints in the stadium . . . what difference does it make? Give it up for China!
Final blunder: Waking up this morning, I heard the news that confirmed some family friends and my suspicions Sunday night watching the Gymnastics - Are these Chinese girls really sixteen? I know many American girls develop faster than their counterparts around the world. But we were looking at athletes here and we felt watching those girls, something just wasn't right. Even when the Chinese officials tried to disprove viewers apprehensions by showing a video of how they start training the gymnasts as early as three to four years old.
I was making a mental picture of myself at sixteen (and I looked younger than my counterparts then), and was left confounded. It turns out many countries participating in the Olympics are voicing their complains about these girls who can bend in mind-boggling contortions maybe doing so because they are too young. It just goes to show object(s) on screen might not be what it seems.
Tags: Lip-synching Olympics, Beijing Olympics, Opening Ceremony, Gymnastics
