Hymn To The Motherland
At the opening ceremonies of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, a lovely little girl was shown singing the Chinese anthem, "Hymn to the Motherland." She was a ringer for the real singer, Yang Peiyi, a seven-year-old who wasn't considered pretty enough to be shown on international television.
Fast Facts
- Who sang: seven-year-old Yang Peiyi, who won a nation-wide contest
- Who didn't sing: nine-year-old Lin Miaoke, who has experience in commercials
- The musical director for the Olympics reported the last-minute change in an interview to Beijing Radio
- The song is called Gechang Zuguo in Chinese, sometimes translated as Ode to the Motherland
- Gechang Zuguo was one of 30 songs broadcast on China's first lunar orbiter Chang'e I on its way to the moon
More Olympic Ceremony Stories
- It was widely reported that the fireworks display was digitally enhanced
- In the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Luciano Pavarotti's performance was dubbed, because he was ill with cancer
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