Those who think this is just another lip-synching act in show-biz, hang on: I was told when interviewed our Miaoke said she wouldn't mind (Peiyi singing) as long as she was the one who performed. :-OO

Excuse me, but what would be the point of reproducing the "crooked teeth" story? Did Chen Qigang mention any "crooked teeth" or a "chubby face" in his interview, or is it the wicked interpretation of Western media?

I really can't see why Chinese media would spread the libel further.

And things _are_ talked about: link, link

well, the whole is very disturbing to me, even as chinese, i know that we, chinese have a long history of faking, almost everything, but this time, they just crossed the line, i don't know what this would do to both girls, and what kinda message they are trying to send to the world audiences, which is just beyond me, and when things like this happen, they do what they do best, they try to cover it up, or not mention it, and the so called net nanny is taking care of the rest. it's just so sad! as chinese, i am sorry this happened.

Ridiculous.

Lip-synching is done all the time in Chinese and Western concerts, most of the audience knows and doesn't care.

Where's my adopted Chinese girl He Kexin?
I am very indignant that she (He) did not make the buzz list!

I don't mind some lip-synching at live events AS LONG AS it's their own voice.
Seriously What shocks me and in a way scares me is to hear those words, if true, from a 9-year kid! Still don't get it? As to the question of What the Chinese media should do, one option is to continue educating the population, regardless of age, deception makes fame. Entirely up to them.

@tessa

I do not expect the two posts below to change your mind. But they are worth reading. I do not like censorship but on this issue I do not think the media's sensationalizing will benefit the kids.

link
link

This is surely another sign of anti-Chinese bias on the part of the Western media! Somehow...

It looks like Danwei temporarily forgot the first rule of blogging about China: blatant lying by the Chinese media? Not news. A typo in the Western media in a China-related story? Proof that democracy is a sham and the "free" press is worse than CCTV.

>>Lip-synching is done all the time in Chinese and Western concerts, most of the audience knows and doesn't care.

Really? Singers lip-synch TO OTHER PEOPLE'S VOICES all the time in concerts? I wasn't aware of that. You must be a Milli-Vanilli fan -- which was also a big scandal by the way.

Bill,

Blatantly lying by the Chinese media? If my memory serves me correctly, CHINESE MEDIA BROKE THIS STORY.

Typo? hehe, how convenient!

"Free" pess is not worse than CCTV, it is just that a lot of Chinese don't give a damn about your free press.

For the record, Lin Miaoke did NOT lip-synch. She did actually sing, not knowing that what was broadcast was not her voice but another girl's. So let's not think that this lovely girl was faking, because she was NOT.

That is why i don't like watching Spring Festival Gala and Opening Ceremony like this. Thank to Director ZhangYimou, he taught the Chinese kids that you have to be beautiful when you are born, otherwise no matter how talented you are, with crooked teeth you got to hide and do not come out to scare the world.

I'd better not to have a kid, I don't want my kid to see and experience this.

I would say Mirror's editors are stupid, or they were making jokes of western media?

"Free" (press) is not worse than CCTV, it is just that a lot of Chinese don't give a damn about your free press."---Pfeffer

It must be snowing in August in Beijing because for once you make sense.

Yang Peiyi should be deported for being so damn ugly. Myself and all my fellow ugly-as-hell Americans would welcome her to live in our ugly country and eat our ugly and fatty foods and live an ugly free life.

My Pop always told me to be nice to all the girls when I was younger. For the ugly ones sometimes become really freaking hot when they get older. I hope Yang Peiyi gets out of this craphole of a country, goes somewhere better (that means anywhere) and becomes rich as hell, and points her middle finger as a tribute to her beautiful motherland.

The media's reaction to the singing incident has been way out of proportion. Without this incident, who in the West would remember this singing performance? On the other hand, Pavarotti's performance was a major moment of the Turin Winter Olympics, but why did noboday seem to care that Pavarotti lip-synched? Don't tell me he was using his own voice. He is a GREAT GREAT singer, and his singing was A MAJOR moment of the Turin Olympics. The two Beijing kids were singing a song that nobody in the west would remember, if not for the incident. Why did the media play up the incident?

I'm actually surprised this is an issue: people came to see the opening show, not hear a specific girl sing. They had two kids ready to perform the song. This was a decent way to give them both face.

It's all about face, isn't it? like those walls built to hide "ugly" huts? If Chinese people are so proud of China and perhaps of themselves too, therefore confident, why the pathetic obssession of "face"? To make it easier to get the point, what do parents do when they see their kids are not "perfect"? hide them, find a double, or love them as they are?

Lip-sync did happen. But I noticed the words of the music director Chen Qigang were taken out of context by the media after watching the video of the interview. It was the media who invented the narrative of "ugly, fat" etc. Chen never said or implied that. Yang Peiyi was not banned.

Below is a picture of Lin and Yang together in Bird Nest on the day of the opening ceremony. link

The names of both girls were on the program guide of the opening ceremony. So it is not that Yang was not presentable. If one performer was not available, the other would be on the stage.

If you check the reports of Times and Telegraph, which were based on Chen's interview and compare with what Chen really said, you would see the reporters not only twisted but actually changed the story.

Please check here for more info: link link

>>. It was the media who invented the narrative of "ugly, fat" etc. Chen never said or implied that. Yang Peiyi was not banned.

Hilarious. Chen said that Yang's appearance was inappropriate. She was rejected because of her looks. Many in the media then speculated on what it was about her appearance that was unacceptable (her teeth? her face?). The fact that Chen didn't specify the exact physical "defect" is irrelevant.

But I guess when you are obsessed with proving the "anti-Chinese" bias of everyone on the planet, you'll actually take this kind of phony distinction seriously.

Although I am a Westerner, I do have to come down on China's side here.

The bottom line: this is showbiz. In America, what would happen? We would use the pretty girl, even if she couldn't sing as well. Our problem with China's government (and by odd extension here, the planners of this ridiculous ceremony) isn't its draconian policies and its censorship, but rather, its lack of subtlety.

If only China could be subtle about it, as we would be in America, there would be no problem. Furthermore, if only China offered freedom of the press and freedom of speech, but behind closed doors, and when you really got down to it, in reality offered neither, we would say it's the American Way. China's problem isn't its substance, but its presentation. It lacks the refined subtlety of Western showbiz ethics, the graceful and elegant twists and turns of Western censorship.

Of course America's wrongdoings aren't on the same scale, but it's not that they don't happen.

Don't call me a China apologist. If anything, I'm a universal skeptic. Too often, this argument has taken the form of "look at silly china! it's so obvious what they're doing here and it's wrong. Good thing we don't do that in America!" (But people leave off the last bit, or at least don't say it). But dear god, we have an entire industry (Hollywood), and an entire city (LA) dedicated to this superficial, looks-based idiocy.

Before you get up in arms about this stupid story, ask yourself, why is Keanu Reeves popular? The man can't act. Think of all the talented ugly people out there and remind yourself, they will never star in a Hollywood movie. Additionally, did you see that stupid 8 minutes last night where London performed? All attractive people.

If only China could learn to do conform to Our (Western) "ethics" of performance media! If only they could be subtle about it!

@Bill

>>"Chen said that Yang's appearance was inappropriate. She was rejected because of her looks."

Chen did not say that in the interview. He did not say anything about Yang's looks. He did say that many reviewers commented that Lin's voice was inadequate and Yang's voice was the best.

Yang was among three finalists selected from many many pretty kids. The names of the three kids were listed in the program guide.

Please take a look at the original video of Chen's interview. If you do not speak Chinese, the English transcript can be found in the link in my post above.

After watching the closing ceremony on NBC, I have to say lip-sync is a must! :-)

The effects of live singing were awful in Birds Nest!

Lip-synching in a very important event is no big deal. China borrowed another girl's voice to put on Lin, and let the public know it. I don't see anything different than you borrowed a nicer dress from your best friend to be dressed up for a big party.

Note to all...

When Li Ning flew around the rim of the stadium... he didn't really fly... they used wires!!!

look into scandal of Li Ning!!!

"The fact that Chen didn't specify the exact physical "defect" is irrelevant." - absolutely!
To me what matters is that Peiyi was NOT ALLOWED to appear in front of the 3(or 4) something billion viewers!
Why couldn't they both have performed if it was really impossible to find one kid out of I don't know how many in the whole of China, who has both the look and voice? Perhaps Peiyi was not that well-connected?

"don't see anything different than you borrowed a nicer dress from your best friend to be dressed up for a big party" - sounds like it's my fault to be surprised that this is no big deal for many Chinese in the first place. Shame on me.

After all who will feel and take the effect of this incident with them, even after the party is over, 1 day or 1 year, or longer?

Congratulations to all athletes and ordinary Chinese people who are pround of China while still maintaining the functionality of one of the best brains.

看了对张艺谋的采访和媒体的最初报道,我就认为是林妙可唱得没错,当时没有任何的疑问.但后来感觉被欺骗了...很气愤,很无奈.我想问一句,张艺谋,你是不是要欺骗全国人民?你把全国人民当成什么了??还有,因为该消息的敏感度,媒体未予跟进报道,我也很想知道那位最后要求作改动的权威人士究竟是谁?

Hahaha... you guys kill me...

And those thousands of ancient Chinese drummers... they weren't really from ancient China... they were regulars Joes pretending to be from ancient China...

And those ladys who held placards... normally they're regular chicks... but they got gussied and pretended to be total hotties...

@spass

Fortunately the video of Chen Qigang’s interview is available for you to view. Please please take a look.

Many reports, supposedly based on Chen Qigang’s interview, said a senior official pronounced that Yang must be replaced due to her looks.

But what Chen actually said was that the organizers thought the voice of Lin, who had the best image, was inadequate. (The word image here is not just about looks, but also about internal feeling, expression and stage sense. Lin has had a lot of acting experience.).He said many reviewers including a senior official, after watching a rehearsal of Lin, commented that her voice was inadequate. So the organizers decided to combine the best image and the best voice to entertain the world. They thought this was fair to both girls.

>>“To me what matters is that Peiyi was NOT ALLOWED to appear in front of the 3(or 4) something billion viewers!”

Certainly you do not have to agree Chen Qigang’s assessment and arrangement. However, from the interview, from the photo and from the program guide, there was no strong evidence to support that Yang Peiyi was banned due to her looks! The names of both girls were on the program guide.

For important events, they have multiple backups, in which only one can perform. You must have heard about the injured dancer (Let’s pray for her), she also had backups. There were many people who spent a lot of time practicing but did not perform and did not have their names credited in the program guide.

I do not know how Yang Peiyi felt. If she was a girl about “me me me”, she might get hurt. If she was a little shy, she might be happy that she did not have to perform live in front of 3 billion viewers.

After viewing the appalling live singing of the closing ceremony, I am really not sure what the effect would be if they let Lin or Yang to sing live during the opening ceremony.

@大门牙

I do not like censorship. But I do not think playing up this issue will help the kids.

@jp

Thanks your advice.
It must feel pretty cool to be multi-Linguistic. Wish I could even though my English is not so well :-)

(thanks to Joel for having brought this topic up for discussions)

JP,
问题是组织者你不要制造新闻,你就不能找个容貌和声音都能符合你们的标准的??中国这么大,你何必一定要在这个时候体现下中国特色,向世人展示一下双簧呢?你不断地举证,不断地为这种行为辩护,说别的国家如何如何,说媒体又如何如何,我想说的是,中国,请做好自己,提高自己的水平,你才有资格对某些国家"指手画脚".只有真正的具备实力才会赢得对手的敬意,这个"实力"不仅仅是硬实力,也包括软实力.我是中国人,我并不想贬低自己,我对这种组织者的这种行为感到遗憾,尤其是后来针对媒体所作的一切而感到吃惊和不解.

@大门牙

Damages have been done and faces have been lost. I am not trying to bring faces back. I cannot bring faces back :-)

Many people are still angry about the alleged unfair treatment of Yang Peiyi. I just wanted to let a few readers here to know it was a meme invented by the media. If you check the links in my previous post, some of your questions were already answered. For example, it is likely XJP was the senior official mentioned in Chen’s interview.

Here is another link you can check. As you might have known, ESWN is a blog recommended by danwei.org. link

I was disappointed when first hearing about the story. But after doing some research online (viewing the interview video and reading a few blogs), I found the media manipulated the facts. They acted as if they were advocates of the children’s welfare but they were not. By sensationalizing and politicising this issue based on twisted facts, they were not doing any good to the kids.

Yes, now I feel for the directors a little, although they probably do not need my sympathy :-) I think overall they, and thousands of performers have done a good job. There are hundreds of details to deal with in such a big event. Only god can make every detail perfect. They are not god. So I would ask for a little understanding for them, as an ordinary viewer.

I don't know why (maybe I do), but the whole thing reminded me of the angelic blond boy singing "Tomorrow Belongs to me" in Cabaret.

Once again I get another opportunity to post this link to China's Legal Daily.

legaldaily

Now just to make sure the Chinese government doesn't edit it before Danwei publishes my post, I'm going to take the liberty of copying and pasting the relevant paragraph:

　据开幕式音乐总监陈其钢先生后来解释，“由于杨沛宜正在换牙期，让林妙可上台主要是因为考虑到对外形象，是为了国家利益。”其实，我并非不能接受“替唱”的事实。且不说“双簧”也是我喜爱的一种曲艺表演形式，就是在电影和电视剧中，“配音演员”和“武打替身”也是屡见不鲜的。一个形象可爱的女孩与一个声音甜美的女孩组合起来，构成奥运开幕式上那完美的童声演唱，这是无可厚非的。

There it is folks! "Developing teeth" is how I translate "正在换牙期".

I shall now proceed to blow every above argument out of the water with a nuclear battleship of rational reasoning.

1. "Her name was in the program! Her name was in the program! Na na na-na na!"

This adolescent argument sounds like it came from a 14 year old girl (He Kexin's Wuhan classmate, perhaps?) Yang Peiyi's name was listed in the program distributed at the Bird's Nest on August 8. So what? First of all, who reads the 他妈的 program? (I confess; I did actually check the program for the closing ceremony to see if London's new mayor is really Chris Patten.)
The name that became an overnight sensation in China's media and on the Internet for SINGING solely belonged to Lin Miaoke, not Yang Peiyi. Even Zhang Yimou himself touted Lin Miaoke's VOICE at the press conference the day after the opening ceremony.

2. Combining Lin Miaoke's looks (not her voice) with Yang Peiyi's voice (not her looks) is acceptable as "show business".

We're talking about 2 unknown kids, not Pavarotti. Nobody knew these 2 children before the opening ceremony, and only Lin Miaoke was given credit immediatley afterward until Chen Qigang's radio revelation 2 days later. Pavarotti did Turin as a favor; I don't believe there was a competition among the Three Tenors for the honor.

3. Both girls were given face and treated equally.

The only face Yang Peiyi got was her smiling photo after Chen's revelation. People were compelled to evaluate the flaws deemed unacceptable for the national image, without being specific. Nobody knew her name or what she looked like on the day after the opening ceremony. Instead of being praised for her vocal contribution, Yang Peiyi and her smiling face became the poster child for injustice.
Meanwhile overnight sensation Lin Miaoke had a great day on August 9, then 24 hours later her face became associated with the word lip-sync as 假唱 became a sensationalized search term.
Equal treatment? Equally mistreated, I say!!

In the end, I hope every citizen in China will always think of Yang Peiyi each time they hear "Ode to the Motherland" in the future, even as an instrumental.
I know I will always associate her face with this song for the rest of my life. There's an important lesson to be learned from this controversy. Perhaps it is a story that should be shared with future generations and not dismissed solely as media hyperbole.

now compare these two:

baidu '林妙可 假唱' link
fine now

baidu '开幕式 假唱'
link
搜索结果可能涉及不符合相关法律法规和政策的内容，未予显示。

obviously, 林妙可 did it, but 开幕式 in a whole is not propered to be linked to 假唱, which is subversive to this society.

and i'm too busy to tell the difference. ok. so that is it what it is.

Spelunker, your Legal Daily article was published on the 25th, long after the quote entered the media. As far as I've been able to tell, Chen was first quoted as mentioning Yang's teeth in an article on Netease's Entertainment channel, credited to a reporter named "Juno." The overseas media might have gotten the "crooked teeth" idea from that, but they really ought to know better than to treat what's essentially a poorly fact-checked online gossip column as a bastion of quality journalism.

I'd say that half of the criticism was due to the "image" remark, and the other half was due to what was seen as a cover-up - Zhang's remarks, all those articles in the mainstream press trumpeting Lin Miaoke as the next it girl (in a decade or so). The media loves to catch people out, but they probably wouldn't have cared at all if everything had been out in the open. It reminds me of the Gary Hart's dare in 1987, which backfired on him, and similarly resulted in a public who felt the media had been unfare. But that's what they do

The link you provided says "正在发牙齿", which uses slightly different wording when compared to the Legal Daily article: "正在换牙期"
However both terms refer to a child being in the process of growing permanent teeth.

I believe Chen Qigang gave a second interview soon after the first one recorded on radio, which is why so many people claim Chen never used the word "teeth".

My idea is that the overseas media didn't really need to rely on any specific quotation from Chen Qigang about Yang Peiyi's teeth.
Western journalists simply looked at the first photo published of Yang Peiyi (before the pink bunny ears) and drew their own conclusion on why she was deemed unsuitable for China's national interest.

By the way, there's an article in the Hong Kong Standard on August 25 by Beijing correspondent Carol Chung claiming that Yang Peiyi actually sang in the closing ceremony when the Olympic flame was extinguished. No other media source reported this and I don't recall seeing her on the NBC broadcast that I watched August 24.

Standard

(AP) “So in a last-minute move demanded by one of China's highest officials, the two were put together for the Olympic opening ceremony, with one lip-synching "Ode to the Motherland" over the other's singing. 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 state-owned Beijing Radio. ... “

A lot of readers asked: “How could they say this to a lovely girl like Yang Peiyi?” Man. I have to admire the AP reporter. Unless the reader is very careful, she/he will not notice “CHUBBY FACE and CROOKED BABY TEETH” may not be said by the chief music director and Chen did not say that Yang was not good-looking enough. The image (internal feeling and expression) is not just about good-looking.

(Telegraph) “But the show's musical designer felt forced to set the record straight. He gave an interview to Beijing radio saying the real singer was a seven-year-old girl who had won a gruelling competition to perform the anthem, a patriotic song called "Hymn to the Motherland…..At the last moment a member of the Chinese politburo who was watching a rehearsal pronounced that the winner, a girl called Yang Peiyi, might have a perfect voice but was unsuited to the lead role because of her buck teeth. “

So what Chen really said? Whose rehearsal?

Chen: “We went to the Central Broadcasting Radio Station to make recordings. It was felt afterward that Lin Miaoke’s voice wasn’t exactly suitable in terms of tone control, range and depth. In the end, we decided that Yang Peiyi should be the one to provide the voice. We thought it was in the national interest to put the one with the best appearance and expression on the stage. Lin Miaoke was a very good choice for this role. But in terms of the music, we all felt that Yang Peiyi had the flawless voice.

Interviewer: So the one appearing in front the camera was Lin Miaoke and the song came from Yang Peiyi?

Chen: “That’s right. It was a last minute, tough decision. We went through multiple practices and reviews. We played Lin Miaoke’s recording during one joint practice. Many reviewers, particularly someone in the Political Bureau of the Central Committee, made comments that it must be changed. We had no choice.”

Again, from the photo of Yang and Lin together in Bird’s Nest, I guess if Lin did not feel well on the day, Yang would probably on the stage. They had three performers for this song.

JP is serving his hors d'oeuvres again. Some of them look a little stale, but let's nibble away anyway:

This tidbit is from JP's favorite copy and paste of what Chen Qigang said:
"We thought it was in the national interest to put the one with the best appearance and expression on the stage."

Over here, JP! I'll take that "best appearance" and maybe this "national interest" too, thank you. Yum, that "national interest" is good stuff. Yuck! This "best appearance" pastry looks wonderful but it tastes a little like cardboard.

What else you got? Oh, it's dinner time now!
Here's an interesting entree by Chef JP:

Again, from the photo of Yang and Lin together in Bird’s Nest, I guess if Lin did not feel well on the day, Yang would probably on the stage. They had three performers for this song.

What do you call this dish? 假唱豆腐？Sure does fill the belly. Can I get the recipe?

1. Photo of Yang and Lin in Bird's Nest.

Your link above to this photo does not work any more, but I assume it was taken in an empty stadium a few hours before the opening ceremony began. Are there any photos of Yang Peiyi standing alone backstage while Lin Miaoke is performing in front of a billion? Did Yang have a pretty red dress too?

2. I guess if Lin did not feel well on the day, Yang would probably (be) on the stage.

This is an interesting ingredient. Where did you get it? Maybe it's one of those special Chinese herbs, but are you implying that Yang Peiyi (flawless voice) could have replaced Lin Miaoke (flawless appearance and stage presence)
by appearing onstage at the last second? WOW!

3. They had three performers for this song.

Hmmm, I wonder what the third one looked like.

Ready for dessert, JP? Here's the latest from a Canadian newspaper report on how Yang Peiyi's teacher observed disturbing symptoms of her student days after the opening ceremony:

Geoffrey_York

哎呀我吃饱了，肚子有点儿撑！

Addendum:
I just found the Chinese blog of Yang Peiyi's teacher:

WangLiPing

I find Spelunker's obsession with this story and He Kexin a little strange, but I did have to chuckle at 假唱豆腐.

@Spelunker

Thanks for the new information! The blog, although a little “知音” (ref .1), is touching. I would be more convinced if the story was told directly by Yang’s parents. If the teacher was so close to Yang’s family, how could she not know Yang was the singer until 3 days after the opening ceremony?

Yang Peiyi is lovely and I feel for her too.

What I tried to say was that there was no strong evidence to support that the directors conspired to reject Yang Peiyi due to her crooked teeth, fat face, ugliness and etc. The meme of ugliness was invented by the media. I am not just talking about the western media. Both the western media and the Chinese media are biased and sometimes stupid and cruel.

I checked and the photo was still available. Please try again. Here is the link.

It was just my guess that Yang could be on the stage if, say, Lin was ill on that day. Chen Qigang did not tell me that :-) The guess was based on the playbill, in which Yang was listed as Performer A, Lin as listed as the Performer B and Lei Cixin was listed as Performer C. I am also interested in seeing Lei Cixin. She might be the third kid mentioned in Chen’s interview. NYT reported that Lin’s father said Lin did not know the final decision until 15 minutes before the opening ceremony. So it is possible that Yang was replaced by Lin at the last minute. In other words, Yang could be on the stage if Lin was not available or Yang could be hurt due to this last minute change. But what the arrangement really was, we do not know about the details.

I have some fresh dessert here too, made from eight-year old materials :-)
Revealed: Sydney Olympics faked it too [2].

Quote:

“As a result, the Sydney Symphony's confirmation that it mimed its entire performance at the opening ceremony of the 2000 Sydney Olympics comes as something of a shock. Even worse, it admits the backing tape was recorded, in part, by its southern rival, the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra.

Mr Green said the MSO had used a backing tape at the opening ceremony of the 2006 Commonwealth Games.

"The miming side of it is perfectly normal," he said. "There are millions of people watching and if something goes wrong you'd be snookered."”

I am not saying lip-sync is a glorious thing to do. Let me repeat this to the western media and the Chinese media (as if they are listening :-)): sensationalizing and politicising this issue based on twisted facts do not benefit the kids. There are many many much darker stories to pick up in this country.

References:

[1] 《知音》的长处: link
[2] link