Aug 12, 2008 11:07 pm US/Central
In The Know: Best Face Forward For China?
(WCCO)
China went all out for its stunning opening ceremonies to the Olympic Games, even though some of the fireworks were not real, but digitally created. And that's not all.
The girl who the world saw singing a patriotic song during the ceremony, really wasn't. A Chinese leader says the girl on the right wasn't good-looking enough to represent the country. So officials decided to use her voice and the face of another girl.
Don Shelby said in this new case China was only trying to put its best face forward.
A beautiful 9-year-old girl in a bright red dress sang "Ode to the Motherland." It brought tears to my eyes.
Now I learn she wasn't really singing at all. The voice, apparently coming out of her lips, was that of a 7-year-old who had been originally been picked. But a member of the Chinese politburo thought the 7-year-old with the golden voice wasn't cute enough for a world-wide audience, and ordered the switch.
A pretty girl who can't sing very well replaced the pretty little girl who did the singing.
Now, this isn't an international scandal. Luciano Pavarotti lip-synced at the opening of the 2006 Games in Turin. But, he was, at least, lip-syncing his own voice. They didn't go out and find an Italian matinee idol to do the job.
This small story saddens me. I'm the father of three girls. I can't tell you how wrong it is to ever tell a little girl she's not pretty enough. That's not just production values and national pride. That's just plain cruel.
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