A lot you won’t read in the local media as they have strict guidelines about what they can write (the “21-point regulation on taboo topics for Olympic coverage”). So, all is perfect in Beijing, all are happy with the Opening ceremony, blablabla, the usual propaganda. Anything deemed negative or “bad” for the image gets promptly removed.
Like this as reported by the SCMP (see in the comment the China Daily version about Lin Miaoke!):
“The picture-perfect young singer who enchanted viewers during the Beijing Olympics’ opening ceremony on Friday was lip-synching a song performed by another girl who had been dropped from appearing because she was adjudged not attractive enough.
Chen Qigang, chief musical director of the extravaganza, disclosed in several interviews with state media that the little girl in the red dress, Lin Miaoke, lip-synched Ode to the Motherland and the voice belonged to another girl, Yang Peiyi.”
Or, the hoopla around foreigners who could stay in “Chinese families”. Remember what I wrote about that? Well, figures released at an internal Beijing Tourism Bureau meeting last week show that of the 600 or so host families selected in late June, only two have had bookings – one by a European couple and the other by a TV reporter. (source: SCMP)
Or, the fact that apparently most of the massive fireworks shown on TV and “life” screens were actually computer-generated. Oops. Reported the SCMP: “Wang Wei , spokesman for the Games organisers, also confirmed that the 29 giant footprint fireworks seen in the live broadcast of the opening ceremony were computer-generated. The fireworks were fired on the night, but viewers at home or watching the giant screens in the “Bird’s Nest” were seeing computer graphics – only the last footprint was captured live.”
According to the local bureaucrats, there are many empty seats in the venues “because of the rain, because of last minute change of ideas”, whatever. Nonsense. I know so many foreigners enthusiastic about China who failed to get a visa, failed to find any ticket. Sorry guys, Beijing does NOT welcome you. But now, while CCTV very well avoids to show the empty seats, foreign media report about the whole sections either empty or quickly filled by volunteers. While foreigners and others fume about it and scalpers run around in full view of the police. Prices are often ten times the face value. Sad really, Beijing is missing a big opportunity to please China lovers. TOP sponsors seem not to be amused either as reported in the media already:
12 August 2008 – Empty seats present problem for BOCOG
Source: sportbusiness.com
Organisers of the Beijing Olympics have admitted that they are using volunteers to fill empty seats at competition venues, UK newspaper the Guardian reports.
Despite claims from the Beijing Organising Committee (BOCOG) that all 6.8 million tickets for the Games had been sold, the failure of ticket holders to attend events has meant seats have been available at most venues. There have also been a large numbers of yellow-shirted “cheerleaders” present at some events – recruited to create an atmosphere and to prevent the embarrassing spectacle of empty seats appearing on television.
Vice-president of BOCOG, Wang Wei, said that they had been recruited by venue managers to fill seats. “We are concerned about the fact we do not have full stadia,” he said. “We think it is due to the weather, the humidity and then the rain, and on the first couple of days there were not many spectators who showed up.
“There are also reserved seats for the Olympic family that have not been taken up, the preliminary rounds are sometimes not attended, and people at other events have tickets for the whole day and do not attend the every event.”
The situation is thought to have angered some IOC sponsors whose exhibition pavilions have been deserted.
What did you expect when people abroad were refused visas and tickets?
