Beauty & The Beast

So, did you hear the story about the little girl at the Olympics who lip-synced the song in the opening ceremony because the real singer wasn’t pretty enough? Sadly, this is a true story. Little 7-year-old Yang Peiyi was deemed “not cute enough” by the Chinese government and they instead chose 9-year-old Lin Miaoke to lip-sync the song “Ode to the Motherland”.

“The reason was for the national interest,” said Chen Qigang, the ceremony’s musical director, in a state radio interview. “The child on camera should be flawless in image, internal feeling and expression. … Lin Miaoke is excellent in those aspects.”

The decision was made at the highest levels, Chen said.

“We had to do it,” he said. “We’d been through several inspections. They’re all very strict. When we rehearsed at the spot, there were several spectators from various divisions, especially leaders from the Politburo, who gave the opinion it must change.”

While this really shouldn’t come as a surprise, given how the beast the public likes their celebrities “beautiful”, it’s sad to see this at the Olympics, where beauty is not something that qualifies you to participate. I find it sad that little Yang Peiyi had to be told at such a tender age that she wasn’t pretty or “cute” enough to be shown to the world. Hopefully she won’t grow up thinking that she isn’t as beautiful as any other little girl. I myself think she is adorable.

As for Yang Peiyi, she’s been quoted as saying she was honored to have had a role in the opening ceremony, even though few realized just how big her part really was.

Yang Peiyi, now everyone knows how big your part was and how beautiful you really are.