Yang Peiyi was replaced by Lin Miaoke who mimed “Ode to the Motherland” as her face was “not suitable” for the Olympics opening ceremony. Photographs: AFP/ AP
Just saw this article on News 24.
Beijing – The little girl who starred at the Olympic opening ceremony was miming and only put on stage because the real singer was not considered attractive enough, the show’s musical director said.
Pigtailed Lin Miaoke was selected to appear because of her cute appearance and had not sung a note, Chen Qigang, the general music designer of the ceremony, said in an interview with a state broadcaster.
Photographs of Lin in a bright red party dress were published in newspapers and websites all over the world and the official China Daily hailed her as a rising star on Tuesday.
But Chen said the girl whose voice was actually heard by the 91 000 capacity crowd at the main Olympic stadium was in fact seven-year-old Yang Peiyi, who has a chubby face and uneven teeth.
“The reason why little Yang was not chosen to appear was because we wanted to project the right image, we were thinking about what was best for the nation,” Chen said in the interview that appeared briefly on the popular news website Sina.com on Tuesday before it was wiped from the Internet.
Lin was seen to perform the patriotic song “Ode to the Motherland” as China’s national flag was carried into the stadium, a key moment in the three hour opening ceremony.
“The reason was for the national interest. The child on camera should be flawless in image, internal feelings, and expression,” he said.
“Lin Miaoke is excellent in those aspects. But in terms of voice, Yang Peiyi is perfect, each member of our team agreed,” he said.
Research by Daniel Hamermesh, an economist at the University of Texas, has suggested that the “beauty premium” in parts of China is far more pronounced than in the west for women. Dr Hamermesh’s work shows that “ugly people earn below the average income while beautiful people earn more.” The Guardian quoted that “in Britain, attractive women enjoy a +1% premium. But in Shanghai, the figure was +10%.”
But is it just me that’s getting a bit concerned? First, fake opening ceremony, and now, a fake kid miming. I mean sure, good looking people do better. I know. But I honestly had a tear in my eye when I first watched the opening ceremony out of pure joy. Now, I still have a tear in my eye.
Just for the wrong reasons.
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