Parts of Olympic show were fake

Fake: computer graphics and miming singers

In the land of readily available fake watches, counterfeit DVDs and reproductions of branded clothing it’s difficult to know what’s real. And following a dramatic Olympic opening ceremony it has emerged that not all was quite what it seemed. The latest revelation is that a little girl who sang a rendition of “Ode to the Motherland” had in fact mimed to a recording made by another young girl. Lin Miaoke had ‘sang’ to an audience of millions wearing a red dress in the centre of the Bird’s Nest national stadium on Friday. But on a Beijing radio station musical director Chen Qigang admitted the real singer was in fact Yang Peiyi. She had apparently been dropped despite having a perfect voice because she was not as “flawless” as Lin [BBC].

The news follows reports that parts of the firework display were also contrived. Sky News reported that the string of “firework footprints” that were seen over Beijing, in an apparent helicopter shot, were part of an elaborate computer graphic film which took a year to complete.

In recent days there has been much criticism over the cost of the Olympics. Many have said the money could have been better spent given the extreme poverty that exists in parts of the country [Sky News]. Even those who made the Beijing Olympics a reality have criticised the Chinese government. Writing in the Guardian, Ai Weiwei, who helped design the Bird's Nest stadium, has criticised the “autocracy” existing in China. “Whatever shape it takes, whatever justification it gives, authoritarian government always ends up trampling on equality, denying justice and stealing happiness and laughter from the people” Ai wrote in his article last week.