SEEING IS BELIEVING?: Organisers of the Beijing Olympics' opening ceremony have admitted they faked 55 seconds of a fireworks display for television coverage.



Lin Miaoke, a nine-year-old Chinese girl performed at the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics. A 7-year-old Chinese girl's face was "not suitable" for the Olympics opening ceremony, so Lin lip-synched "Ode to the Motherland." (AP Photo/Xinhua)

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Olympic Singer Fails Chinese Cuteness Test Girl With Pixie Smile Lip Synchs Voice Of 7-Year-Old Deemed Not Pretty Enough For Olympic Opener (AP) A 7-year-old Chinese girl was not good-looking enough for the Olympics opening ceremony, so another little girl with a pixie smile lip-synched "Ode to the Motherland," a ceremony official said - the latest example of the lengths Beijing took for a perfect start to the Summer Games. A member of China's Politburo asked for the last-minute change to match one girl's face with another's voice, the ceremony's chief music director, Chen Qigang, said in an interview with Beijing Radio. "The audience will understand that it's in the national interest," Chen said in a video of the interview posted online Sunday night. The news follows reports that some footage of the fireworks exploding across China's capital during the ceremony was digitally inserted into television coverage, apparently over concerns that not all of the 29 blasts could be captured on camera. China has been eager to present a flawless Olympics image to the world, shooing migrant workers and so-called petitioners who come to the central government with grievances from the city and shutting down any sign of protest. The country's quest for perfection apparently includes its children. Lin Miaoke's performance Friday night, like the ceremony itself, was an immediate hit. "Nine-year-old Lin Miaoke becomes instant star with patriotic song," the China Daily newspaper headline said Tuesday. But the real voice behind the tiny, pigtailed girl in the red dress who wowed 91,000 spectators at the National Stadium on opening night really belonged to 7-year-old Yang Peiyi. Her looks apparently failed the cuteness test with officials organizing the ceremony, but Chen said her voice was judged the most beautiful. "The national interest requires that the girl should have good looks and a good grasp of the song and look good on screen," Chen said. "Lin Miaoke was the best in this. And Yang Peiyi's voice was the most outstanding."

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