Pretty Voice, Ugly Girl

Photos of pigtailed Lin Miaoke in a bright red party dress were published in newspapers and websites all over the world after her turn in the Olympic open ceremonies. Now they're circulating again because she was selected to appear because of her cute appearance - Miaoke was miming and only put on stage because the real singer was not considered attractive enough.

Chen Qigang, the general music designer of the ceremony who is soon to be an enemy of the state, said the girl whose voice was actually heard by the 91,000 capacity crowd at the Olympic stadium during the ceremony was seven-year-old Yang Peiyi, who has a chubby face and uneven teeth. Oh, China!

"The reason why little Yang was not chosen to appear was because we wanted to project the right image, we were thinking about what was best for the nation," he said.

Lin was seen to perform the patriotic song "Ode to the Motherland" as China's national flag was carried into the stadium, a key moment in the three hour ceremony. "The reason was for the national interest. The child on camera should be flawless in image, internal feelings, and expression." We should note that Chen is actually a French citizen. Wonder what the extradition relationship is between the two countries...

The final decision to stage the event with Lin lip-synching to another girl's voice was taken after a senior member of China's ruling Communist Party politburo attended a rehearsal. "He told us there was a problem that we needed to fix it, so we did." he said, without disclosing further details of the order. This is on the heels of building criticism after it emerged that another part of the opening ceremony had been faked. Supposedly live pictures of fireworks depicting footprints moving from central Beijing's Tiananmen Square to the Olympic stadium in the north of the capital were actually partly computer-generated or pre-recorded for TV.

Earlier this year Olympic organisers preoccupied with the right image for the country were criticised for insisting that only tall, slim, young and attractive women could serve as medal award ceremony hostesses. Well, at least they got that part right - no ethical quandary there...