Behind the Opening Ceremony Pageantry

The spectacular Olympic opening ceremony that director Zhang Yimou pulled off last week appears to have relied on a few elements of visual chicanery. First it emerged that some televised images of 29 firework footprints that traveled up Beijing's north-south axis through Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City to the Olympic Village were computer generated. The actual fireworks would have been too difficult to capture in real time, the Beijing News reported, so the event producers created a simulation that mimicked an overhead shot via helicopter. Whether the NBC announcers sufficiently explained that to American viewers has since raised some questions, though it seems like they at least offered some clues during the tape-delayed broadcast.

In addition to the faked fireworks, the vocals to "Paean to the Motherland” didn't actually come from the cherubic nine-year-old who was on stage, the head of music for the production told China Central Television (via China Digital Times). Anyone who has seen Dreamgirls knows the story. Yang Peiyi was deemed a better singer, but Lin Miaoke had a look better suited to the big night. So it was one girl lip-syncing over the pre-recorded singing of another, producer Chen Qigang told state television. From the CCTV interview:

Chen Qigang: Yes. This was a last minute decision, we had to do it. We had been through several inspections they were all very strict. When we rehearsed at the spot, there were spectators from various divisions, especially leader(s) from the the Politburo, who gave the opinion: It must change. This is to say, we had no choice.

… We have a responsibility to face the audience of the whole country, to give this explanation. Everyone should understand this in this way: this is in the national interest. It is the image of our national music, national culture. Especially the entrance of our national flag, this is an extremely important, extremely serious matter.

Now I expect someone is going to say that Li Ning, the former gymnast who lit the torch, can't really fly.