Chinese Government Can’t Let A “Flawed” Little Girl Ruin Everything At The Opening Ceremonies

We’re old enough to remember when C+C Music Factory got sued for using a hot babe in the video for “Gonna Make You Sweat” instead of the more… um… Rubenesque Martha Walsh. But that was to sell cassingles, not install national pride. The Chinese, however, aren’t above doing that–and using children’s frail psyches to boot. It turns out that during the opening ceremonies, they substituted a “flawed” girl with a beautiful voice for a pretty girl who can lip-sync the Chinese national anthem “Ode to the Motherland.” Forget the ‘roiders, the Chinese are the real cheaters. Along with the fake footsteps, we’re going to need verification that all of Beijing isn’t in a sound stage somewhere on the Universal lot.

Lin Miaoke’s performance Friday night, like the ceremony itself, was an immediate hit. “Nine-year-old Lin Miaoke becomes instant star with patriotic song,” the China Daily newspaper headline said Tuesday.

But the real voice behind the tiny, pigtailed girl in the red dress who wowed 91,000 spectators at the National Stadium on opening night really belonged to 7-year-old Yang Peiyi. Her looks apparently failed the cuteness test with officials organizing the ceremony, but Chen said her voice was judged the most beautiful.

“The national interest requires that the girl should have good looks and a good grasp of the song and look good on screen,” Chen said. “Lin Miaoke was the best in this. And Yang Peiyi’s voice was the most outstanding.”

Awesome… Lin and Yang and the face and voice of the harmony in China. Way to not keep your karmic balance fellas.
Olympic opening uses girl’s voice, not face [Yahoo]
Image [AP]