I feel bad for the other girl, Yang Peiyi. I hope the organizers recognize her by having her sing that song again in the Closing Ceremony...but somehow I'm not betting on that happening. And I don't think she's ugly...she looks like any normal 7 year old kid. by Cam Cole, National Post Published: Tuesday, August 12, 2008 Olympic girl seen but not heard BEIJING -- The skies may be clearing up over Beijing, but the face China tried to paint on the 2008 Olympic Games is breaking out in blemishes. Main Street of Happyville turns out to be a collection of expensively built facades, with nothing behind them. Or worse, something awful behind them: a series of very large lies -- and the worst of it is that the Chinese hosts don't even appear to realize how bad they may end up looking to the rest of the world. The opening ceremony we all gushed over was not what it seemed. Those blazing footprints of fireworks that "walked" in the sky from Tiananmen Square to the Bird's Nest stadium? Pre-recorded and digitally inserted into the telecast. The "sold-out" Olympic events, every ticket gone? An illusion, exposed only when reporters began to notice the squads of identically dressed and thunderstick-equipped cheer squads filling whole sections of seats. Even if some of those were seats designated for Olympic family members -- dignitaries and IOC members who leave seats unused at the lesser sessions is a chronic problem at all Games -- using fake fans to fill them is, at best, a comical notion and at worst an attempt to create a false picture of attendance. Any minute now, we'll find out we're really in Japan. But the piece de resistance, the most cynical of all of the pieces of fakery at the Beijing Olympics: Agence France-Presse revealed Tuesday that the darling little girl in a red dress who charmed the audience by singing Ode to the Motherland -- a hymn of the revolution -- during the ceremony wasn't singing at all. Lin Miaoke was lip-synching to the voice of seven-year-old Yang Peiyi, who was rejected by a senior member of the Communist Party's politburo at a rehearsal because she had a chubby face and crooked teeth. "He told us there was a problem, that we needed to fix it, so we did," said the ceremony's musical director, well-known contemporary composer Chen Qigang, in an interview with a state broadcaster that aired Tuesday. AFP reported that the interview with Mr. Chen appeared briefly on the news website Sina.com before it was apparently wiped from the Internet in China. "Little Yang Peiyi's failure to be selected was mainly because of her appearance," were among the Chen comments that were made to disappear. "The reason was for the national interest. The child on camera should be flawless in image, internal feelings and expression. Lin Miaoke is excellent in those aspects. But in terms of voice, Yang Peiyi is perfect, each member of our team agreed." The French news agency interviewed the director of the China Internet project at the University of California-Berkeley, former dissident Xiao Qiang, who said the substitution of the pretty girl for the unsuitable one "illustrates an important aspect of these Olympic Games. It is all about projecting the right image of China with no respect for honesty or for the audience. "I do not think the Chinese state realizes how unethical this is, they don't understand what kind of values they are reflecting." Defenders of these "minor misdirections" say they are hardly unique to China, and the media is just picking on the hosts. Didn't the late Pavarotti lip-synch his signature Nessun dorma aria from Turandot at the opening ceremony in Turin? Yes. But at least it was his own voice. Nobody said, "Listen, Luciano, you've kind of let yourself go, and there's not enough time for you to go on the South Beach diet. Julio Iglesias over here is still a good-looking man. We're going to have him lip-synch your song." All kinds of artists lip-synch their performances. OK, we understand that. And we got over the Internet censorship. We've accepted that there's certain things on the Net that the Chinese populace is not allowed to see. We accept that a 21-point censorship plan allegedly distributed to all state media probably exists, even if the spokesperson for Games organizing committee (BOCOG) claims to know nothing about it -- as he also knows nothing about plain-clothes officials reportedly shadowing some reporters, taking pictures of them, and notebooks being confiscated, or why two armoured personnel carriers suddenly appeared, parked outside the Media Centre, front and back, on Tuesday. Fine. We're not supposed to know these things. And maybe, in the larger sense, it's good that however bad the news is about the fakery surrounding the Games to date, at least the news is getting out. There was some question as to whether that would happen, before the Games began, and so far it has not been an issue. So, China's defenders say, this is really no big deal. And that's probably true, as long as you're not Yang Peiyi, who at seven years old has already discovered a hard truth about physical appearance - and had it drilled into her brain unequivocally, by her government no less, that she may be able to sing, but she's too ugly to represent her nation in public.
What a controversy that the organizer used lip-sync technic because 'good-looking' reason?! Bad impression and really disagree...
Another article but on a lighter note and related to Badminton. It's written by Dave Perkins of the Toronto Star (biggest paper in Toronto) who normally writes about ice hockey, basketball,baseball basically all the major North American sports so I was pretty surprised to see an article on Badminton by a major publication much less one written by him. No doubt the popularity of the sport in China has alot to do with it and the focus is on Lin Dan - North American sports media tend to focus on the 'stars' and the sport second. The NBA is a good example. Badminton player Lin Dan lights up Beijing August 13, 2008 by Dave Perkins BEIJING There may not be enough mustard for the hot dog that is badminton player Lin Dan. But what a show he and his sport put on. To most locals, every night is badminton night at these Olympic Games and if popularity were strictly measured by ticket availability – of which there is none – then badminton is the No.1 show in town. The fans know and love the game and in the Beijing University of Technology gymnasium, Lin clearly is the guy they love most. Not yet 25, he's the world's top-ranked player, he's engaged to marry the top-ranked woman – which makes him and Xie Xingfang the Posh and Becks of Chinese athletics, as it were – and he has enough of a rap sheet to earn the title of bad boy of badminton. There are open suggestions he tanked a couple of matches to allow specific teammates to qualify here, plus reports – some of which he denies – that he has socked a coach or two, one of them his own. He got into it with a Korean coach early this year, threatening to take the racquet to the man's noodle, but he claimed to have been provoked and refused to apologize. But he can sure play the game, this night dispatching game but outclassed Korean Sunghwan Park 21-8 and 21-10 in the round of 16, and he plays it with flair and plenty of fist-pumping, hollers and victory struts around the court. He routinely strips off his shirt and flings it into the adoring customers. He plays to the crowd and they give it right back; he's the star of the show and that's saying something, considering the breathtaking speed and non-stop action that a three-court setup provides for fans who somehow seem to recognize and react to every flashing nuance of style and skill on all three courts. Lin is 5-foot-10 and angular, which seems to be the overwhelmingly dominant body type among the players. He has a mini waterfall of thick hair that never stops flopping around, mostly because he doesn't. He has that deceptive speed of many great athletes; he doesn't appear to be moving full-out, but when the shuttlecock arrives at a spot he tends to be there waiting, ready to return fire. He never hits a shot flat-footed and his vertical leap, when he goes up for a smash, is more than impressive. It will be an upset of major proportions if he doesn't win the gold medal, although upsets are common. His court's preceding match has contained an upset of shocking (at least here) size; a Chinese mixed-doubles team blew a big lead and lost to a couple of jet-quick Brits in a three-game thriller. Even if you knew nothing about badminton minutiae, it was compelling sport, easy to appreciate. "This isn't the biggest venue, but they really love the game here and appreciate it,'' said Anna Rice, the top Canadian who became the first North American woman to reach the singles round of 16 before being eliminated. "Here, Indonesia and Malaysia they really value the movements and tactics. Sometimes at this level we can make things look easy, but they all play it here, so they know how difficult it is to play.'' The game is well below the radar screen in North America, obviously, but Rice holds out hope, because of its entrenched popularity here. "Everything Asian seems to be growing,'' she said, and she's right there. For one thing, badminton sure has the right kind of crowd-pleaser to be the front man. Toronto Star
i didnt watch the LD vs PSH match but i could understand why LD's is more 'expressive and emotional' in this match. We all know PSH is LD's nemesis so LD had taken extra effort to not only beat PSH but to chop down this tall korean like a tree ready for the chopstick mill... TIM...BERRRRRRRR. LD also has a debt to repay to those ~47% who voted against him in the PSH vd LD poll thread http://www.badmintoncentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=58385&highlight=PSH
The closing statement in the article is especially true. I'll probably ruffle a few feathers here but I think LD winning the gold will do more for the sport, Western countries in particular. Before anyone starts jumpin on my back I'm a LCW fan and hope he wins the gold for MAS but LD has that bad boy image and flair that appeals to the Western sportsworld. Like him or hate him, I can't see anyone able to sell the sport like he can. If only there was a major tournament in NA that can pull the likes of him.
Found this UK commentary rather funny for the highlighted comment.... http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/606/A39480366 Peter Gade is the "Lanky Danish Player"
2 people die from crash near Olympic rowing venue 2 hours, 54 minutes ago Two people involved in a crash near the Olympic rowing venue have died, the Beijing Olympic organizing committee said Thursday. A bus from the athletes' village collided with a van Wednesday on the way to the Shunyi Olympic Rowing-Canoeing Park. Committee spokesman Wang Wei said two of four van passengers died in a hospital. "According to the investigation, the van was at fault and violated traffic rules," Wang said. Two Croatian rowers, the doubles sculls team of Mario Vekic and Ante Kusurin, were on the bus but were not seriously injured. They competed later in the day and finished fourth in their semifinal. Australian rowing team doctor Greg Lovell was also on the bus, along with several other Olympic-accredited people. No one on the bus was seriously injured. -- taken from AP through Yahoo! News --
Jamaican sprinter Asafa Powell says his chances for gold in the 100m are being sabotaged by, um, blood tests Ordinarily, this would take the cake for the most bizarre allegation... but then, Powell does seem to have a point. He has already been tested 4 times ... and it's not over yet! As such, it's not surprising that Powell says 'they are taking too much blood' The news report can be accessed here
OrlandoSentinel.com Performers endure heatstroke, cramped quarters, long hours for Olympics ceremony By GILLIAN WONG Associated Press Writer 11:47 PM EDT, August 19, 2008 BEIJING (AP) _ Martial arts student Cheng Jianghua only saw the army barracks he stayed in and the stadium where he performed at the spectacular Olympics opening ceremony. But his sacrifices were minor — other performers were injured, fainted from heatstroke or forced to wear adult diapers so the show could go on. Filmmaker Zhang Yimou, the ceremony's director, insisted in an interview with local media that suffering and sacrifice were required to pull off the Aug. 8 opening, which involved wrangling nearly 15,000 cast and crew. Only North Korea could have done it better, he said. But some news reports have raised questions about the lengths to which Beijing went in trying to create a perfect start to the Summer Games. Chinese officials were accused of fakery for using computer-generated images to enhance the show's fireworks display for TV viewers. Organizers also have been criticized about their decision to have a 9-year-old girl lip-synch "Ode to the Motherland" because the real singer was deemed not cute enough. Performers have complained that they sustained injuries from slipping during rain-drenched rehearsals or fainting from heatstroke amid hours of training under the relentless summer sun. Cheng and 2,200 other carefully chosen pugilist prodigies spent an average of 16 hours a day, every day, rehearsing a synchronized tai-chi routine involving high kicks, sweeping lunges and swift punches. They lived for three months in trying conditions at a restricted army camp on the outskirts of Beijing. "We never went out during the time we were training," Cheng, 20, told the AP in a phone interview. "Our school is quite strict. When we stay in school we can't go out on our own, let alone when we're at a military camp." In the most extreme case, Beijing organizers revealed last week that Liu Yan, a 26-year-old dancer, was seriously injured during a July rehearsal. Shanghai media reported that she fell from a 10-foot stage and may be permanently paralyzed from the waist down. Zhang, the ceremony's director, visited Liu in the hospital and has told Chinese media that he deeply regrets what happened to her — but he has also defended the training schedule his performers endured. He told the popular Guangzhou weekly newspaper Southern Weekend that only communist North Korea could have done a better job getting thousands of performers to move in perfect unison. "North Korea is No. 1 in the world when it comes to uniformity. They are uniform beyond belief! These kind of traditional synchronized movements result in a sense of beauty. We Chinese are able to achieve this as well. Through hard training and strict discipline," he said. Pyongyang's annual mass games feature 100,000 people moving in lockstep. Performers in the West by contrast need frequent breaks and cannot withstand criticism, Zhang said, citing his experience working on an opera performance abroad. Though he didn't mention specific productions, Zhang directed Tan Dun's "The First Emperor," starring Placido Domingo, at New York's Metropolitan Opera in 2006. "In one week, we could only work four and a half days, we had to have coffee breaks twice a day, couldn't go into overtime and just a little discomfort was not allowed because of human rights," he said of the unidentified opera production. "You could not criticize them either. They all belong to some organizations ... they have all kind of institutions, unions. We do not have that. We can work very hard, can withstand lots of bitterness. We can achieve in one week what they can achieve in two months." In the Olympic ceremony segment showcasing the Chinese invention of movable type, the nearly 900 performers who crouched under 40-pound boxes donned adult diapers to allow them to stay inside for at least six hours, Beijing organizers said. Some students of the Shaolin Tagou Traditional Chinese Martial Arts School in Henan province who began training for the event last May were injured in falls on the LED screen that forms the floor on which they performed and was made slippery by rain, said Liu Haike, one of the school's lead instructors. "At one point, the children had to run in four different directions. ... When one fell, others quickly followed," Liu said, adding the injuries were minor. While in Beijing, the constant exposure to the dizzyingly hot summer resulted in heatstroke for some students, particularly during one rain-drenched rehearsal that stretched on for two days and two nights. The students were kept on their feet for most of the 51-hour rehearsal with little food and rest and no shelter from the night's downpour, as the show's directors attempted to coordinate the 2,008-member performance with multimedia effects, students and their head coach told the AP. "We had only two meals for the entire time. There was almost no time to sleep, even less time for toilet breaks," Cheng said. "But we didn't feel so angry because the director was also there with us the whole time." Despite the sacrifices, the student performers were grateful for the opportunity to participate in the historic event and view it as an honor. "All the tears, the sweat, and sometimes even blood that we shed, I now think it was quite worth it," said Ren Yang, 17, also of the Tagou school. "When we performed that night, all that I could feel in my heart was joy. Pure joy." Copyright 2008 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
dang!!! Ladies and Gentlemen, pls read this.. From Badzine... POST OLYMPICS - Umpires complain In spite of Chinese’s clear success during these Olympics, some Umpires have voiced their concerns about some pressure they had felt during the competition. India’s Economic Times of India reported that one of their international Umpires, Girish Natu, had been troubled by Chinese officials during the recent badminton event held in Beijing University of Technology. by Badzine staff. Photo : Badmintonphoto India’s Oympic Umpire Girish Natu (photo) has recently been quoted in one of his National Newspapers – Economic Times of India) about the behavior of Chinese officials during the competition : “Such incidents often occurred when Chinese players were playing non-Chinese opponents. We felt like we were being put to test all the time and Chinese were right. Li Yongbo, the coach of the Chinese badminton team refused to accept decisions that were given in favour of the non-Chinese opponents and created a hue-and-cry on the decisions” said Natu, a BWF certified umpire. “I was not the only one put through the ‘test of being fair’, but several others also faced Yongbo’s,” Natu explains. According to Mr Natu, other umpires such as Hakan Fosto (Sweden, one of BWF’s certified umpires) - attending his fourth Olympics - and Japanese Tomoharu Sano. “Yongbo once walked up to onto the court (playing area) and grabbing Fosto’s arm and threatened him, when he had ruled against the Chinese. He came up to me during the interval and threatened me to meet him first before I stepped out” added Natu. This problem was voiced out amongst umpires during the event and the question had been raised during Umpire’s briefing on many occasions. On the other end, all players and Umpires voiced their satisfaction towards the line judges, local and International ones, for what had been one of the main concern prior to the event. Here is the link to the ETSunday Article
the best solution is what was advocated in BF many times, employ video replay to resolve questionable calls. Umpire can make glaring mistake too. Fortunately i find line judging was pretty good at this OG. I think LYB want to talk to the service judge during the break because too many service faults were dished out. Unlike figure skating or gymnastic which outcome can be reversed if bad judging can be verified, it is very hard to reverse the badminton match result because of some bad calls occurred during the game. Persistent differences should be clarified and resolved at during the game if possible. I think badminton is now too fast for umpire to see everything correctly, time to bring in some technological assistance. For ex. the match between BCL and Cordon, 2nd set, at 10-10, Cordon made a net kill that was miraculously saved and returned by BCL but was called fault and point awarded to Cordon. Slow motion video clearly showed BCL did made that save legally. Chinese coach and bcl have protested but the ruling stayed. From then on, i think the chinese coaches lost trust in the umpires. Although i didn't watched every match in the OG, i didnt see chinese coach protesting any line calls maybe because line judging were fair overall.
LYB's the only coach trying to boss over umpires. Do you see LDS, the KOR WD coach ,getting involved when LKW got service fault calls? I felt sorry for Hakan Foster(?);LYB touched him without his permission and he made a quick brush-off as if to say,'Don't taint me with your filth!' Maybe LYB should quickly get an updated and correctly translated version of the service rules. Fu got faulted by 2 different sj (the other one in MDF). Cannot be because both disliked him.Otherwise Fu may be faulted in Europe SS next. Maybe BWF should come up with a rule to prohibit coaches from interfering with officials.If they behave like LYB did during a match, then their players get penalised a point.
yes, maybe bwf should since they're no rule on this matter LYB didn't broke the rule. If kakan foster feel that he is so offended by LYB's action, he shoulda log a complaint to the bwf and/or IOC. U seem to be the right person to petition the bwf on this matter. I'm sure everyone here don't like to see filth anywhere on the court.
Speaking of bad rulings.. ..while i was fortunate to witness the matches during 3 of the sessions, i noticed 3 bad calls were made also; the Cordon vs. BCL one was definitely a bad call. And if not mistaken all 3 of them to the CHN players. Again, these happened only during the sessions i attended.
Somehow I missed the later posts in this thread Just to point out a couple of things: The Swedish umpire's name is correctly Hakan Fosto. Fosto, who has umpired at four Olympic Games, is one of the BWF's first certified umpires. If Fosto had been manhandled or abused or intimidated by Li Yongbo, it's nothing short of shameful. The weird thing is that Li Yongbo is also the chairman of the Technical Officials Committee (TOC), Asia, the committee that recommends umpires for future tournaments. This is like a convict empowered to decide judges' appointments
