BOCOG, NBC Admit Opening Ceremony Fireworks Display Were Fake
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BOCOG, NBC Officials Admit To Using Pre-
Recorded Fireworks In Opening Ceremony |
Parts of the Beijing Games Opening Ceremony Friday were "pre-recorded including some of its spectacular fireworks," according to BOCOG officials cited by Karolos Grohmann of REUTERS. Among the pre-recorded components were "parts of a stunning fireworks display across the city, a series of fireworks 'footprints' that led to the Bird's Nest stadium where the four-hour extravaganza was staged" (REUTERS, 8/12). An NBC spokesperson said that U.S. viewers were "informed of the manipulation." NBC's Matt Lauer and Bob Costas said during the Opening Ceremony that the fireworks were a "digital effect." Lauer called the display a "cinematic device," while Costas added the fireworks "are almost like cinema in real time." The HOLLYWOOD REPORTER's James Hibberd: "Mixing real and CGI fireworks during an Olympic event is visually misleading, though NBC did try to address the issue. The question is, during a spectacular-looking shot, do the phrases 'cinematic device' and 'almost animation' really convey that the image wasn't real?" (THRFEED.com, 8/11).
CEREMONY NOW TARNISHED A BIT? In Toronto, Steve Tilley writes, "By now you've heard that part of the Olympic opening ceremony fireworks display ... was actually a bit of computer-generated trickery." He asks, "Is it wrong to feel cheated by this?" Tilley: "Those footprints looked so amazing. ... But now it's a bit tarnished" (TORONTO SUN, 8/12). In Portland, John Canzano wrote BOCOG and its broadcast TV partners are "guilty of misleading the public." Canzano: "The fireworks were fake. ... You don't mislead the public" (OREGONLIVE.com, 8/11). In Dallas, Jeffrey Weiss wrote, "Now are we supposed to be sure that the rest of the televised version was real?" (DALLASNEWS.com, 8/11).
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Chinese Officials Request Lin Take Place
Of Actual Singer At Opening Ceremony |
MILLI VANILLI REDUX: The AP's Cara Anna reports Chinese officials have admitted that Lin Miaoke, the nine-year-old girl who sang "Ode to the Motherland" at the start of the Opening Ceremony, was lip-synching because seven-year-old Yang Peiyi, who recorded the song, "was not good-looking enough" for the event. Opening Ceremony Music Dir Chen Qigang, in an interview with Beijing Radio, said that a member of the Chinese government "asked for the last-minute change to match one girl's face with another's voice." Anna notes China "has been eager to present a flawless Olympics image to the world," and the country's "quest for perfection apparently includes its children." Chen: "The national interest requires that the girl should have good looks and a good grasp of the song and look good on screen. Lin Miaoke was the best in this. And Yang Peiyi's voice was the most outstanding" (AP, 8/12). Chen added, "We were thinking about what was best for the nation." But the GLOBE & MAIL's Christie Blatchford writes, "Best for the nation how exactly? Break one little girl's heart, teach another that fakery is okay, and pull the wool over the eyes of the vast motherland" (GLOBEANDMAIL.com, 8/12).
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