And lo, the 2008 Olympic games begin

[J]

Finally found a picture of Bush stumbling around drunk at the swimming venue. He looked completely wasted.

[Lusankya]

As for the opening ceremony I'm going against the crowd and say that it is typical Zhang Yimou fakeness like his films set in old China, he has a lot of visuals but it often feels empty. The final lighting of the cauldron was creative though.

I can understand that. These days everything Zhang Yimou makes seems to be excessively pretty, and you just know that the Emperor symbolises the CCP and it's right to respect him. It's quite ironic really.

[Hawkwings]

What impressed me the most was the human-powered blocks that moved up and down and made patterns. I'm pretty sure they "cheated" somehow, but even if it was only partially human controlled, that's quite an amazing exercise in precision. Way better than the tai chi masters at least, some of whom apparently didn't get the message to "stop moving here!"

[hongi]

Phelps is a beast. I was hoping Park Taehwan would put up some sort of challenge, but he got whooped. 3 events, 3 gold medals, 3 world records. If only Thorpe was still around...replay of the Race of the Century?

[Androsphinx]

Finally found a picture of Bush stumbling around drunk at the swimming venue. He looked completely wasted.

His biggest foreign rival just managed to crush a US client state (while subverting term limits!) and there's nothing Bush can do about it. I'm not surprised.

In other news, did Britain just win two swimming medals? I'm agog.

[The Grim Squeaker]

Yay, 2 of my former classmates are competing today! (Judo and swimming)!.

In other news, did Britain just win two swimming medals? I'm agog.

Did whatsisname the tiny 14 year old swimming prodigy win anything?

[Zablorg]

Erm, is it just me or did I just hear 2007 Transformers theme?

[RedImperator]

Phelps is a beast. I was hoping Park Taehwan would put up some sort of challenge, but he got whooped. 3 events, 3 gold medals, 3 world records. If only Thorpe was still around...replay of the Race of the Century?

Phelps looked like he had a damn outboard strapped to his back in the 200m freestyle. At this rate they're going to have to give everyone else flippers, just to keep it fair.

[El Moose Monstero]

BBC

A pretty girl who won national fame after singing at the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games was only miming.

Wearing a red dress and pigtails, Lin Miaoke charmed a worldwide audience with a rendition of “Ode to the Motherland”.

But the singer was Yang Peiyi, who was not allowed to appear because she is not as "flawless" as nine-year-old Lin.

The show's musical director said Lin was used because it was in the best interests of the country.

The revelation follows news that a fireworks display used during the opening ceremony was apparently faked.

'Smiling angel'

Speaking on Beijing Radio station, musical director Chen Qigang said the organisers needed a girl with both a good image and a good voice.
A television image of Yang Peiyi, who sang the song for the Beijing Olympic Games opening ceremony
Yang Peiyi had the perfect voice but apparently not the perfect face

They faced a dilemma because although Lin was prettier, seven-year-old Yang had the better voice, Mr Chen said.

"After several tests, we decided to put Lin Miaoke on the live picture, while using Yang Peiyi's voice," he told the radio station.

"The reason for this is that we must put our country's interest first," he added.

"The girl appearing on the picture must be flawless in terms of her facial expression and the great feeling she can give to people."

Singer Lin, who is being called the "smiling angel", has already become a media celebrity because of her performance.

She told state-run China Daily that she felt "so beautiful" in the red dress she wore during the performance.

Her dad told the newspaper that she already had fans all over the country.

According to Chinese news reports, Yang said she did not regret the decision. "I'm satisfied to have had my voice in the opening ceremony," she said.

This is the second "fake" story about the opening ceremony

Viewers around the world saw a display in which 29 firework "footprints" travelled across Beijing from south to north.

But a senior official from the Beijing organising committee (Bocog) confirmed on Tuesday that footage of the display had been produced before the big night.

This was provided to broadcasters for "convenience and theatrical effects", according to Wang Wei, Bocog's executive vice-president.

"Because of poor visibility, some previously recorded footage may have been used," he told a daily press conference.

Neither of which surprised me, I have to say.

The cynic in me thought that it was at least pre-recorded when I heard the opening song.

The fireworks thing, the Chinese still claimed they launched the actual fireworks which showed the footprints, and that the fake footage was just to present a safer option than endangering a helicopter following the firework trail. Which, if you believe it, sounds reasonable enough - but then if you're resigned to making a fake anyway - why not just do something fake on the big screen and then have it link in with something more achievable.

Another article I read about this said that the special effects team spent about a year trying to get things like the slightly smoggy atmosphere, moisture in the air, and helicopter camera shake effects right.

[Androsphinx]

In other news, did Britain just win two swimming medals? I'm agog.

Did whatsisname the tiny 14 year old swimming prodigy win anything?

Not only did he not, but his 26-year-old partner blamed him for their poor showing:

Beeb

Blake Aldridge has put the blame on partner Tom Daley after the British pair finished in last place in the 10m synchronised diving at the Olympics.

Aldridge, 26, and 14-year-old prodigy Daley were not expected to win a medal but put in a below-par performance.

"I didn't blow anything, so I can go home happy," said Aldridge.

"Unfortunately it's a partnership, you both have to be on the top of your game. I wasn't on top of my game but Tom was nowhere near the top of his."

Daley has enjoyed a phenomenal rise, winning the individual European title and becoming Britain's second youngest male Olympian.

That has led to a huge amount of attention on the teenager, who has even caught the eye of the international media in Beijing.

He and Aldridge were considered outside chances to win a medal in the synchronised diving - which only includes eight teams - but they were out of sorts on Monday.

Leon Taylor verdict on Aldridge and Daley disappointment

Aldridge revealed the pair had a spat between the fifth and final dives of the competition.

"There was a little incident but it is an Olympic Games, you are in a different world and people are going to do things differently," he said.

"He had a pop at me before the last dive. I saw my mum in the audience and I asked her to give me a call and Tom went to me 'Why are you on the phone? We're still in the competition and we've got another dive to do.'

"That's just Thomas - he's over-nervous. Thomas should not be worrying about what I'm doing but he was worrying about everyone and everything and that to me is really the sole reason why he didn't perform."

As China eased to the gold medal with 468.18 points ahead of Germany and Russia, the British pair were some way adrift with 408.48 points in eighth.

They were joint third after the first dive but several botched entries into the water saw them penalised heavily in the ensuing five rounds and they quickly slipped out of contention.

"I knew we were capable of a medal but I knew it would depend on how Tom performed," said Aldridge.

"I wasn't on the top of my game, but I out-dived Thomas and that's not something that normally happens.

"That to me is because he had a lot more pressure on him than I did.

"It was hard work for me today. Tom was very nervous, more so than ever before. I think he really struggled to get through the competition.

"I certainly think the media played a part in that and also just the Olympic Games, it is a massive event.

Daley admitted it was a 'bad day'

"The reason it didn't come together was that we didn't bounce off each other. We didn't have that fun aspect to it that we would normally have."

Daley admitted he had felt nervous, but said both he and Aldridge were to blame.

"We just had a bad day," he said. "We didn't dive very well, it was quite disappointing.

"There was a lot of pressure on me and I was very nervous. But it's an experience which will be good for 2012."

Olympic silver medallist Leon Taylor, who acts as mentor to Tom Daley as well as the rest of the British diving team, said he was surprised by Aldridge's remarks.

But he added: "In the heat of the moment, people say funny things.

"Synchronised diving is a partnership and the last thing you need to be doing is apportioning blame.

"The important thing now is that they regroup and learn the lessons."

Daley will return to the Water Cube on Friday 22 August when he will attempt to qualify for the individual final.

The Plymouth teenager has insisted all along that his focus was on gaining experience in Beijing ahead of the London Olympics in four years' time when he is expected to be one of Britain's brightest medal hopes.

"I really enjoyed myself and had so much fun out there," he said.

"That is all you can ask for getting the experience of it. We prepared like a normal competition and we treated it like a normal competition.

"It was just the fact it wasn't our day today, we just had a bad day."

Aldridge, 26, is not competing in the individual event so his Olympics are over.

"Unfortunately I don't have another chance. I'm a little bit disappointed," he said.

"I'm happy with the way I dived. It was a great experience to get out there in the Olympic Games and unfortunately we didn't place where we could have placed."

[Adrian Laguna]

A little late in the game, but I want to say that I am incredibly proud of the Venezuelan team's showing during the opening ceremony. Where every other team was walking and waving in a dignified manner, the Venezuelans were jumping, dancing, laughing, yelling, and rushing the cameras. It owned.


Watching the news, my sister said that you could make a drinking game out Michael Phelps name. Take a shot every time they say it. It sounds to me like a fast track to the ER for alcohol poisoning, even if you use something light like beer.

[FSTargetDrone]

What impressed me the most was the human-powered blocks that moved up and down and made patterns. I'm pretty sure they "cheated" somehow, but even if it was only partially human controlled, that's quite an amazing exercise in precision. Way better than the tai chi masters at least, some of whom apparently didn't get the message to "stop moving here!"

Hm, it looked to me that those blocks were popping up and down on some sort of mechanism. Are you sure they were people-powered? It was still impressive, either way.

[Hillary]

And the Spanish basketball team do their best to ingratiate themselves with the locals...

[hongi]

"How do our thinking caps look?"

Uh, am I missing something?

[Fire Fly]

"How do our thinking caps look?"

Uh, am I missing something?

They're doing the Asian slit eye look.

[AniThyng]

"How do our thinking caps look?"

Uh, am I missing something?

They're doing the Asian slit eye look.

I DO NOT HAVE SLITTY EYES!!!

...I'm torn. Is this flattery or an insult?

[hongi]

"How do our thinking caps look?"

Uh, am I missing something?

They're doing the Asian slit eye look.

Wow, I completely missed that. I didn't even think that a team representing their nation would be so stupid as to play into racial stereotypes.

[ray245]

"How do our thinking caps look?"

Uh, am I missing something?

They're doing the Asian slit eye look.

I DO NOT HAVE SLITTY EYES!!!

...I'm torn. Is this flattery or an insult?

Gosh...most jokes about chinese race is the fact that we chinese have small eyes...WTF?

[hongi]

Heh, I've always wondered what they get up to in the Village:

Beijing provides 100,000 condoms for athletes

The Sydney Olympics ran out. Athens doubled the number. So organisers of the Beijing Games are hoping 100,000 condoms will satisfy the needs of Olympic athletes.

While sex is not an Olympic sport it is expected to be an activity in the Beijing village housing 10,500 athletes, all of whom are in great shape and with plenty of free time on their hands once knocked out of the Games.

Athletes have received free condoms at every Olympics since Barcelona in 1992 to help raise awareness of AIDS, and Beijing is no exception.

"There are many young, strong, single people in the athletes' village and, like everywhere, some will fall in love or other things so we need to make condoms available," Ole Hansen, spokesman for UNAIDS China, told Reuters.

"A lot of these young people are not married or in relationships so we want to make sure they have the information and tools to protect themselves if they have sexual encounters."

[Alferd Packer]

Huh. That's less than 10 condoms per person. Though, assuming an even split between gender, that's almost 20 condoms per penis, so I certainly hope that would suffice for the three weeks they're there.

[NomAnor15]

Huh. That's less than 10 condoms per person. Though, assuming an even split between gender, that's almost 20 condoms per penis, so I certainly hope that would suffice for the three weeks they're there.

Sigged.

[Hawkwings]

One manufacturer, Elasun, has come up with a set of cheeky advertisements featuring a stickman swimming over a rippled condom that looks like a wave, riding two condom rings like a bicycle, and using a condom as a basketball hoop.

[Fire Fly]

So...I'm a little irritated:

BEIJING, China (CNN) -- A little girl and her song captivated millions of viewers during the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics. But what they saw was not what they heard.

Games organizers confirm that Lin Miaoke, who performed "Ode to the Motherland" as China's flag was paraded Friday into Beijing's National Stadium, was not singing at all.

Lin was lip-syncing to the sound of another girl, 7-year-old Yang Peiyi, who was heard but not seen, apparently because she was deemed not cute enough.

"The reason was for the national interest," said Chen Qigang, the ceremony's musical director, in a state radio interview. "The child on camera should be flawless in image, internal feeling and expression. ... Lin Miaoke is excellent in those aspects."

The decision was made at the highest levels, Chen said.

"We had to do it," he said. "We'd been through several inspections. They're all very strict. When we rehearsed at the spot, there were several spectators from various divisions, especially leaders from the Politburo, who gave the opinion it must change." Video Watch a Chinese official defend the move »

Few who watched the Olympic ceremony realized the deception. "Tiny singer wins heart of nation," read the headline in Tuesday's China Daily newspaper.

"Lin Miaoke might be only 9 years old but she is well on her way to becoming a star, thanks to her heartwarming performance," the article gushed -- without mentioning she never sang a note.

But as word has gotten out on the Internet, some Chinese bloggers are outraged.

"If you're not good-looking, no matter how well you sing, you'll not be onstage. Do you know you're twisting a whole generation?" read one comment.

Another said, "If foreigners found out, they'd think we can't even find a girl who is good at both." iReport.com: Share your Olympic spirit

As for Yang Peiyi, she's been quoted as saying she was honored to have had a role in the opening ceremony, even though few realized just how big her part really was.

The little girl who I thought was an adorable singer...wasn't even singing and the one who did sing didn't receive any credit.

[FSTargetDrone]

I've been watching more and more of the Olympics, and man, well, I don't know, but some of those Chinese female gymnasts look extremely young. Like, 10 year-olds. Or younger. Too young.



And that 14 year-old swimmer, that we know is 14, isn't there something odd about having children compete against adults?

[Death from the Sea]

Finally found a picture of Bush stumbling around drunk at the swimming venue. He looked completely wasted.

this was what year? this year?