Chinese shadow play

I have to say that I was not at all surprised at the news from the BBC that the little girl in the red dress with the pretty bunches who sang was miming. At the time I thought that the noise was so pure and easy to hear among all the other noises, that it must have been pre-recorded. I also commented to H that a few years ago, she would have had short hair, curving my hand round my face to demonstrate. So it was interesting to read that not only was she miming, but she was miming to another little girl's voice! The actual singer was deemed by a member of the politburo to have buck teeth, whereas the first little girl looked more perfect - together, the girls made the perfect package.



Secondly, the fireworks travelling through Beijing were also pre-recorded. Again, I assumed at first that they were computer simulated, but then the BBC started talking about the fireworks outside, and I realised that they were live. Or at least, supposed to be. Reading between the lines, it sounds as if there were live fireworks on the night, but the footage was pre-recorded (from rehearsals, presumably) and enhanced - which is what gave it the CGI effect, I would think. Anyway, who can blame them? The whole show was fantastic, with so many things that looked computer generated actually having people behind them, for example the ceramic typewriter, out of which came cherry blossom then waving dancers.

I do think it's a real shame that in this day and age the appearance of a nine year old still matters so much - and the seven year old singing girl also looks very cute! - but at least she has been given the praise now, rather than it trying to be hidden forever. Hopefully she will be given the credit in China too and not just in foreign press. Of course many people are understandably angry, and really both girls could be insulted by the decision, one not pretty enough, the other not harmonious enough. Hopefully though they will both be able to show off their talents, as much or as little as they want to, and make good memories out of the experience rather than being bitter. After all, one little girl made people smile in her little red dress, and the other made people marvel at her beautiful voice.

Otherwise, the whole show was a spectacle, and of course China wanted to present everything to the highest standard. Can anyone watching at home on TV really feel let down to know that the fireworks we saw were not necessarily those going off at the time? I don't. I really enjoyed the whole shabbang. What would be really disappointing is if the athletes were shown to be fakes. That's where reality has to be all important. What do you think?