i'm sure everyone tuned in to watch the opening ceremony of the beijing olympics. who wouldnt? biggest event of the year, so they say. so, you'd surely remember that pretty little girl singing. the one in pony tails and a red dress. that smile on her face, the one she had been practising for several months before 8/08/08.

it seemed like she was the perfect little girl.
vocal talent? check.
(engineered) smile? check.
looks? check.
ponytails? little red dress? expressiveness?
check. check. check.

but alas, it was all a blatant lie.
china lied to us all. they lied to the two little girls, one who was seen but not heard and the other heard but not seen.
and i hate such liars.

white lies are fine by me. in fact, lying to save your life would be absolutely acceptable. but THIS? a lie right smack in the face of the 4 billion people watching the occasion. how twisted can they get?

i know that it was all about perfection. it HAD to be. 面子wat. but i dont believe that, among all those children in china, they couldnt even find one who was pretty and able to sing. if they couldnt find a girl, find a boy! anything! JUST DONT FAKE IT.

here's the worst part. the performance won her critical acclamation. "Tiny singer wins heart of nation". china daily had this to say:


nothing was mentioned about her not singing a single note of the song.

all this, whilst the real superstar, Yang Peiyi, stayed in her shadow, doomed to be eternally forgotten had such treachery not been exposed. but i'm not saying the now seemingly not-so-perfect-after-all little girl is to be blamed for all this. she had no role in the planning of the event. in fact, her performance was great if you would overlook that tiny, little aspect of her lip-synching. it's the ones in-charge who you should point your fingers at. have they ever thought of how she would feel? seeing her voice being used? having another little girl take all the credit and the whole world's applause? how selfish and appalling.

the ceremony's musical director argued that "they had to do it" and "everything done was in the interest of the nation". "The child on camera should be flawless in image, internal feeling and expression. ... Lin Miaoke is excellent in those aspects" and "the decision was made at the highest levels," he said.

dont give me, or everyone else for that matter, that kind of poppycock.

Yang Peiyi was chosen only for her voice because she was 'imperfect' in all the other aspects required. she had uneven teeth and maybe her face a bit too wide. like, what the heck?! almost all children go through phases like this. i used to be a chubby, little boy with slightly uneven teeth. she's not even that bad-looking. she's actually very adorable.

reading the news this afternoon just got me so distressed. even i believed she was the one singing. is this what's become of the world? it's already horrible the way it is right now. lying to little children and using them just to get that perfect 10? now that's just another all-time low for society.

i personally would be crushed if i were her. she wouldnt feel anything now, but i expect some sort of psychological trauma in the future. and any sensible parent would agree with me that they would never allow such an 'atrocity', especially when your own flesh and blood's involved. i guess her parents were just in a flurry to make their country proud, at whatever the cost. that's very patriotic but still - let me break it to you discretely - CRAP. and then there was the issue of 面子, 'face'. also, i dont think she really understood the whole situation. i'm betting that all they told her was that she would make her parents and country very proud. bangga, ya? and yes, having your child involved in this once-in-a-lifetime phenomenon would be extremely gratifying, but under such circumstances? no way.

not for all the glory in the world.