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China - A Great Singing Nation

Paul Chong — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 12:00:09 +0000

China – A Great Singing Nation

By Paul Chong

The lip-synced girl, Lin Miaoke, who sang in the Beijing Olympic Opening Ceremony now has every potential in $$$ making; few movie directors in Hollywood hunting her out. The actual singer Yang Peiyi is virtually in the back stage.

The whole nation sings

The Minorities

with

The Majority

The illustrative display of the photos taken directly off the satellite TV with my little digital camera shows & verifies the truth that China is a great singing nation. On the stage comes a galaxy of singing stars, both male & female, known by the thousands & millions throughout China, though maybe little heard of in the western world. In all their brilliance & golden voices, they thrill & enthral the teeming audience in the thousands & millions. With shouts, cheers & tears they raise their hands & flags of all colours flying high. Truly a colourful event to celebrate the 60^th. Anniversary of the founding of this new great ancient nation. This is a nation where everybody sings – young or old, rich or poor, male or female, indoor or outdoor, professional or amateur, from native folk songs, pop or rock to the very high class of opera – Chinese or Western. Singing could be backed up by a full orchestra or just simple musical instruments.

In terms of sheer numerical numbers, no other nations in the world can compare!

There is no shortage of talents with a pool of 1.3 billion population neither is there any lack of singing contests, festivals or celebrations to put the whole nation to songs! Often the audience would sing along as with the more popular tunes.

On an amateurish basis, some may even be professional, Karaoke is very popular in China. Karaoke provides an excellent avenue for social life at home, bars or karaoke houses known as “KTVs”, & for business entertainment between suppliers & customers. Good deals are often sealed & there’s no shortage of attractive hostesses helping out in the entertainment. For the uninitiated this could be a daunting experience.

Audience of young girls singing in unison with the star performer on stage.

More matured audience with red flags in hand

Pictures Below:

A male singer rendering a popular number.

A female performer

October 1 2009 is the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People?? Republic of China (PRC) and Beijing will host a grand celebration.

Anson Hu sings for Ethan Ruan; Yan Peiyi no longer buck-toothed

idarklight — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 01:14:58 +0000

Ethan Ruan and Wang Chengyang Along with the no-longer “buck-toothed” and never “

Padrão estético, mas que patético!

Gabao — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 19:36:06 +0000

Acredito que vocês já tenham ouvido falar em Susan Boyle, a cantora escocesa que participou do programa Britain´s Got Talent, tornando-se célebre pelo contraste causado entre sua aparência desalinhada e sua impressionante performance, que pode ser vista em http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j15caPf1FRk.

Assistindo ao vídeo percebe-se que antes da apresentação é notável o ar de desprezo do público com relação à mulher de 47 anos e aspecto desleixado, por não se enquadrar nos padrões esperados. Contudo, é só soltar a voz que Susan prova que falta de atributos físicos estereotipados não significa, necessariamente, falta de talento. É aquela questão de não julgar o presente pelo embrulho (Isso mesmo, deixemos o livro e sua capa de lado). Mais uma vez comprova-se que bordões preconceituosos como “A primeira impressão é a que fica” não estão com nada.

A repercussão desse episódio só evidencia como os padrões estéticos são tão imperativos, fazendo parecer que a beleza está sempre acima do conteúdo. Novamente, a questão da inversão de valores. Todos devem estar enquadrados em um mesmo modelo para que sejam aceitos pela sociedade. Ninguém pode ser magro demais, gordo demais, baixo demais, dentuço, careca, estrábico, perneta… AHH!! What the fuck?!

Constantemente, acontecimentos nos mostram que o indivíduo pode ser penalizado ou ridicularizado por não se adestrar de acordo com a opressora ditadura da beleza. Quer um exemplo? Década de 70. Companhia aérea Pan Am. Não conhece o caso? Pois bem, a companhia estava cortando os gastos com funcionários e as comissárias de bordo consideradas “cheinhas” e “feiosas” acabaram sendo as vítimas da demissão, o que, claro, acarretou uma ação judicial trabalhista.

Ah, e quem também não se lembra da garotinha Yang Peiyi, que foi considerada “feinha” demais para aparecer cantando na abertura das Olimpíadas de Pequim? Não sei se vocês sabem, mas colocaram outra menina no palco, Lin Miaoke, considerada mais “bonitinha”, e usaram apenas a voz de Yang. Legal, não?

Não pára por aí… Outro dia mesmo recebi um e-mail cujo título era “A bravura de um soldado americano”. Logo pensei que se tratava de algum grande feito nos conflitos em Israel, algum salvamento esplendoroso ou algo do tipo. Ledo engano. Quando abro a mensagem, deparo-me com várias fotos do casamento do tal soldado. Debochadamente, o e-mail começava com os seguintes dizeres: “Nunca, mas nunca mesmo, subestime a bravura de um soldado norte americano” seguido de um “kkkkkkkk” quase maléfico. Vou postar a foto a seguir pra ninguém ficar boiando:

O que eu acho é que, realmente, este soldado é possuidor de uma grande bravura. Não por se casar com uma pessoa fora dos padrões estéticos ditados pela nossa sociedade, mas justamente por não se importar com eles. Que mal há na escolha do rapaz? Se você não se casaria com uma mulher assim, o problema é seu! Deixe que o casal seja feliz em paz. Vai ver que a intensidade com a qual você se incomoda pelo outro mostra o quanto se sente incomodado com você mesmo. Só pode ser. Segundo o jornalista Paulo Moreira Leite, o que ocorre é que “se criou uma tirania que não suporta quando um cidadão tenta ser feliz como gosta e como pode, mesmo que seja comendo uma pizza”. Fato.

Eu poderia passar o dia aqui expondo exemplos afamados que comprovam essa nossa falta de discernimento. Entretanto, direciono-me a outros acontecimentos mais próximos da minha realidade.

Lembro-me da minha sétima série, quando era muito magrinha e meus amigos colocaram meu apelido de Magriella. Uma sacada genial de como misturar “magricela” com “Gabriella”. Quanta criatividade! Enquanto minhas amiguinhas todas já tinham dado seu primeiro beijo, eu continuava a ser o patinho feio da turma devido às minhas saliências ósseas. Nenhum garoto queria saber se eu era boa em matemática ou se eu sabia fazer estrelinha. Meus dotes pareciam não ser suficientes se comparados com a minha falta de bunda.

Porém, não pense que fui a única a sofrer com o desprezo dos coleguinhas da escola. Eram costumeiros os comentários do tipo “A-mi-ga, o Carlinhos está afim de mim. Ele até que é legal, mas é tãooo gordinho”, sempre acompanhados de uma carinha de nojo. Pra você ver… Até mesmo as crianças já estão inseridas nesse contexto estereotipado e preconceituoso.

Bom, o que se pode fazer é parabenizar a mídia, a qual está cumprindo muito bem o seu papel! Sempre nos impondo padrões de beleza e de consumo a serem alcançados. Fazem uma lavagem cerebral tão eficiente que nos sentimos rejeitados quando não seguimos a manada social. É um bombardeio de slogans persuasivos! “Acredite na beleza”; “De mãos dadas com a moda”; “O salva-vidas do seu cabelo”; “Sua beleza com algo mais”; “O laxante que te deixa esbelta”; “A maquiagem que te faz drag”; blá, blá, blá…

Não sei, não. De nada adianta reclamar. Seria necessária uma reforma brusca no pensamento das pessoas para que estas pudessem filtrar as informações provenientes dos meios de comunicação de massa sem apenas absorvê-las sem nenhum tipo de distinção ou reflexão. Se isso não fosse tão utópico, quem sabe não seria possível viver em uma sociedade mais autêntica, menos vítima de manipulação e que fosse capaz de compreender que uma casca é apenas… uma casca.

China is So Disgusting !!

Suchismita — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 08:46:32 +0000

And this is their latest gem:

Yang Peiyi, the 7 year old Chinese girl with the perfect voice, was chosen to perform the Chinese National Anthem “Hymn to the Motherland” at the opening ceremony of the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, but because of Peiyi’s unattractive buck teeth, another (prettier) girl, 9 year old Lin Miaoke, went on stage instead and lip-synced to Peiyi’s voice.

Source: http://www.inquisitr.com

So if you are not the most perfect example of human kind you stay behind the scenes but whatever’s best in you gets used? How disgustingly feudal is that? And how is this going to work in the minds of the two little girls? One will grow up to think “Shit I was ugly so they didn’t let me perform onstage,” and the other will think “Oh I was so pretty they chose me to replace that ugly duckling.” Oh man, I am so pissed. And they call the Arabs disgusting for treating their women the way they do? Worse, this girl had actually won the gruelling competition to perform the anthem. And worst, they had rejected yet another girl who was not “cute enough”. And then Lin Miaoke lapped up all the praise. Fantastic.

Does the girl on the left even look like she deserved this crap?

And how do they justify the outrageous thing? By saying,

So we made the choice. I think it is fair to both Lin Miaoke and Yang Peiyi—after all, we have a perfect voice, a perfect image and a perfect show, in our team’s view, all together.

I am so honestly disgusted with that country. Fucking bastards.

Yang Peiyi Olympic Ceremony Lip-Syncing Exposed (VIDEO)

hi0112 — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 05:35:50 +0000

Yang Peiyi, the 7 year old Chinese girl with the perfect voice, was chosen to perform the Chinese National Anthem “Hymn to the Motherland” at the opening ceremony of the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, but because of Peiyi

NEWS REVIEW » Blog Archive » Lin Miaoke Will Play Lin Daiyu On TV!

hi0112 — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 05:31:41 +0000

5.4 Yang Peiyi, the "Jan Brady" of China

observeroflife — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 18:30:00 +0000

So despite Mike and Carol Brady’s wordy protestations to the contrary, we all know that Jan Brady was a second class citizen in the Brady household. It was, as she claimed, “always Marcia, Marcia, Marcia!” Marcia was the prettiest. Marcia was the one who got all the boys’ attention. Marcia sang lead vocals for the “Silver Platters.”

Yang Peiyi, the Chinese Jan Brady

We met China’s own Jan Brady this year, the seven-year-old Yang Peiyi, when we discovered that she had been the beautiful voice behind the “Hymn to the Motherland” sung during the dazzling Olympic Opening Ceremonies. But we never actually saw her. Instead, we saw someone else: another young girl had been chosen to lipsynch Yang’s voice, as it had been decided by the Chinese government that Yang Peiyi simply wasn’t pretty enough to represent her country on television.

Now I have seen pictures of Yang Peiyi; and I, for one, think she is adorable. It incenses me that this cult of beauty has taken such strong hold around the world (and especially among young girls), suggesting that unless you look a certain way–meaning, perfect–you are somehow not worthy. Hence the dramatic rise in teenagers who are getting plastic surgery before they are 18. (Even in China cosmetic surgery has become a boom industry, as it is well known that attractive people earn significantly more than their “average”-looking counterparts.)

But in ushering Yang Peiyi to the sidelines in August, China took this message of perfectionism and exploded it for all the world to see, much like the fake fireworks that were aired on television during Opening Ceremonies but weren’t actually set off in Beijing that night because of smoggy conditions (they filmed the fireworks we saw during an earlier dress rehearsal.) The message that rang out was: image is all. Appearance is the most important thing. Looks matter more than talent.

In broadcasting this type of message, China is certainly not the only guilty party; the beauty bias is endemic to much of the (particularly Western) world. It just put those values on display in an unprecedented way. In effect, it felt like the culmination of the “reality as artifice” movement that has become so commonplace in our own society. The much-hyped advent of “reality” shows proves this, as they often feature very good looking people, in staged situations, competing for large sums of money and camera time. It is hard to believe anything we see anymore.

Lin Maioke replaced Yang Peiyi in the Opening Ceremonies of the 2008 Beijing Olympics

But what makes Yang Peiyi’s case so fascinating is the graciousness with which she accepted her fate. After competing in a difficult nationwide contest for the coveted singing role, and participating in all of the dress rehearsals up to the evening of the event, Yang stepped aside for the more physically “acceptable” Lin Miaoke. ”I am proud to have been chosen to sing at all,” she has said. And when asked how it felt not to be on stage for the event, she simply replied, “my voice was there.”

Perhaps, at age 7, Yang has achieved the wisdom and self-composure it takes some of us a lifetime to learn. Or, perhaps, she simply understands what often happens to pretty people who get a free ride through life. After all, Marcia may have been the poster-worthy Brady girl; but she ultimately turned out to be a cocaine addict who swapped sex for drugs and even slept with her brother, Greg. (I know. Eew. I’m getting visions of the Johnny Bravo jacket. But I digress.)

So if being Jan means having a life of relative normalcy, maybe it isn’t such a bad gig, after all.

A little taste of the Brady kids’ musical stylings, courtesy of YouTube. Come to think of it, it might have been a great anthem for the Obama campaign:

Epic Post 2: No More Lip-Synching

cfensi — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 19:15:22 +0000

Lin Miaoke and Yang Peiyi This bit of news is really, really old and I was not going to post on this

recap of beijing olympics 2008

lawrencesiow — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 18:56:53 +0000

took quite long to compile and write this post, have fun reading!

i am sure some of you are still reeling from the absence of olympics, in other words, post-olympics syndrome.

so let me rub your wounds with the best highlights & controversies of the historic event:

china have set a benchmark, very high indeed. this is more than just a sporting event for china, in fact, the main purpose is to show the world how much china has progressed and showcase their ambitions in becoming one of the ’superpowers’ of the world.

highlights

*some opening ceremony photos excluding the closing ceremony

chinese gymnast li ning igniting the cauldron

fireworks at the bird nest stadium

the five olympic rings – passion, faith, victory, work ethic and sportsmanship

you knew i was going into this topic isn’t it. there’s no way to talk about beijing olympics 2008 without even mentioning him – officially the greatest olympian, overtaking mark spitz (7) with 8 medals by setting seven world records and 1 olympic record in a single olympic.

and this includes the miraculous 100m butterfly which he won by the narrowest margin possible — one one hundredth of a second.

from other sources : what made his seventh win even more jaw dropping, was the fact that at the turn he was seventh out of eight swimmers. He made up significant ground (or would it be water?) in the final seconds, but when frontrunner Milorad Cavic of Serbia reached for the wall while Phelps was in the midst of his final half stroke, it looked as though the University of Michigan student’s dream of eight gold medals was done for. But this is Michael Phelps we’re talking about. The phenom inexplicably managed to circle his beanstalk arms around and touch the wall just before Cavic could glide to victory.

frames to frames picture : 100m butterfly phelps (left) vs cavic

the olympics committee confirmed that both of them, cavic and phelps might have touched the electronic touchpad at the same time, but Phelps applied sufficient pressure than cavic who barely reached it, to win by 0.01 second.

here’s another sensation who overtake phelps as best individual performance in beijing olympics by an american newspaper, denver post.

he’s the fastest man on earth and his name is usain bolt.

some papers criticised him for being arrogant, winning the 100 metres relay without inputting the full effort (towards his last strides, he pumped his chest while looking at the audience to signal victory) but all of them can only admire in awe by such dominance.

jamaican sprint phenomenon usain bolt was picked by the newspaper for his three world record gold medal performances in the 100, 200 metres and 4×100-metre relay.

“With swimmers breaking 74 world records in 2008 – including 24 at these Olympics – we no longer are impressed with world swim records.

“But when Bolt breaks track’s two sprint marks for the first sprint double in 24 years, then runs a leg on the sprint relay that breaks a third record, that grabs our attention,” the Denver Post stated.

Bolt, 22, joined a short list of track and field greats who have successfully completed an Olympic double when he became the first man in Olympic history to set world records in both events at any Games.

nadal ended federer’s 4 1/2 years reign of atp no. 1 spot after winning the olmypics singles gold medal

roger federer finally won his first olympic medal despite dominating the tennis court for years

singapore claim its first olympic medal after 48 years wait

Waseelah Saad competing as the first female sprinter from Yemen. She ran while wearing a hijab.

controversies/moments to forget

Liu Xiang, the defending Olympic champion and icon of Chinese sport, managed just three steps in his opening heat in the 110m hurdles before pulling up lame with a hamstring injury.

The Athens gold medalist was shown by television cameras crouching by an outside wall in bitter disbelief as officials, volunteers and the entire country watched on in horror.

china’s favourite poster boy absence in the games, obviously had a huge impact as sponsors and advertisers suffered millions in losses.

the country’s weight of expectation and extraordinary hype surrounding him was simply to much for him to cope in his home ground.

us men 4×100m relay team committed horrendous error by dropping the baton – disqualifying themselves in the process

a case of monkey-see-monkey-do? or you jump i jump?

The U.S. women didn’t learn from the U.S. men’s relay mistake earlier in the day, calling into question the program’s leadership.

lin miaoke (above) appeared to be singing the anthem “hymn to the motherland” at the olympic opening ceremony on august 8, 2008.

but a chinese official admitted that lin miao ke was actually lip-synching because the singer of the performance – yang peiyi (below) was deemed not cute enough to appear for the ceremony.

The main consideration was the national interest. The child on the screen should be flawless in image, in her internal feelings, and in her expression. In the matter of her voice in the unanimous opinion of all the members of the team-Chen Qigang

a family forming the symbol of olympics

there’s only one phrase for it – an inch to perfection. i doubt any olympics opening ceremony will come close to what we have witnessed on 8th August 2008 in years to come.

china has done asians proud. perhaps it is time for the westerns to stop stereotyping us as inferior race and remind them their colonizing days are over.

still having olympics syndrome? fret not, its only 4 years time!

I told you so - Olympic Opening Ceremonies

Greg Sadler — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 08:59:32 +0000

I wrote previously about the ridiculous controversy over the Beijing opening ceremony. I asserted without evidence that I was sure such ‘faking’ during opening ceremonies and other large events would be a matter of course. Naturally I’ve been vindicated.

The ABC has a story that the Sydney Symphony Orchestra performed to a tape during the Sydney opening ceremony and has also preformed to a tape at the rugby world cup. Worse still, parts of the tape where of performances by the competition Melbourne Symphony Orchestra.

Does anyone care? Not really. That’s just how life works. Is anyone claiming that Australia is a despicable regime and all the other crap? Not that I’ve noticed. Is the media having a retrospective and apologising to China for the double standard? No. Are the bloggers and commenters seeing their stupidity? Doesn’t seem like it.

Moral of the story is that I’m feeling righteous and vindicated, and anyone who actually cared about the China mime incident is now demonstrably stupid; unless they also want to object strongly to this issue as well.

> Music faked at Sydney Olympics opening ceremony: orchestra

ahgonghippo — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 06:45:18 +0000

Music faked at Sydney Olympics opening ceremony: orchestra
AFP – August 28, 2008, 9:21 pm

Eight years after it hosted an Olympics that were famously hailed as the “best games ever,” Sydney has had to confess that it faked one of the key musical performances at the opening ceremony in 2000.

The revelation came after it emerged that nine-year-old Lin Miaoke was just lip-synching when she “sang” a patriotic song before 91,000 people and a global television audience during the August 8 opening ceremony at the Beijing Games.

Orchestra bosses have admitted that the Sydney Symphony Orchestra (SSO) mimed its entire performance at the ceremony, and that some of the real music was in fact recorded by rival musicians in Melbourne.

“It was all pre-recorded and the MSO (Melbourne Symphony Orchestra) did record a minority of the music that was performed,” SSO managing director Libby Christie told Australia’s Fairfax newspapers earlier this week.

“It’s correct that we were basically miming to a pre-recording,” she said.

The respected orchestra gave the fake performance because Olympics organisers “wanted to leave nothing to chance” and a second orchestra was found to record the backing tape because of a “mountainous workload” in Sydney, Christie said.

The admission has columnists in Melbourne — which has a longstanding rivalry with glitzier Sydney — crowing over the fact that its musicians ghosted a crucial performance by their arch-rivals.

The head of the MSO confirmed the performance had been pre-recorded but defended the move, saying it was “purely a workload issue” and in no way reflected on the relative quality of either orchestra.

“It’s nothing to do with priorities or which orchestra is better. It was decided to split (the work) between the two orchestras,” he said.

“It’s quite a normal practice and if the Olympics had been in Melbourne, the Sydney Symphony would have been involved — I’m sure of that.”

Christie said the Sydney orchestra had very rarely mimed performances but had done so at the 2003 Rugby World Cup in Sydney, while the MSO said it had used a backing tape at the opening ceremony of the 2006 Commonwealth Games.

Beijing Olympic officials went on the defensive two weeks ago when it was revealed that pigtailed Lin Miaoke, who became a celebrity in China after her performance, had not actually done the singing.

It later emerged the real voice belonged to chubby seven-year-old Yang Peiyi, who was deemed not attractive enough to go on stage, and that the switch was ordered by a politburo member of China’s ruling Communist party.

Beijing Olympics 2008: Fake child singer

edgelacorte — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 03:10:24 +0000

Click here to read article

The Ugly side of China

sriniani — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 17:31:49 +0000

Yang Peiyi

Source: LA Times

My heart sank after reading this post. What a shame! This is how China treats its children. Poor Yang Peiyi.

China exagera no perfeccionismo em Olimpíadas 2008

Ronilson Araújo — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 22:32:36 +0000

A face e a voz Com US$ 40 bilhões de dólares investidos nos Jogos Olímpicos de Pequim, o governo chi

Cuando una imagen vale más que una bonita voz

Tres de Cuatro — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 23:54:54 +0000

Yang Peiyi puso la voz y Liu Miaoke puso la sonrisa, aunque para los millones de espectadores que siguieron la ceremonia inaugural de los JJOO la única presente en cuerpo y (en este caso) voz, fue la segunda de estas dos niñas, que estos días han sido noticia y debate en los diferentes medios de gran parte del mundo (exceptuando los medios chinos, claro esta, que han silenciado el asunto).

Los chinos en un intento de hacer la mejor (y más visual) ceremonia inaugural en la historia de unos JJOO, se esmeraron en cuidar cada uno de los detalles que conformaban dicho acto. Tanto fue el detallismo (que no es de extrañar en los orientales) que el físico, y en especial, los dientes de leche de la pequeña Peiyi no cumplían los requisitos de imagen que se quería mostrar a las audiencias. ¿Qué hacer? Conservamos la voz y cambiamos el cuerpo por uno que este acorde con la imagen deseada. De este modo los chinos han conseguido el playback televisado con mayor audiencia de todos los tiempos.

¿Quién tomó la decisión? ¿El cineasta Zhang Yimou, encargado de dirigir la ceremonia, o los altos cargos chinos buscando la mejor estética patriótica? Fuese quien fuese, el hecho es que debemos entender el acto inaugural como un largometraje dirigido por un cineasta. Y los cineastas buscan la representación de lo real. Por eso no es de extrañar los planos con la niña de espaldas o la exclusión de primeros planos para evitar lo que no era natural. Y es que si repasásemos a lo largo de la historia de la gran pantalla, veríamos que no son pocos los casos en los que la voz se ha sustituido por una mejor; y nosotros sentados en la butaca hemos disfrutado con ello, sin pensar en que es un engaño, en cualquier caso se trata de ficción.

Miquel Cornellà de la Cruz

"Farewell," Jodie Foster

femspotter — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 17:08:58 +0000

August 21, 2008 As it turns out, America isn’t the only country obsessed with pigeonholing you

Beauty is really skin deep

anagernale — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 07:16:25 +0000

Just before going to work, It has been my habit of watching a popular TV show Good Morning Kuya, UNTV 37’s morning stint hosted by one of the most respected broadcaster here in the Philippines Mr. Daniel Razon. This morning (at the “pondahan”) Kuya (Mr. Daniel Razon) showed the “pondahan” people specifically dat girl, a newspaper stating that Australia needs ugly foreign workers. They all laugh out because they thought that dat girl will fit the qualifications. (ha..ha..ha.. it made me laugh too).

Well, It’s very good if it is really that way since most of the companies today go for beautiful people instead of skillful ones. Studies shows that people with face value have a higher chances of getting the job they want and receiving higher compensation and benefits compared to those who are typical and plain looking (I don’t want to use the “ugly” term).

I remember one of my colleagues says “beautiful people, beautiful opportunities”. If this is the case, then I really feel sorry to those who are born not-so-good-looking (and for my self too!hu..hu..hu..)! Isn’t it discriminating? You won’t be hired even if you have all the qualifications (and at times even better) the company needed for the job just because you don’t passed their physical standards? (you’re not even disabled!)

Whenever I see newspaper ads saying like they need those with “pleasing personality” I used to think of it as applicants who are dressed neatly or should be at least presentable enough and not as though they we’re buying for a beauty title in a beauty pageant.

Just how do these people define beauty? by the tone of their skin? the curves of their bodies? the angle of their face? the lift of their nose? or if their teeth is of complete set? If this is our perspective, we might be looking merely on aesthetic features.

There are more important aspects of beauty than the one that can be seen by the human eyes. People can be beautiful in so many ways, maybe on how they carry themselves amidst some unexpected situations, how smart or talented they are or how they take part on changing lives of those who struggles for it.

And why am I blogging this is because I want to express how I felt when I have read an internet write up about this 7 year old girl named Yang Peiyi who was not allowed to sing the Chinese National Anthem on the opening ceremonies (Broadcast globally) of the 2008 Beijing Olympics just because she is chubby and has buck teeth (i find her cute though)! Instead she has been replaced by Lin Mioke, who is more flawless and much more perfect for the Chinese government to what as they say “of national interest”. And the more frustrating part is that they used Yang Peiyi’s amazing voice while Lin Mioke lip synched it.

I felt pity for Yang Peiyi because at her young age, she has already experienced the cruelty of this unfair world, whose eyes are set on beauty which resembles advertisements and magazine covers. I also felt sorry for Lin Mioke for she has been “used”.

I would suggest that we should leave the children alone and let us not pollute their minds with injustice and indifference. Let us spare them from thoughts of discrimination and inequality. Just leave these issues to the adults and let them resolve it.

As for me, what’s more important is the beauty that comes from within. Your attitude towards life and others and your relationship with God. Good looks will fade as you grow old, all of us will end up toothless with wrinkled skin and gray hair, no one will be exempted.

Let us live our lives serving our Creator to the best that we can, for in the end we will be judged by our standard of life and not by our standard of living; by our inner self and not by the outward man.

Now, I'm not a racist..

sonofthed — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 00:10:33 +0000

but fuck China. They have some serious explaining to do.

http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,24173149-661,00.html

And Yao Ming is a bitch.

Singing In Beijing

adamsmith1922 — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 09:30:18 +0000

Scoopit!

From the excellent Beau Bo D’Or a superb parody on the Olympics opening and the miming of Ode to the Motherland – after all, as he notes, where might they have got the idea.

Yang Peiyi,iarta-i !

sorinborodi — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 09:42:51 +0000

Yang Peiyi,iarta-i !

Yang Peiyi,vocea ta minunata nu a fost,se pare,suficienta pentru a reprezenta Marea China.Pentru asta te rugam sa-i ierti.Ei vor probabil ca peste tot sa apara doar chipul omului nou.
Dar ce sa ne miram,istoria mai consemneaza un caz in care un personaj de cosmar dorea o natiune de blonzi inalti cu ochi albastri.
Nu ai fost considerata demna pentru maretia acelui moment.Asa ca au facut un hibrid,o struţocamilă.In ochii lor tu ai fost gasita vinovata.Ca ai dintii stricati si pica rau la cameră.Ca esti putin cam dolofana pentru a ilustra Marea Stare de Exceptionala Sanatate a Comunismului pentru care individul in sine nu reprezinta nimic,daca nu serveste “interesului national”
Dar sa stii,Yang Peiyi,a ta este slava momentului !Iarta-i,te rugam.Ei nu stiu ca,prin natura firii si a simtirilor omenesti,un copil nu are cum sa fie urăt.
Iarta-i,ca doar tu poti face aceasta.Te-au transformat intr-un MP3 din recuzita lor poleita cu aur de gâscă si iluzii intru gloria socialismului cu specific chinez.
Poate acum nici macar nu ai dorinta de a-i ierta,esti prea neprihanita pentru a te afecta jocurile de culise si hârtia creponata in asa fel ca sa para mai creponata decat este in realitate.
Cand vei creste si vei munci,probabil,intr-o fabrica pentru 1 dolar pe zi,s-ar putea sa faci niste asociatii intre festivitatea deschiderii,asa cum a incercat ea sa-i faca pe chinezi mai chinezi decat sunt si alte tentative ale mintii omenesti de a falsifica realitatea.Si aceasta “cu voia,nu fara de voia”.Cam ca in brosurile unei anumite secte de rataciti,in care negrii nu sunt infatisati tocmai negri….ci asa,mulatri,ca sa nu fie “urâti”.Ochii oblici ai asiaticilor sunt un pic adusi din condei,albii sunt toti bronzati,iar Adam si Eva,in mijlocul fiarelor,arată ca proaspat iesiti de la coafor.
Dar până atunci,iarta-i ! Trebuia sa vina anul 2008 si sa ne aduca Olimpiada lui David Copperfield si al lui PhotoShop….
Ar trebui ca toate medaliile de aur sa ti le dea,le meriti.Tu esti cea mai mare victima a acestei festivitati faraonice.
Yang Peiyi,iartă-i si cântă,iti promit ca vom pune Youtube pe bară si vom privi fotografia ta,macar 3 minute cat tine melodia.

Yang Peiyi, China's most famous playback singer

otterman — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 09:38:06 +0000

I was bemused by the news about China’s Politburo-sanctioned (or ordered) switch of a more attractive kid for the role of the serenading child performing “Hymm to the Motherland” (a patriotic ballad) to the billion-audience at the opening of the Beijing Olympics.

The news reports were rabid of course since controversy sells. What struck me was the fact that the “show’s musical designer [Chen Qigang] felt forced to set the record straight … in an interview with Beijing radio.” (Telegraph, 12 Aug 2008).

Wow, really? Really appreciates talent, he does.

Americans like Jon Stewart are wondering what the fuss is about – apparently this is staple at major events like the Super Bowl.

Mind you, this is beyond lip-synching – not only was the singer not singing live (even if the kid thought she was, in this case), it wasn’t her voice. This setup sounded vaguely familiar until it dawned just now – Indian movies! Playback singers have been a staple in movies from the subcontinent for decades. The actual singers are well known to the adoring masses who enjoy the collusion of eye candy backed by heavenly tones. Just like fans of professional wrestling, they are happy to believe. There is enough reality in life.

The funny bits then were the indignant journalists (“why didn’t you tell us”) and the IOC officer’s defense using a poorly applied athletic analogy. Luckily there actually was sporting action to distract us. And I’ve learnt to cycle with my knees pointed inwards since!

Como nascem as pessoas feias?

Carol Simionato — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 05:02:02 +0000

Pela sociedade.

Sim, você deve imaginar bem do que vou falar agora. Da imagem que pensamos ser a beleza.

Não acho que seja viagem minha dizer que a gente é feio ou bonito por causa da sociedade. Afinal, os padrões de beleza foram criados há muitos anos por alguéns [q], e impostos, de forma que permacenem até hoje como o padrão.

Tá que, mesmo assim, constantemente alguma coisa muda: antigamente uma mulher ter coxas grossas e peitos pequenos [era assim, né?] era bonito, admirável. Hoje, nem tanto. Mas, anyway, sempre há aquele padrãozinho, quer dizer, aquele tipo que é bonito hoje, ontem, amanhã e sempre.

Claro, o que consideramos beleza está em constante mudança, mas admitamos que nunca fugimos de um certo padrão: magra, ou pelo menos não muito gorda [também para os homens], sem muitos sinais, principalmente no rosto, etc.

Mas eu principalmente quero falar de dois exemplos sobre beleza: o primeiro, não muito importante por não ser… real, a mulher de A Mulher Que Escreveu a Bíblia (Moacyr Scliar), e o segundo, e mais importante por ser real, da menina bonitinha que dublou a feinha na abertura das Olimpiadas. “Afffff, Olimpiadas de novo??” É, de novo. Não gosto muito desse evento, mas já que surgiu a oportunidade de usá-lo como exemplo, usemos

Em “A Mulher Que Escreveu a Bíblia”, ela não tem idéia de que é feia até certo pedaço da narrativa. Ela, que viria a se tornar uma centenas de mulheres do Rei Salomão (mas por um motivo totalmente diferente), sempre foi meio discriminada por outras crianças, as quais não queriam muito brincar com ela e a zombavam. Certo dia, sua irmã estava com um espelho – o qual era proibido de circular por lá, por ordens do pai e patriarca da tribo -, e ela, sabendo que era proibido, resolveu ir lá e se virar com a irmã. Lutaram, e tal, e ela arrancou-lhe o espelho: ao se ver, levou um choque histórico. Não imaginava ser tão feia, e pôs a culpa na mãe e tudo mais… Enfim, ela se sentiu muito mal por ser feia, na verdade, horrível, segundo sua descrição. Passou a ficar muito tempo numa montanha que tinha lá perto. Ao chegar no palácio do Rei, quase todas as esposas e concubinas deste riram da pobre feia. Ok, é apenas um livro, mas podemos dizer que seria exatamente assim se fosse real, fosse naquela época a qual é retratada, ou seja nesta época na qual vivemos.

Indo para um caso um pouco mais polêmico e relevante, falemos então sobre as meninas chinesas Yang Peiyi e Lin Miaoke.

Acho que todos sabem sobre este, não? A menina Yang, na abertura dos jogos Olímpicos de Pequim, cantou aquela musiquinha, saca? Na verdade dublou a outra menina, Lin, a qual, convenhamos, não é feia; apenas tem imperfeições nos dentes e… é um pouco feia, sim, ok.

O organizador diz que não foi errado dublar a menina. Será? Não lembro onde, mas ouvi dizer que a menina não se importou de não aparecer… Bem, pelo menos é o que disseram, e menos mal. Aí voltamos ao ponto do outro post: tentativa de perfeição, até nisso? Acho que sim. Mas isso não importa muito.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/portuguese/reporterbbc/story/2008/08/080813_meninadublada_chinarg.shtml

Admitindo ter usado dois exemplos não muito… convincentes, prossigo com o assunto: a feiúra.

Como eu dizia, há muitíssimo tempo atrás, e como o livro de Moacyr Scliar mostra, muito tempo mesmo, alguém disse que esse tipo de pessoa seria bonito, esse não. Ou mais ou menos isso. E eu não pretendo mudar isso, nem conseguiria. Mas o que me pergunto é: o que há de tão errado ter imperfeições nos dentes, no rosto, falhas, estrabismo, cabelos opacos e tudo mais? Por que não consideraram isso feio? Aliás… Mesmo questionando tudo isso, continuo achando feio o que citei acima. Não exatamente feio, mas… É, feio sim, a quem quero enganar?

O fato é que não consigo e nem conseguirei mudar esta mentalidade, o que não é de grande importância.

Mas além do fato do molde de beleza, chegamos, exaustivamente, a outro ponto: o preconceito. Sim, não vá me dizer que os feios não sofrem disso, né? Na escola vejo isso sempre. Há uma menina que é mãe, e que os garotos consideram não ser bonita. Já ouvi comentários do tipo “Quem será que comeu essa daí? Corajoso, véi! Se fosse eu só ia nela se tampasse o rosto [risos patéticos]“, e por aí vai.

Iii, mas o preconceito é tema para oooutro dia. Espero que não tenha ficado muito ruim este post, porque eu não achei muito bom y_y Enfim…

Digamos que falei, falei, e quase não falei nada. Ou não. O que me dá idéias para mais posts, que não cessarão! Bem, não cessarão se a Internet ajudar.

Beijos, abraços.

PS: Neste link [http://p30link.wordpress.com/2008/08/17/top-posts-portugues-do-brasil/], o meu post sobre as Olimpiadas e a tentativa de perfeição aparece em 65º lugar! Issaê! Nem sei que site é direito, não sei se é muito… confiável, não sei como chegaram até mim. Mas tá lá!!