Great Expectations? - Archive - August 2008

N.B. Blog written on the second day of the Olympic Games, therefore views or comments made were held at the time of writing. Anything written may or mat not still be accurate!

The opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics 2008 at the Bird’s Nest National Stadium has certainly been a speculative and glamorous occasion, and the progressive events to follow have certainly lived up to the immense expectations of the worldwide spectator. Records are being made and broken within the blink of an eye and heroes are constantly being discovered. However, whispers are increasing regarding 2012, and how - or if - the Brits will conquer the Chinese on the world stage. Seemingly impossible to beat this year, the Chinese have certainly set the bar high with their majestic displays of fireworks, music and acrobatics accompanied by a two thousand strong beat of the drum.

However, cracks are already starting to show. Trickery has been officially admitted by the organisers of the opening ceremony. Only five days into the games and already two deceptive strategies have been discovered. Firstly, the fireworks designed to paint ‘footprints’ in the polluted Beijing air were in fact computer generated - fake. Speaking in The Beijing Times, Gao Xiaolong - head of visual effects - claimed "Seeing how it worked out, it was still a bit too bright compared to the actual fireworks," he said. "But most of the audience thought it was filmed live - so that was mission accomplished." The trick went unnoticed by the majority of the viewing public, but those who did notice the trick positively acknowledged it. It seems like Britain has a bit of breathing space to out perform the Chinese following another shock regarding the opening ceremony and the sham switching of a singer. The original singer, 7 year old Yang Peiyi, was switched for 9 year old Lin Miaoke, because Peiyi was too unattractive to be broadcasted - even though she had previously appeared in television advertisements. Miaoke lip-synched over a pre-recording of Peiyi at the opening ceremony and went down a tremendous success as a result. However, after news has emerged of this body trade, petitions have been set up to ‘Let Peiyi Sing’ at the closing ceremony. Another opportunity has opened up for the Brits to go one better, and the British dream of a mesmeric and faultless Games is still very much a possibility.

Ticket touting is ever-present in the Games, with handfuls of touts fearlessly and openly flogging tickets to the multiple events on show in Beijing; the police turning a blind eye to the subject even though imprisonment should accompany this illegal act. Furthermore, ticket holders aren’t even showing up to a large amount of events - volunteers are having to fill seats to make the Games appear more popular and pleasing to the millions of viewers who tune in daily from across the world.