We were all amazed by the talented little girl singing “Ode to the Motherland” at the Olympics opening ceremony except the voice was not hers.
The real singer, 7-year-old Yang Peiyi, with her chubby face and crooked baby teeth, wasn’t good looking enough for the ceremony, its chief music director told Beijing Radio. So it was Lin Miaoke lip-synching the whole time for a stadium of 91,000 and a worldwide TV audience. “Tiny singer wins heart of nation,” China Daily sighed; “Little girl sings, impresses the world,” gushed another headline, perhaps in reference to Lin’s appearance on the front of the New York Times. Countless articles lauded the girl in the red dress who “lent her voice” to the occasion. What a misleading thing, but is worst of all is that there was no credit to Yang Peiyi. How could you deem a girl not cute enough just because her teeth were crooked and had chubby cheeks.
“We made the decision that the voice we would use was Yang Peiyi’s. The child on camera should be flawless in image, internal feelings, and expression.
“Lin Miaoke is excellent in those aspects. But in the aspect of voice, Yang Peiyi is flawless,” he explained.
But at the last minute, officials decided a switch was needed, according to the translation by the China Digital Times website.
“We had been through several inspections - they were all very strict. When we rehearsed at the spot, there were spectators from various divisions, especially a leader from the Politburo, who gave us his opinion: It must change,” said Chen.
“I think it is fair to both Lin Miaoke and Yang Peiyi. That is to say, we have a perfect voice, and a perfect image and representation - in our team’s view - combined together.”
If you want the world to see that China has perfect liars, I think you did a pretty good job. If I were Peiyi, I would be protesting it. The song I sing should be sang by me. Peiyi deserves the spotlight. Is it that difficult to put “sang by Yang Peiyi” somewhere? And not make the world mistake that Lin Miaoke is such a adorable little singer.
Sure, Ashlee Simpson has been caught lip-synching too but at least she was singing her own song! I have to admit that Lin Miaoke is so pretty and adorable. But if you don’t have the voice, you should try out something different like maybe acting. Eleven years from now, after Peiyi’s teeth is properly aligned and hair grows longer, she will be a gorgeous singer. That’s what I predict. =)
I was watching the video of the song and I couldn’t even get to the end. The thought of another girl singing it made me feel sick.
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