Her voice was melodious. One in a billion. But unfortunately, same couldn’t be said about her looks.

 

The little, 7-year old Yang Peiyi had a chubby face and an uneven teeth.

But whose fault is it, anyway ? Well, it hardly matters. The little girl had to pay the price.

 

The Chinese wondered, what the billions of viewers around the world would think, if the petite song bird,
Yang Peiyi sang “Ode to the motherland” on the opening day of Beijing Olympics, with a buckteeth ?

 

They were ashamed. But they wanted her mellifluous voice. They couldn’t find a replacement for such
a great voice.

 

It is here that the legendary Chinese skills of making counterfeits came to their rescue.

 

But, what a tragedy ?

 

Little did the 91,000 people on that Friday night knew that it was not the beautiful, photogenic, Lin Miaoke
on stage, who is singing the patriotic song..!

 

As a matter of fact, it was the melodious voice of poor Yang Peiyi that soared above the enthralled audience.

 

But she was nowhere on sight. Because she had no camera-friendly face…!

 

Alas, lip-synching had entered the Olympics..!

 

Peiyi was robbed of a once in a lifetime moment. Simply because she was not pretty…!

 

Pretty is the queen that rules our land. But very few know, beauty is not in the face ; true beauty is a light
in the heart.

 

Memories are short. We may forget this episode in a while. Can the two girls forget so easily ?

 

I’m sure, Peiyi will be constantly reminded in life, “ am not pretty enough, that’s why I was hidden”.

And for Lin, well, ” I could not sing, because my voice was not good enough”.

 

And just imagine, to carry all this burden on their little shoulders when they’re just under 10.

 

China’s gold and silvers may not be enough to wipe out the tooth marks in these young hearts…!

 

http://bahrainahim.sulekha.com/blog/post/2008/08/beijing-olympics-the-untold-story.htm