China picked a 'cute' nine-year-old girl to mime at its Olympic opening ceremony after deciding a seven-year-old with a 'flawless' voice was not pretty enough to perform.

Lin Miaoke, in her angelic red dress and pigtails, captivated the world last Friday as she 'sang' the national anthem during its £20million opening for the Games.

But it has now been revealed the voice heard by billions both in Beijing and around the globe was in fact seven-year-old Yang Peiyi, who was banned for her crooked teeth.

In yet another example of fakery at the Games, China pre-recorded Yang singing Paean to the Motherland but chose her rival to lip-synch before the public.

The extraordinary last-minute decision to splice pictures and sound was taken just before the show by a top member of the Chinese Communist Party politburo.


Lin's appearance in the ceremony has made her the hottest child star in China and her picture was even printed on the front page of the New York Times.

But the true story behind her performance has now been revealed by the general music designer of the ceremony, Chen Qigang, who wanted to set the record straight.



It lays bare China's desperation to present a 'perfect' image to the world and deliver the best ever Olympics, shooing away migrant workers and protesters.

The country has already confessed footage of fireworks exploding across Beijing during the ceremony was digitally inserted into television coverage in case smog blurred some of the 29 blasts.

And today Olympic officials said they had been forced to draft-in 'cheerleader squads' to fill empty seats in stadiums despite the Games being billed as a sell out.

Ironically, attempts to control every aspect of the Games are far more damaging to China's reputation than if events were allowed to unfold more naturally.

Of the decision to deny Yang Peiyi her chance to perform in front of billions, Mr Qigang said: 'The first condition was that the director wants the image to be very cute.'

A 10-year-old girl who was a good singer was initially selected and used for all the rehearsals but it was eventually decided she was too old.

Organisers wanted a younger child and picked Yang Peiyi for her 'flawless' voice but were told at the last minute that Lin Miaoke would be the one to appear on stage.

Mr Qigang told Beijing People’s Broadcasting Station: 'The reason was for the national interest. The child on camera should be flawless in image, internal feelings, and expression.
Lin Miaoke

Famous: Lin Miaoke is now a star in China because of her 'performance'

'Lin Miaoke is excellent in those aspects. But in the aspect of voice, Yang Peiyi is flawless, in each member of our team’s view.'

He added: 'This was a last-minute decision, we had to do it. We had been through several inspections, they were all very strict.

'When we rehearsed at the spot, there were spectators from various divisions, especially leaders from the the Politburo who gave the opinion: It must change.

'This is to say, we had no choice… We have a responsibility to face the audience of the whole country, to give this explanation.

'Everyone should understand this in this way: this is in the national interest. It is the image of our national music, national culture. Especially the entrance of our national flag, this is an extremely important, extremely serious matter.

'Then we made such a choice. I think it is fair to both Lin Miaoke and Yang Peiyi. That is to say, we have a perfect voice (in our team’s view), and a perfect image and representation, two combined together.'

The decision shows China's desire to ensure every single element of the Games is perfect and control exactly how it is perceived across the world.

It is possible Lin Miaoke did not even realise she was not singing at the time. She was only told she was performing at all 15 minutes beforehand.

A photo of Peiyi posted yesterday on a popular website shows a smiling girl with braces and crooked teeth.

She insisted she was not upset at the switch and was honoured to have her voice used.

But some people were angry, with one blog post reading: 'Leave the last bit of innocence to the children.'

Peiyi is a pupil at the Primary School affiliated to Beijing University. Her teacher Wang Liping said she is both cute and well-behaved, with a love for Peking opera.

In contrast, Miaoke was a minor celebrity even before the opening ceremony, having appeared in a number of Olympics-related television advertisements.

She has her own blog and one of the latest photos posted since the ceremony shows her looking up nervously at the ceremony's director, film director Zhang Yimou. 'Giving the child encouragement,' the caption says.

It is the the second straight Olympics where the opening ceremony involved lip-synching.

Luciano Pavarotti's performance at the 2006 Winter Games in Turin was prerecorded.

Bitter cold made a live performance impossible for the tenor, who was in severe pain months before his cancer diagnosis.

Organisers were also forced to admit today that they were bussing in 'cheer squads' to fill empty seats, having claimed every single ticket for the Games had sold out.

The spectators - in matching t-shirts and banging batons - are being used to 'create a good atmosphere'.

Vice-president Wang Wei said: 'The shirts were handed out to volunteers who were assigned to be cheerleader squads to cheer both sides and encourage atmosphere.'

Officials stress the Games are a sell-out and blame the empty seats on the bad weather and the failure of sponsors to use their own allocations.

It has already emerged organisers faked part of the firework display during the opening ceremony, which cost £20million to stage and wowed the world.

The 29 'footprints' seen springing up across the city towards its National Stadium during the four-hour epic show were actually pre-recorded.

A cameraman in a helicopter was also filming the displays live as they popped up along the skyline but organisers had feared it would be too shaky to use.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10...oked-teeth.html

so what?

news coming from country where Mayors and MPs believe in geting nose jobs and 8oob jobs done before running for election.
anyway Lin Miaoke looked very cute in the ceremony, and she performed very well. here is the video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bq2SukIN10Q

Not like its supposed to be a big deal but I wonder how the real singer felt that she wasn't the one singing.

of course She is cute . that is exactly the reason the Chinese picked her to stand there instead of the real singer .
But the real voice is not hers . The voice is from the the girl that's considered by the Chinese not cute enough to perform before the audience

come on, it is like asking Celine Dion to be heroine of titanic.
or Asha Bhosley to be jumping around with every hero from Prithvi raj kapoor to Shahid Kapoor.
objection just for sake of it.... such "news" are simply coming out of jealousy.
weldone Chinese to put up a grand show. I watched it on HDTV, and forgot to breathe at number of occasions.

Come on This not a about jealousy . It is The Chinese press who reported this first . This is terrible for that talented little girl because of her look . Although She is cute too . This sets bad example . Because It seems people value appearance over substance .

It is normal in art performance, we must show the best side of all the things.
Even in west movies or art show, you can find somebody sing for some stars who are not good in singing.

I like the little girl very much even the song is not sung by her. She or anyone is not guity or need to be blamed in this case. I think some foreigners raise this incident with ill purposes (to disgrace China).

come on, it's a show, not a singing contest.
there would be no entertainment industry if employing substitute and special effects becomes a moral issue.

No , If i were the parents of that talented girl , i wouldn't allow my kid's voice used in that opening ceremony , Unless She appeared on the stage . I must be offended as parents when your talented child being told not to to perfom because she is not pretty . although she is also pretty like other girl . Of course both the girls are blameless . saddly They are used . But why does the girl that doesn't sing get more credit than the girl with real voice . When i read this article then i think how stupid for the Chinese organizers to made that decision .


The real talented girl does not get any credit with her beautiful voice

Tiny singer wins heart of nation
(chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2008-08-12 09:49
Comments(1) PrintMail

See more photos, please click

Lin Miaoke might be only 9 years old, but she is already well on her way to becoming a star, thanks to her heartwarming performance of Ode to the Motherland at Friday's opening ceremony for the Beijing Olympics.

"She is delightful," Atul Dalakoti, executive director of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry, told China Daily yesterday in Beijing.

Lin's performance was so charming that even Zhang Yimou, who directed the ceremony, was impressed, her mother Liu Zheping said.

The third-grader at Xizhongjie primary school in Beijing's Dongcheng district got her first taste of celebrity at the age of 6, when she appeared in a television advertisement with actress Zhao Wei, news website Enorth.com.cn said.

Last year, she appeared in a TV ad with reigning Olympic champion hurdler Liu Xiang, and shortly before this year's Spring Festival featured in an advertisement for the Beijing Olympics.

Despite her experience, however, Lin was not an automatic choice for the Bird's Nest show.

In April, she and thousands of other talented tots took part in auditions for the parts of the 56 children who accompanied the national flag into the stadium.

Lin's father Lin Hui, who works as a photojournalist at Beijing's Legal Evening News, said he was not that confident about his daughter's chances until June, when he was told she had made it into the final four.

He then found out she would be singing the lead just 15 minutes before the opening ceremony began, he said.

The 9-year-old songbird said she was thrilled to be part of Friday night's performance, mostly "because I felt so beautiful in my red dress", she told China Daily yesterday.

Lin Hui said he still cannot believe his daughter has become an international singing sensation.

She already has fans all over the country, just three days after her performance, he said.

And it seems her fame is not limited to Chinese mainland. On Saturday, she appeared on the cover of the New York Times.

"But it is too early for Miaoke to be part of the world of entertainment," Lin Hui said.

"As her parents we have to make sure she gets a good education first," he said, adding that the youngster would soon be returning to school.

it's fine by me. if you have to make a big deal out of a common practice and feel bad, no one can help you...

Yeah, I think the west has been working overtime to dig out anything that appears negative, however trivial, and blow it up to make it looks bad on China.
As for the decision to use different girls, the sole reason was to achieve the best possible result from the performance. The intent was clear and the show went on as planned. The voice (singer) was from a nine year old name Yang Peiyi. Their photos are all over the media and both are widely praised in BBS.

In this case, what matters most is both are Chinese girls and both, in spite of their young ages, are making a remarkable contribution to the world on behalf of the Chinese People.

BTW, similar lip-singing trick happened in the 2006 Winter Games in Turin.

Another distortion . i have checked many Chinese newspapers . Just articles praising that little cute girl . That fakery about the real voice is only reavealed today after an interview in The Beijing Radio .

This article from earlier this morning in the China Daily News . Praising that little cute girl no metion to the girl with real voice .

Tiny singer wins heart of nation
By Chuanjiao
China Daily Staff Writer
Updated: 2008-08-12 07:43



Lin Miaoke might be only 9 years old, but she is already well on her way to becoming a star, thanks to her heartwarming performance of Ode to the Motherland at Friday's opening ceremony for the Beijing Olympics.

"She is delightful," Atul Dalakoti, executive director of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry, told China Daily Monday in Beijing.

Lin Miaoke, a nine-year-old Chinese girl who lent her voice Friday night to the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics, returns to the Xizhongjie Primary School of Dongcheng District in Beijing, capital of China, on Aug. 9, 2008. [Xinhua]

Lin's performance was so charming that even Zhang Yimou, who directed the ceremony, was impressed, her mother Liu Zheping said.

The third-grader at Xizhongjie primary school in Beijing's Dongcheng district got her first taste of celebrity at the age of 6, when she appeared in a television advertisement with actress Zhao Wei, news website Enorth.com.cn said.

Last year, she appeared in a TV ad with reigning Olympic champion hurdler Liu Xiang, and shortly before this year's Spring Festival featured in an advertisement for the Beijing Olympics.

Despite her experience, however, Lin was not an automatic choice for the Bird's Nest show.

In April, she and thousands of other talented tots took part in auditions for the parts of the 56 children who accompanied the national flag into the stadium.

Lin's father Lin Hui, who works as a photojournalist at Beijing's Legal Evening News, said he was not that confident about his daughter's chances until June, when he was told she had made it into the final four.

He then found out she would be singing the lead just 15 minutes before the opening ceremony began, he said.

The 9-year-old songbird said she was thrilled to be part of Friday night's performance, mostly "because I felt so beautiful in my red dress", she told China Daily Monday.

Lin Hui said he still cannot believe his daughter has become an international singing sensation.

She already has fans all over the country, just three days after her performance, he said.

And it seems her fame is not limited to Chinese mainland. On Saturday, she appeared on the cover of the New York Times.

"But it is too early for Miaoke to be part of the world of entertainment," Lin Hui said.

"As her parents we have to make sure she gets a good education first," he said, adding that the youngster would soon be returning to school.

A little bit distasteful but so what??? Much ado about nothing.
The organizers were trying to a have great opening ceremony with that part of the show focussing on one little girl singing and she was very photogenic with a decent voice but the other girl had the better voice but wasn't nearly as photogenic and therefore her voice augmented the soundtrack not replace it.As long as no child,girl or boy is abused,made to feel inferior or humiliated-that's the primary concernBoth little girls contributed greatly to the Beijing Games,China and her people on the biggest stage of the world for one night and everything had to go well.Also if China had put on a girl singer with obvious physical flaws-she would have been endlessly mocked and humiliated by western internet buffoons and comedians-that would have scarred her for life-in retrospect the organizers did the right thing-seeing now that the Western press is digging up every minor,irrelevant,useless bit of garbage to put down the 2008 Beijing Games- some have called the greatest opening ceremony ever.London is probably crapping its collective pants right now.Besides the initial reporting was from a Chinese journalistic source-isn't that what a "free press" is about.Damn if do,damn if you don't-to hell with them.

even if its true so what? This has happened countless times here in usa. No big deal. I've noticed nbc and yahoo are claiming "coverage of olympic games" as if its unbiased but their almost hateful anti-china views are so apparent. If that's the case why dissemble and call it "fair and balanced"?

While the real singer deserves to be showcased, the West is making a bigger deal out of it than it should. This could easily be fixed by putting the original singer in the closing ceremony.

aha I think they will

just look at the Chinese internet forum, the flame is really intense, they are really really angry now.

don't bring the West in every topic that is critical about China . It's about moral issue . Not about th West ot the East . every human being could see that this act was unfair to the girl with the real voice . The news first broke when the general music designer of the ceremony, Chen Qigang told the Bejing Radio about this . Many Chinese bloggers were very upset about this .

More pictures of the crooked teeth girl

unfair? what about those girls that have not been gifted with that beautiful voice at all, what about those girls worked harder but failed in earlier screening, what about those born in Iraq and got bombed into bits?
like i said, it's not a singing contest where contestents compete on an individual basis. rather, it's a collective performance where every member contributes his/her best part. if you cannot tell the difference, and if you are a Chinese, you should consider going back to an elementary school, but the ignorance might be normal in your country.

I dont know what you are talking about men . What has Iraq to do with all this .

The opening ceremony was meant to be picture perfect, not a fairness competition. Dozens of performers were eliminated for that one spot. For every gold medal athlete China produces, many more unknown ones are never in people's spotlight. Fairness? Which rock have you been living under? The world is unfair. Deal with it.

no You are too stupid understand to what fairness is . Why does the girl that did not sing .got all the credit . Not that i'm blaming that girl for all the credit and fame she got after her performance. newspapers praise her into the heaven for her performance while the girl with the beautiful voice is unknown to the world until today . Is that fair to you .


If you read this article then you understand what fairness is ?

Tiny singer wins heart of nation
By Chuanjiao
China Daily Staff Writer
Updated: 2008-08-12 07:43



Lin Miaoke might be only 9 years old, but she is already well on her way to becoming a star, thanks to her heartwarming performance of Ode to the Motherland at Friday's opening ceremony for the Beijing Olympics.

"She is delightful," Atul Dalakoti, executive director of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry, told China Daily Monday in Beijing.

Lin Miaoke, a nine-year-old Chinese girl who lent her voice Friday night to the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics, returns to the Xizhongjie Primary School of Dongcheng District in Beijing, capital of China, on Aug. 9, 2008. [Xinhua]

Lin's performance was so charming that even Zhang Yimou, who directed the ceremony, was impressed, her mother Liu Zheping said.

The third-grader at Xizhongjie primary school in Beijing's Dongcheng district got her first taste of celebrity at the age of 6, when she appeared in a television advertisement with actress Zhao Wei, news website Enorth.com.cn said.

Last year, she appeared in a TV ad with reigning Olympic champion hurdler Liu Xiang, and shortly before this year's Spring Festival featured in an advertisement for the Beijing Olympics.

Despite her experience, however, Lin was not an automatic choice for the Bird's Nest show.

In April, she and thousands of other talented tots took part in auditions for the parts of the 56 children who accompanied the national flag into the stadium.

Lin's father Lin Hui, who works as a photojournalist at Beijing's Legal Evening News, said he was not that confident about his daughter's chances until June, when he was told she had made it into the final four.

He then found out she would be singing the lead just 15 minutes before the opening ceremony began, he said.

The 9-year-old songbird said she was thrilled to be part of Friday night's performance, mostly "because I felt so beautiful in my red dress", she told China Daily Monday.

Lin Hui said he still cannot believe his daughter has become an international singing sensation.

She already has fans all over the country, just three days after her performance, he said.

And it seems her fame is not limited to Chinese mainland. On Saturday, she appeared on the cover of the New York Times.

"But it is too early for Miaoke to be part of the world of entertainment," Lin Hui said.

"As her parents we have to make sure she gets a good education first," he said, adding that the youngster would soon be returning to school.

The little girl in red is simply gorgeous.

She sings well. She acts great.

She is the symbol of China's future.

Whoever sang it, it is not the national anthem, the name of the song is Ode to My Mather Land. Get that straight first, the stupid writer.

Yeah She is gorgeous but how do you know she sings well . She is maybe a good singer too . But i have to hear her real voice to judge about her singing talent . It's unfair to get all the credit she got because of her look and not her talent .

It's none of your business first. Second I saw her interview on TV, she does possess a beautiful voice.

I always supported china. but what is wrong is wrong.

Live performances are not lip synched. This is not only stupid but amazingly moronic act. no matter what kind of cover you give it, its still is wrong. Its not a big deal either. but it start showing the extent you will go to conform to the outside world. Today you hid your child cause she was ugly (eventhough from her pics, i think she is cute), tomorrow god knows what else you gonna go so you can be accepted.

Finally this news broke out, it was not released. and you might wanna read about Milli vanilli.

oh and you might be saying right now that girl didnt feel anything, but imagine she is being teased by other children. you know children can be very cruel. little girl looks cute to me but lets say if she is not, imagine that the she has to carry the badge "rejected by nation" .

You seem a bit slow, but that's alright.
I was talking about universal fairness, the lack of which seems to be inflaming you. I was telling you 1.it does not exist, 2, if you want to pursue the subject, Iraqis need your attention more.

Well said Sobank, exactly my thoughts, nobody knows that pain of rejection more then her family and she herself, the day when she grows up to be more understanding she is going to feel miserable every time she will think of this moment.

And to be honest, she look perfect child to me, they said her teeth are not right, well then that is the very reason she looks child like, innocent and took at her age she is only 6!!!, that says a lot about herself. World would have appreciated her talent and courage to sing for the world biggest event.
I personally think, China got it wrong on this.

Amazing how thick your skull is. The Olympic ceremony is a way of presenting an image, not a fairness competition. There is absolutely nothing wrong with wanting to have a picture perfect show. If the officials decided the use the girl with better looks, that's fine with me. The singer got her credit when official media gave the story out. Stop acting like these things are outrageous as we see it on a daily basis. Reality too harsh for you? Too bad.

that's right . with this incident ,China has received the less sympathetic image than before . Just read on many forums how people react to this leaked secret . Fom now on people got an image of china being a country with all fakeries . from Fake products to fake olympics . That is nice way to present a good image of China , my friend . Way to go .

LOL. dude well congratulations. Now you have a better image of china in the world. are you freaking nutts? What you should do now is find the guy who suggested it and the guy who approved it. And then hang them for such a sh|t load of poor PR.

You are like those stupid girls who would put all that make up on and say that they are doing for themselves. Well you are not. the whole thing about the presentation is to make you look better in others eyes. well guess how the rest of the world is thinking about you now.

I mean have you not learnt any thing from milli vanilli episode. Dude seriously, do you even know what PR means. If whole chinese nation feels that it was right and a single outsider, one person, one breathing human being thinks it sucked, you lost your PR campaign. Because the whole image thing is for those outside chinese nation not for china.

now you can sit and keep saying "we think its ok" and not accept pr nightmare. or you could be man enough to accept that fine it was a mistake.

Again, this PR stunts was to make the image better (forget the morality side, right or wrong), well it didnt. Infact, it did the opposite. Chinese PR did a blunder regardless of how many chinese think its right. In the end the whole thing was for outsiders and the outsiders didnt like it.

There are more dark sides about China, one relative of American volleyball coach was stabbed to death, another was wounded by a Chinese dissident in Beijing last Saturday, that's more damaging to China's image, but we can handle it. Stop worrying for China as a self denied Chinese, your country is Vietnam, no image at all.

It's not leaked secret. The director of the show gave an official interview to Beijing radio station, a state media, telling the world this. Pull your head out of your ass. The girl who sang was given credit for it. You can stop with the bullshit now.

Vietnam and China both suck . What is good about These commies Just a bunce of authoritarians no human rights , no freedom . I hate both Commie China and Vietnam .

Have both girls perform for the Closing Ceremony.. that will help fix most of the issue..

There was no mistake. Miming is common practice, and they did the same thing in Sydney 2000. The girl who sang was given credit for her work when a state operated radio gave the news out. The only thing "not right" is people making a front page news report like it's the end of the world. The ceremony is still the most spectacular one in history and China is still at the top of the gold medal list. It's just a trivial issue that's receiving more attention than it's due.

That's why you paddled on a small boat to free world? Tell us the horrors you experienced on the journey.

you are either not understanding what i am trying to tell you or you understand but downplaying the effect.

let me make it simple.

1. its all about PR, good PR that is.
2. Doesnt matter what others have done in the past or will do in the future.
3. if it doesnt work today for you, you are doing a bad PR job.
4. It didnt work. you lost.
5. blaming others not gonna improve your image even if you clarify thousand times.
6. If it was wrong in the other eyes, no matter how lawful your stance is, you lost the pr job.
7. All the pro US world i.e. all of western media, is out to get you. you think saying that in 2000 they did it, will help your image?
8. a lip synching adult and lip synching child are two very different things. since there is a child involved, get ready for the never ending emotional blackmail by western media. and be ready to never hear the end of it.

I try to tell you even earlier but you seem to not pay attention. understand that no one will care what happened in the past. This happened now and in "evil commy china". I mean look at this moron from one of the leading human right violater US. US created a big time drama in UN, presenting an actor(relative of kuwait's ambassador and living in new york ) for a nurse who saw iraqi killing children (eventhough she was not in kuwait at that time). You dont remember seing this again and again on tv.


dude understand. this is war of propaganda. and china had a slip. now west gonna beat it like peniota until they find some other way. I mean come on. dont you understand they, specially US, is so embarrased of coming second to china in medal race??????????

lol. you are wasting your time for someone who hates "evil commy" and have their famous film title for nick name :) dude the guy lives on earth. doesnt have balls to state where he lives. (now watch out for some comment like "hey i believe in world citizen rather than being bound to one piece of land". you know the usual lame excuse)

You don't get the point do you? A small thing such as this does not hide the fact the ceremony is the most grand and spectacular in history. If people are hell bent to embarass you, they will find a story sooner or later. There is no wrong committed here. The girl who sang was given credit by official media and the girl who appeared on stage didn't take credit for it. The Olympics event is successful for China no matter how desperate the Western media try to discredit it through minor stories.

Grand the ceremony was. successful it was. more than its success and scale, western media is desperate. If they cant humiliate in the field, they will try their best off the field. And maybe you have not noticed it, they are pretty successful. That part you dont understand.

at this point relevance, logic, history, nothing matters. what matters is that they used this to hurt the chinese image................period.

Now that is apparent to me that you are very defensive and not gonna listen what i am gonna say.

I am gonna end it with these last sentences.


Millions of people think china suck because of the exploitation of western media. chinese image has been damaged and no matter how right or wrong china decision was, million of people still dont feel good about it. which translates into bad PR.

This part of ceremony was a big ad. you didnt get through your customers hence big but a bad ad.

Thanks for your comment, but I know where he is. He is a Vietnamese Chinese sent by the Vietnam government on a voyage to SE Asia to find his own life in the real sense. Now he lives in Malaysia, picking garbage on the street? Usually I don't make nasty comments about others, but you know who Chinese hate most, a traitor. Not everyone in China loves commy, but we love the land of China that gives us so many pities, sorrows, tears and happiness, a sense of being Chinese.

I'm going to put it as simple as possible for you, since you don't seem to be getting my point. I don't care what the West thinks. As long as the Chinese people enjoyed it, that's all that matters. I can't control how Westerners think and stop them from making ignorant comments.

well put

Comment is always cheaper than action.Before the west or whatever making a cheap comment over Beijing olympic opening,they'd better to do something to prove that they can give a better one.

are u just saying this or you actually believe this mad statement?

At any rate it seems all this china bashing is because many in west are plain envious of chinese success in the ceremony and olympic events. This is an especially american and british tendency - to never admit defeat and always come up with excuses of why someone outdid them. Hubris at its worst.

Complaining about minor details (fireworks were prerecorded, lip singing was done) shows very immature mindset and at its root, a jealousy borne from being defeated. The ceremony was spectacular on all counts, with french and russian officials calling it the best ever in olympic history.