Heard but not seen
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The real singer
I just saw this story on CNN.com– Olympic Girl Seen But Not Heard.
Apparently, the cute little girl who was “singing” during the Olympic ceremony wasn’t really singing. She was lip-synching because the girl with the nice voice wasn’t cute enough.
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.
As you can see from my title post, I reversed the wording of the title article. I’m more concerned about the girl who didn’t get to be on camera because her image supposedly wasn’t up to par. Sure, the stand-in girl probably does have greater beauty according to common accepted standards:
The cute “singer”
But they’re both cute. And if it’s the original girl’s voice, they should give the original girl credit by letting her perform on stage. I can’t believe anyone would deny a young child the chance to be in the spotlight, especially when it’s her voice coming over the loudspeakers. What kind of lesson does this teach our kids? It’s not right.
And in terms of the media, hasn’t anyone learned anything from Milli Vanilli?
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King4aDay
2:11 pm | Aug 12, 2008It seems a shame because at that age, I don’t think the “beauty contest” element is really all that pertinent. A little girl with a great voice is going to come across as inherently “cute” regardless.
But, of course, it’s an old story. The Grammy stage is filled with people who “look the part” while many truly talented singer/performers are never signed because their look is not considered marketable enough to recording executives.
THX1138
2:45 pm | Aug 12, 2008Hey, I liked Milli Vanilli, especially that hair.
nightshade
2:50 pm | Aug 12, 2008That first girl is totally cute.
lopan
4:16 pm | Aug 12, 2008I blame it on the rain.
RebelAzn
5:23 pm | Aug 12, 2008Pathetic. The original girl looks plenty cute enough. They should have let her sign the song. I heard it was changed at the last minute and that is really too bad. Anyway, I am glad the 1st girl is getting famous now due to this because her photo is everywhere on the net now.
etain
6:22 pm | Aug 12, 2008Jaehwan, are you referring to the lipsyncher’s double eyelids?
zhangfei
6:28 pm | Aug 12, 2008Little Yang has become a fan favorite. Look at these pics. She is a good-looking kid.
http://finance.icxo.com/htmlnews/2008/08/12/1303730.htm
RebelAzn
7:05 pm | Aug 12, 2008It is justice. The real singer will become plenty famous because of this. Good for her. She has an incredible voice.
nightshade
7:21 pm | Aug 12, 2008The New York Times take on it is interesting.
http://nytimes.com/2008/08/13/sports/olympics/13beijing.html?hp
Ike
7:53 pm | Aug 12, 2008The 2nd girl isn’t cuter, she’s just smiling more in that picture. Really now. Little kids are always cute.
Canonball
8:12 pm | Aug 12, 2008That’s so mean! Especially since the first child is totally adorable.
King4aDay
8:52 pm | Aug 12, 2008zhangfei
6:28 pm | Aug 12, 2008
Little Yang has become a fan favorite. Look at these pics. She is a good-looking kid.
http://finance.icxo.com/htmlnews/2008/08/12/1303730.htm
That’s ridiculous, she’s a little cutie, and oh, so stylish in her pink and white sweater!
Wow, I really hope they make room for her to do something for the closing ceremonies. She deserves a chance at the spotlight.
Maybe the other girl’s family had some kind of connections.
jaehwan
8:58 pm | Aug 12, 2008Thanks for the link, Zhangfei. She’s totally cute! Hopefully the media continues to focus on her.
Man, I think this was just terrible PR for China.
kwak76
9:20 pm | Aug 12, 2008How is the real singer not cute? I don’t know what standard China goes by and it shouldn’t matter.
kimtae
9:22 pm | Aug 12, 2008I knew it was lip-sync from the start but I didn’t suspect that it was another child altogether. I kind of feel bad for the older girl, she’s now China’s version of Milli-Vanilli.
minorTruths
9:34 pm | Aug 12, 2008Damn it China…more fodder for folly! And I was all like ‘take that Speilberg’ while watching the opening ceremonies.
King4aDay
10:12 pm | Aug 12, 2008Everyone will continue to be amazed by the Opening Ceremonies. That was the most impressive Olympic O.C. that I have ever seen. Everybody is still talking about it at work. And, of course combined with the truly outstanding architecture… it will be very difficult to top it in 2012
zhangfei
12:21 pm | Aug 13, 2008BEIJING (Reuters) - The decision to have a pretty face lip-synching during the Beijing Olympics opening ceremony instead of the actual singer was taken after consulting with broadcasters, Games organisers said on Wednesday.
http://uk.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUKPEK21507620080813?pageNumber=1&virtualBrandChannel=0
So they all knew. NBC knew it. Bob Costa knew it.
nycjoc
9:12 am | Aug 20, 2008Sad. I hate that the choice was made. I thought the real singer was cute.