Milli Vanilli All Over Again - Deplorable!

I have to state firstly that the Olympics opening ceremony was highly creative, a wonderful experience for the senses, and captures China's cultural heritage and contribution in many important inventions.

But this has to be highlighted, not to slight Beijing in any way - just that it is absolutely very wrong. The beautiful girl in the red dress singing was just miming the song. It was supposed to be sung by Yang Peiyi. Zhang Yimou in his creative brilliance would have no problem using Yang (even though she may not be as cute as Lin) and he did notmake the change, but apparently a high ranking politburo official saw the rehearsals and made the decision to switch. Why so artificial, why the need to package, why rob Yang of her talent and moment in history. It is exactly this kind of shallow thinking that cripples the spirit of humanity and mocks human frailty (not everything is replaceable or should be replaced). Maybe we should also change the politician who does not look right or sound right. Maybe we should terminate a baby's life who did not look quite right as well. Life is already unfair enough, what kind of values are you instilling in the young when you do such things?

The Age & SMH: LIN MIAOKE, 9, the Chinese girl in the red dress who captured the world's hearts when she sang solo during the Olympic opening ceremony, is the hottest child star on the planet.

However, the voice the world heard singing so sweetly was not Lin's. It was a pre-recording of another child, Yang Peiyi, 7, who was dropped from the opening ceremony at the last minute in the "national interest". The switch happened at the behest of a member of China's politburo.

The general music designer of the opening ceremony, Chen Qigang, told Beijing Radio he owed the nation an explanation and he wanted to ensure Yang's contribution was recognised.

Mr Chen said the original choice for the lead was a 10-year-old girl, who was used throughout the rehearsals for Friday's opening extravaganza but she was dumped after the director, Zhang Yimou, deemed her "a little too old".

A group of younger girls was then shortlisted, including Lin and Yang. After recording them, Mr Chen's team unanimously decided Yang's sweet voice was "flawless" and that she would sing the lead. However, at the final rehearsals a member of China's ruling nine-man politburo made his dissatisfaction with Yang clear.

There were rumours at the time of the rehearsals that unspecified, last-minute changes had been ordered by the senior leadership.

"We had been through several inspections; they were all very strict. When we rehearsed at the spot, there were spectators from various divisions, especially a leader from the politburo, who gave us his opinion: it must change," Mr Chen said.

"The reason was for the national interest. The child on camera should be flawless in image, internal feelings, and expression. Lin Miaoke is excellent in those aspects, but in the aspect of voice, Yang Peiyi is flawless, in each member of our team's view."