So Apprently, China didn’t do as bang-up a job during the opening ceremonies as people thought. The backdrops and general image were embellished. The fireworks were at least partially faked. And it appears, even the cute kid who sang at the opening ceremonies was using a voice track. All in the name of making China seem pure and perfect.
First, the fireworks. Frankly, Beijing’s air sucks, and the news has been all abuzz about the air quality and rampant pollution problems. Looks liek it’s so bad that you can’t always see bright pyrotechnics in the air at night, and computer generated foted was sent to braodcasters to play instead. Nice…
“It was confirmed that previously recorded footage was provided to the broadcasters for convenience and theatrical effects — as in many other big events,” Beijing organizing committee spokesman Wang Wei said. “On the day of the ceremony there were actual footprints of fireworks from the south to the north of the city.
“However, because of the poor visibility of the night, some previously recorded footage may have been used.”
The computerized images were produced by Crystal Digital Technology Co. of Beijing.
“We did our best to create a rendering that would look like the shot was taken live,” company spokesman Lei Ming told the Beijing Times. “Most people could not tell the difference.”
NBC said broadcasters Bob Costas and Matt Lauer told viewers the display was cinematic.
“This is actually almost animation,” Lauer said on the air.
Guess what Matt? It was animation.
And the kid? Unwittingly, she was used only for her looks. But the higher ups in Beijing’s government felt her voice was not up to the task:
Under pressure from the highest levels of the ruling Communist Party to find the perfect face and voice, the ceremony’s production team concluded the only solution was to use two girls instead of one. Miaoke, a third grader, was judged cute and appealing but “not suitable” as a singer. Another girl, Yang Peiyi, 7, was judged the best singer but not as cute. So when Miaoke opened her mouth to sing, the voice that was actually heard was a recording of Peiyi.
And it is unclear if Miaoke even knew.
“The reason was for the national interest,” explained Chen Qigang, general music designer of the opening ceremonies, who revealed the deception during a Sunday radio interview. “The child on camera should be flawless in image, internal feeling and expression.”
Well, it’s fairly easy (and actually quite the vogue) to pick on China’s political and social policies and litany of human rights abuses. There are plenty of other blogs dedicated to solely commenting on this. But I think the important take away from this particular event is this: it’s a sadi sitaution that China’s government does not appear to be focused of the task of actual perfection, or at least coming as close to it as humanly possible. however, they will be more tahn happy to use any imperfect solution possible to merely put forth the appearance of perfection. And that is a very dangerous thing.
