OMG! Poor little girl! Yes, that song was absolutely beautiful.

With a voice like that, an agent should pay to have the girls teeth fixed. She is bound to be a star.

Gayle

Well, I know they are working hard to make the games eventful. Do you know that at the Oscars awards there are "seat fillers" as they call them? They move around in the audience to fill empty seats as attendees go to the stage area for their bit. They fill open seats. All for the tv audience to see a full house. Sounds similar.

Too bad the little girl was omitted. That is a shame.

So now I am not sure what fireworks were real and what weren't.

Sheesh...couldn't they find a more grainy pic of little Yang Peiyi. I'm glad the truth has been exposed, and that the world knows whose voice they truly heard and enjoyed so much.

Olympic BalladeerÂs Voice Was Dubbed

Sue

Yikes. I hope they didn't tell her the reason or she'll be self-conscious about her teeth for the rest of her life.

The NBC announcer mentioned that the walk through Beijing was computer generated. That didn't bother me. Better CGI than to leave it out (it was a very creative idea) or have some poor chopper pilot get hurt. That opening ceremony was spectacular!

I'm finding myself more interested in the process of putting on a huge event like this in such a controlled society, than by the actual sports competitions, lol!

Poor sportsmanship by Chinese fans has marred international soccer games there in recent years.

NPR did a great behind the scenes series about the games. Including a story about the 300,000 volunteer cheerleaders. They are mostly bureaucrats trained to do generic cheers. Organizers are "hoping generic cheers of "Higher! Faster! Stronger!" will drown out any embarrassing lapses in sportsmanship  even if such conformist cheerleading invites comparison to China's mass campaigns of the past."

Here is a link that might be useful: China Trains Cheerleaders

I heard this on an ABC news report! Now I'm waiting to see what comes out about the are-they-16-or-not girls in the gymnastics competetion. ABC was doing an investigation into it, but I had to leave for work before the GMA report came on. Plan to watch the evening news to see what they report.

She's seven, her permanent teeth are just starting to come in. Her teeth may look fine when all is said and done; A lot of kids go through awkward looking periods with their teeth. I think she looks cute and fine as is.

It's sad that people feel physical beauty is so important and that many aren't able to see physical beauty in everyone. I sincerely think the 7 year old is cuter. She looks more innocent and angelic to me. The 9 year looks somewhat superficial and more stagey to me. Just sad they felt the need to fool people. Real beauty comes in all shapes and sizes.

What the Chinese did for "first impression" is not new. Even in the US, we have done the same in many occassions. In a digital world, one no longer know if that show or photo is real or have been digitized.

Nevertheless, IMHO.... First impression only impresses me if it's done in and with honesty.

As for the Olympic Opening Ceremony in Beijing, for certain, the scenes of over 2,000 performers performed in unity were quite real.

What freaked me out is when I imagined that these are not performers but over 2,000 soldiers acted in harmony directed by 1 director. How much more scary would it be to think if and when China goes into war with other nations? After all, they're still a communist country; under a law of their own. It is also the same reason that many Chinese fled to US for the past centuries. And yet, we're making them more powerful by bringing to them and giving them our businesses which equals to $$$$$$!

Remember, their first Emperor unified the country and one ruler after another have been able to keep China the same for thousands of years. It is after all, the largest populated country in the world!

The world has yet to see China.

It's pretty obvious to me that none of the posters have been in a production. It's theatre, it's about looks and presenting image and yes sometimes people don't make the cut for petty details.

As for the synchronized performers it's not that different from marching band, a chorus line, precision ice skating etc. In theatre you have to hit your mark, in skating you have tricks and tips to keep you in sync. I did one production finale with 90 plus on the floor in the dark with nothing but light sticks to guide us once when I was a roller skater. We even had little kids in the group.

It's theatre ,it's pageantry and of course looks count for solo events. Nothing political or Chinese about it.

As for using technology to enhance do you really believe everything you see at the super bowl, at a concert,at la cirque or most any performance in today's world? Sound men, lights and computerized backdrops, I could go on and on.

They have 1.3 billion people, there's got to be a cute little girl who can sing and has all her own pretty teeth! :-)

Well, I can't speak for every poster here, wildchild, but you're wrong about me never being in a production. I have not only been in plays, musicals, and such; I have directed them and I have a friend who won a Tony award so I am not ignorant to what is going on. I just don't think it's right. There's a huge difference between understanding why people do things and agreeing with them. I think we all know why they did it.

Some of the most talented people are not the most beautiful, and are still are able to produce masterpieces and become successful. I guess David Letterman's agent never noticed his teeth, or Jay Leno's, his jaw. And, I won't even mention Barbra Streisand. I personally think unique people stick out over the typically beautiful ones anyday.

Maybe they should have had Roseanne Barr sing?

As for the "16 or not" question....everyone is asking that question. IMO there is no way some of those girls were 16. The one girl doesn't look old enough to even have her first period! Just because their "passport" states they are 16 doesn't mean the government didn't create fake ones for them. If it is true then someday they will have to forefit (sp) their medals.

Samkaren
your resident DJ

With drug testing being the norm it seems maybe it will have to be taken a step further to do some kind of testing to determine age. I've read that some of the girls looked like they still had their baby teeth for example. It wouldn't be perfect but it would eliminate the very young. There must be some type of markers to determine age?

My nephew has been over in China for almost 1 year now.
He is there teaching English.
He is home now in Toronto as China was not renewing any Visas until after the Olympics. All people on working Visas needed to leave China for 2 weeks during the Olympics.
The Chinese government was told all outsiders there on working Visas were "terrorists".