Olympic Opening Ceremony Gate
(08/13/2008) This is my attempt to extend "Fake Firework Footprint Gate" and "Fake Singing Gate" to the entire event. Why not? If you want to nitpick, you can always find some nits to pick!
With respect to "Fake Firework Footprint Gate", I translated the post by Song Shinan in Chinese Internet Reacts To Olympics Opening Ceremony. That post was made by the blogger at 2008-8-9 0:50:29, which was near real-time. What is there about this tv program segment? The words were 电子烟花造的大脚板 (translation: The big footprints created by electronic fireworks). He already knew that it was computer animation. I don't know about you, but I knew that the sequence had to be pre-recorded and/or animated because it was operationally impossible to carry out in a live situation. Nevertheless, I enjoyed it while knowing what it is. It seems that the critics are incapable of enjoying such. That is the essence of the situation. When it comes to China, many people are completely incapable of just looking at and enjoying something because they have many chips on their shoulders and many axes to grind. They don't know how to lighten up.
With respect to "Fake Singing Gate," the comment below this one points out to a simple fact. The script called for a young girl to sing. In such an important production, they would never have only one person and they will always have backups. In fact, there were three candidates, including Lin Miaoke and Yang Peiyi. The designated performer was Lin Miaoke and the other two were backups (as in, What if Lin Miaoke gets hit by a truck on the way to the Bird's Nest Stadium?). For whatever reason, the decision was to replace Lin Miaoke's singing with a pre-recorded version done by Yang Peiyi. It is not even clear that Lin Miaoke knew this was happening (because she may not be able to tell from the sound feedback). This is very different from the version out there which says that Yang Peiyi was rejected because of crooked teeth/fat face.
But that is beside the point. After all, if people want to get themselves worked up over nothing, that is their prerogative. I am only here to provide more fodder.
(1) Why was Li Ning chosen to ignite the Olympic cauldron? The International Olympic Committee requires an Olympian to perform the task. As designed, the task entails serious training and current Olympians could not make time. This leaves only retired Olympians. Three distinguished Chinese Olympians were identified just over a month before the opening ceremony. The first candidate Xu Haifeng was unavailable. Li Ning was the most distinguished gymnast of his era. The third was the diver Xiong Ni. For his role, Li Ning trained for almost a month. For reason of secrecy, he showed up at 2am each night after everybody else has left. The training was done in the dark, because turning on the lights would have revealed that something was going on. Meanwhile, Xiong Ni trained just as hard. But he received no credit because he was just the backup (as in, What if Li Ning gets hit by a truck on the way to the Bird's Nest Stadium). The controversial issue was: Was it ambush marketing against Adidas on behalf of Li Ning's Chinese sports apparel company? Well, if you want to get all worked up over that, that is your prerogative. You can name your own candidate (and be promptly ripped apart by others).
(2) The ignition of the Olympic cauldron was considered longish because Li Ning had to circle the entire stadium. But at least he lit the cauldron directly. For the Turin Winter Olympics, "The cauldron lighting was also the first in recent memory to be lit indirectly, that is, the flame did not directly touch or travel to (such as the arrow lighting at the 1992 Summer Olympics) the cauldron itself. The precise timing of the pyrotechnics was obviously computer timed from the precise moment the flame touched the center frame in the center of the stadium. Because of the elaborate fireworks, it is highly unlikely the flame travelled to all the charges directly. However, it is possible that the cauldron was lit from a backup flame inside, or that an electronic signal from Belmondo's apparatus to the cauldron served as the "flame" (much like the 1976 Summer Olympics where a satellite signal carried the "flame" from Greece to Canada, though not at the opening ceremony)." Oh my God, didn't the audience expect to see a real lighting by a real person as opposed to a computerized event? Please go and have a fit ...
Torino winter Olympics Opening Ceremony Gerbs
By the way, the original Beijing design was for a "phoenix" to perform the ignition, but the IOC rejected that because they felt that it had to be personally carried out by an athlete.
(3) Who are the 2,008 persons playing the percussion instruments? They turned out to be soldiers stationed in the Beijing area. However, not all soldiers are eligible because there was a physical height requirement of 170cm. Well, not all Chinese people are exactly this tall. If you want to have a fit about how misleading this is or about the eugenic implication of the ideal height of Chinese male, it is your prerogative.
(4) How was the five-ring Olympic symbol raised up? Actually, it was just a lighting illusion. There was an array consisting of more than 40,000 high-quality LED lights, and it was already suspended in air. The raising of the rings was therefore a computerized process. If you see the rings rising, it is only the optical illusion created by some LED lights being turned on and others being turned off. Oh my God! Doesn't the Olympic spirit require the Olympic rings to be 'actually' raised?
(5) The Beijing Weather Bureau had a forecast of rain for the Olympic opening ceremony, but it was actually clear. It turned out that between 4pm and 11pm, 1,104 rockets had been launched from 21 locations around Beijing and that successfully stopped a belt of heavy rain from entering Beijing. Oh my God, they are even manipulating the weather? Is nothing sacred?
(6) It was said that the "fake firework footprints" and "fake signing" would have been acceptable if the spectators were informed beforehand. Rehearsals had been held separately before. There were full dress rehearsals on July 16 and August 2 at the Bird's Nest Stadium. Many media outlets were present for the rehearsals and they knew what was going to happen. But with the exception of the South Korean television channel SBS, nobody previewed the opening ceremony. Why? Because surprise is an important element and the media know the rules of the game. How would you like a detailed explanation beforehand in the manner of "... at 8:13pm, fireworks will be set off around Beijing but the audience will be seeing a 3D computer animation of that ... at 8:28pm, the 9-year-old girl will show up to sing but the voice belongs to Yang Peiyi ... at 9:39pm, a female dancer will appear on a carpet carried by men but she is just a replacement after the originally scheduled dancer Liu Yan fell and injured herself seriously during a rehearsal ..." After you read this announcement, would you bother to watch the television show itself?
The above was obtained from this week's issue of EastWeek weekly magazine (in Hong Kong). I have no intention of working any harder. The Beijing Olympic opening ceremony was a once-in-a-lifetime spectacle, and I had seen it personally. It will probably never be matched in my lifetime in terms of over-the-top extravagance, as there is no reason why London (and other future hosts) would want to do this kind of thing. However, I have no interest to take this entertainment show to the level of Chinese governance, national character, etc. That would be overkill. But if you want to do so, it is your prerogative. My advice is, "Lighten up and relax."
Bonus: (Hecaitou's blog) As Li Ning 'sky-walked' around the stadium wall which had images projected upon them, there was one projected image that was the infamous Microsoft "Blue Screen of Death." Was this a deliberate attempt to shame Microsoft (whose founder Bill Gates was in attendance)?
(08/13/2008) This is my attempt to extend "Fake Firework Footprint Gate" and "Fake Singing Gate" to the entire event. Why not? If you want to nitpick, you can always find some nits to pick!
With respect to "Fake Firework Footprint Gate", I translated the post by Song Shinan in Chinese Internet Reacts To Olympics Opening Ceremony. That post was made by the blogger at 2008-8-9 0:50:29, which was near real-time. What is there about this tv program segment? The words were 电子烟花造的大脚板 (translation: The big footprints created by electronic fireworks). He already knew that it was computer animation. I don't know about you, but I knew that the sequence had to be pre-recorded and/or animated because it was operationally impossible to carry out in a live situation. Nevertheless, I enjoyed it while knowing what it is. It seems that the critics are incapable of enjoying such. That is the essence of the situation. When it comes to China, many people are completely incapable of just looking at and enjoying something because they have many chips on their shoulders and many axes to grind. They don't know how to lighten up.
With respect to "Fake Singing Gate," the comment below this one points out to a simple fact. The script called for a young girl to sing
But that is beside the point. After all, if people want to get themselves worked up over nothing, that is their prerogative. I am only here to provide more fodder.
(1) Why was Li Ning chosen to ignite the Olympic cauldron? The International Olympic Committee requires an Olympian to perform the task. As designed, the task entails serious training and current Olympians could not make time. This leaves only retired Olympians. Three distinguished Chinese Olympians were identified just over a month before the opening ceremony. The first candidate Xu Haifeng was unavailable. Li Ning was the most distinguished gymnast of his era. The third was the diver Xiong Ni. For his role, Li Ning trained for almost a month. For reason of secrecy, he showed up at 2am each night after everybody else has left. The training was done in the dark, because turning on the lights would have revealed that something was going on. Meanwhile, Xiong Ni trained just as hard. But he received no credit because he was just the backup (as in, What if Li Ning gets hit by a truck on the way to the Bird's Nest Stadium). The controversial issue was: Was it ambush marketing against Adidas on behalf of Li Ning's Chinese sports apparel company? Well, if you want to get all worked up over that, that is your prerogative. You can name your own candidate (and be promptly ripped apart by others).
(2) The ignition of the Olympic cauldron was considered longish because Li Ning had to circle the entire stadium. But at least he lit the cauldron directly. For the Turin Winter Olympics, "The cauldron lighting was also the first in recent memory to be lit indirectly, that is, the flame did not directly touch or travel to (such as the arrow lighting at the 1992 Summer Olympics) the cauldron itself. The precise timing of the pyrotechnics was obviously computer timed from the precise moment the flame touched the center frame in the center of the stadium. Because of the elaborate fireworks, it is highly unlikely the flame travelled to all the charges directly. However, it is possible that the cauldron was lit from a backup flame inside, or that an electronic signal from Belmondo's apparatus to the cauldron served as the "flame" (much like the 1976 Summer Olympics where a satellite signal carried the "flame" from Greece to Canada, though not at the opening ceremony)." Oh my God, didn't the audience expect to see a real lighting by a real person as opposed to a computerized event? Please go and have a fit ...
Torino winter Olympics Opening Ceremony Gerbs
By the way, the original Beijing design was for a "phoenix" to perform the ignition, but the IOC rejected that because they felt that it had to be personally carried out by an athlete.
(3) Who are the 2,008 persons playing the percussion instruments? They turned out to be soldiers stationed in the Beijing area. However, not all soldiers are eligible because there was a physical height requirement of 170cm. Well, not all Chinese people are exactly this tall. If you want to have a fit about how misleading this is or about the eugenic implication of the ideal height of Chinese male, it is your prerogative.
(4) How was the five-ring Olympic symbol raised up? Actually, it was just a lighting illusion. There was an array consisting of more than 40,000 high-quality LED lights, and it was already suspended in air. The raising of the rings was therefore a computerized process. If you see the rings rising, it is only the optical illusion created by some LED lights being turned on and others being turned off. Oh my God! Doesn't the Olympic spirit require the Olympic rings to be 'actually' raised?
(5) The Beijing Weather Bureau had a forecast of rain for the Olympic opening ceremony, but it was actually clear. It turned out that between 4pm and 11pm, 1,104 rockets had been launched from 21 locations around Beijing and that successfully stopped a belt of heavy rain from entering Beijing. Oh my God, they are even manipulating the weather? Is nothing sacred?
(6) It was said that the "fake firework footprints" and "fake signing" would have been acceptable if the spectators were informed beforehand. Rehearsals had been held separately before. There were full dress rehearsals on July 16 and August 2 at the Bird's Nest Stadium. Many media outlets were present for the rehearsals and they knew what was going to happen. But with the exception of the South Korean television channel SBS, nobody previewed the opening ceremony. Why? Because surprise is an important element and the media know the rules of the game. How would you like a detailed explanation beforehand in the manner of "... at 8:13pm, fireworks will be set off around Beijing but the audience will be seeing a 3D computer animation of that ... at 8:28pm, the 9-year-old girl will show up to sing
The above was obtained from this week's issue of EastWeek weekly magazine (in Hong Kong). I have no intention of working any harder. The Beijing Olympic opening ceremony was a once-in-a-lifetime spectacle, and I had seen it personally. It will probably never be matched in my lifetime in terms of over-the-top extravagance, as there is no reason why London (and other future hosts) would want to do this kind of thing. However, I have no interest to take this entertainment show to the level of Chinese governance, national character, etc. That would be overkill. But if you want to do so, it is your prerogative. My advice is, "Lighten up and relax."
Bonus: (Hecaitou's blog) As Li Ning 'sky-walked' around the stadium wall which had images projected upon them, there was one projected image that was the infamous Microsoft "Blue Screen of Death." Was this a deliberate attempt to shame Microsoft (whose founder Bill Gates was in attendance)?
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