Olympic opening uses girl's voice, not face

[Jenn! 918]

BEIJING (AP) — A 7-year-old Chinese girl's face was "not suitable" for the Olympics opening ceremony, so another little girl with a pixie smile lip-synched "Ode to the Motherland" — the latest example of the lengths Beijing took for a perfect start to the Summer Games.

A member of China's Politburo asked for the last-minute change to match one girl's face with another's voice, the ceremony's chief music director, Chen Qigang, said in an interview with Beijing Radio.

"The audience will understand that it's in the national interest," Chen said in a video of the interview posted online Sunday night.

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[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

Nice.

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.

...

A photo of Peiyi posted Tuesday on popular Web site Sina.com shows a smiling girl with bangs and crooked teeth. A China News Service story posted with the photo says a China Central Television reporter asked Peiyi whether she felt regret over the opening ceremony.

...

Peiyi is a first-grader at the Primary School affiliated to Beijing University. Her tutor, Wang Liping, wrote in her blog that Peiyi is both cute and well-behaved, with a love for Peking opera.

[almaty 19]

china's version of..............

[chri'stina 190]

hmmmm

I mean it's not that surprising but still stupid.

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

hmmmm

I mean it's not that surprising but still stupid.

Hey there is nothing more embarrassing than an ugly kid

[~Chad~ 0]

hmmmm

I mean it's not that surprising but still stupid.

Hey there is nothing more embarrassing than an ugly kid

[chri'stina 190]

AJ, did you get beat up a lot as a kid/teen? You have a way with words.

[Ban Hammer 13,332]

hmmmm

I mean it's not that surprising but still stupid.

Hey there is nothing more embarrassing than an ugly kid

[LaL 418]

Top photo is the cute stand-in performer, below is the "didnt pass the cute test" actual singer.

[Sinergy 3]

hmmmm

I mean it's not that surprising but still stupid.

Hey there is nothing more embarrassing than an ugly kid

that was so mean

[~Chad~ 0]

man that's cold. I wonder what they told her.

[almaty 19]

they told her .."you ugly..and will disgrace all China"

[~Chad~ 0]

they told her .."you ugly..and will disgrace all China"

naaa, no future complex for her

[Mononoke28 135]

Awwww the real singer is pretty cute, that's just cruel.

Besides, don't the Chinese know that most westeners think they all look alike? At least most of the people I've talked to do but then again, they've never been outside of Colorado.

Diana

[IAMX 3,055]

I'm pretty sure some officials need to be beaten with an ugly stick, if they haven't been already.