2008 Summer Olympics: Official Discussion Thread
08-12-2008, 12:37 AM
#203
I drive a Subata.
iTrader: (1)
US swimming team!
08-12-2008, 02:38 AM
#205
Moderator
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Not Las Vegas (SF Bay Area)
Age: 40
Posts: 63,306
Received 2,811 Likes
on
1,991 Posts
heh just watched the US take gold in the mens double trap. crazy how accurate those guys are with the shotgun.
to park tae hwan!
08-12-2008, 10:42 AM
#209
The sizzle in the Steak
China: We will have not ugly little chinese girls in our opening ceremonies!
The girl in the red dress with the pigtails, called Lin Miaoke, 9, and from a Beijing primary school, has become a national sensation since Friday night, giving interviews to all the most popular newspapers.
But the show's musical designer felt forced to set the record straight. He gave an interview to Beijing radio saying the real singer was a seven-year-old girl who had won a gruelling competition to perform the anthem, a patriotic song called "Hymn to the Motherland".
At the last moment a member of the Chinese politburo who was watching a rehearsal pronounced that the winner, a girl called Yang Peiyi, might have a perfect voice but was unsuited to the lead role because of her buck teeth.
So, on the night, while a pre-recording of Yang Peiyi singing was played, Lin Miaoke, who has already featured in television advertisements, was seen but not heard.
"This was a last-minute question, a choice we had to make," the ceremony's musical designer, Chen Qigang, said. "Our rehearsals had already been vetted several times - they were all very strict. When we had the dress rehearsals, there were spectators from various divisions, including above all a member of the politburo who gave us his verdict: we had to make the swap."
Mr Chen's interview gave an extraordinary insight into the control exercised over the ceremony by the Games' political overseers, all to ensure the country was seen at its best.
Officials have already admitted that the pictures of giant firework footprints which marched across Beijing towards the stadium on Friday night were prerecorded, digitally enhanced and inserted into footage beamed across the world.
Mr Chen said the initial hopefuls to sing the anthem had been reduced to ten, and one, a ten-year-old, had originally been chosen for the quality of her voice. But she, too, had fallen by the wayside because she was not "cute" enough.
"We used her to sing in all the rehearsals," Mr Chen said. "But in the end the director thought her image was not the most appropriate, because she was a little too old. Regrettably, we had to let her go."
At that point Yang Peiyi stepped up to the plate.
"The main consideration was the national interest," he said. "The child on the screen should be flawless in image, in her internal feelings, and in her expression. In the matter of her voice, Yang Peiyi was flawless, in the unanimous opinion of all the members of the team."
That was until attention turned to Yang Peiyi's teeth. Nevertheless, Mr Chen thought the end result a perfect compromise.
"We have a responsibility to face the audience of the whole country, and to be open with this explanation," he said. "We should all understand it like this: it is a question of the national interest. It is a question of the image of our national music, our national culture.
"Especially at the entrance of our national flag, this is an extremely important, an extremely serious matter.
"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."
One question remains: why was Lin Miaoke allowed to give interviews in which she lapped up the praise for her singing. Mr Chen said she might not have known that the words she was singing could not be heard. She had, in fact, only known she was going to perform at all 15 minutes beforehand.
Yang Peiyi is said to have reacted well to the disappointment. "I am proud to have been chosen to sing at all," she is reported to have said.
But the show's musical designer felt forced to set the record straight. He gave an interview to Beijing radio saying the real singer was a seven-year-old girl who had won a gruelling competition to perform the anthem, a patriotic song called "Hymn to the Motherland".
At the last moment a member of the Chinese politburo who was watching a rehearsal pronounced that the winner, a girl called Yang Peiyi, might have a perfect voice but was unsuited to the lead role because of her buck teeth.
So, on the night, while a pre-recording of Yang Peiyi singing was played, Lin Miaoke, who has already featured in television advertisements, was seen but not heard.
"This was a last-minute question, a choice we had to make," the ceremony's musical designer, Chen Qigang, said. "Our rehearsals had already been vetted several times - they were all very strict. When we had the dress rehearsals, there were spectators from various divisions, including above all a member of the politburo who gave us his verdict: we had to make the swap."
Mr Chen's interview gave an extraordinary insight into the control exercised over the ceremony by the Games' political overseers, all to ensure the country was seen at its best.
Officials have already admitted that the pictures of giant firework footprints which marched across Beijing towards the stadium on Friday night were prerecorded, digitally enhanced and inserted into footage beamed across the world.
Mr Chen said the initial hopefuls to sing the anthem had been reduced to ten, and one, a ten-year-old, had originally been chosen for the quality of her voice. But she, too, had fallen by the wayside because she was not "cute" enough.
"We used her to sing in all the rehearsals," Mr Chen said. "But in the end the director thought her image was not the most appropriate, because she was a little too old. Regrettably, we had to let her go."
At that point Yang Peiyi stepped up to the plate.
"The main consideration was the national interest," he said. "The child on the screen should be flawless in image, in her internal feelings, and in her expression. In the matter of her voice, Yang Peiyi was flawless, in the unanimous opinion of all the members of the team."
That was until attention turned to Yang Peiyi's teeth. Nevertheless, Mr Chen thought the end result a perfect compromise.
"We have a responsibility to face the audience of the whole country, and to be open with this explanation," he said. "We should all understand it like this: it is a question of the national interest. It is a question of the image of our national music, our national culture.
"Especially at the entrance of our national flag, this is an extremely important, an extremely serious matter.
"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."
One question remains: why was Lin Miaoke allowed to give interviews in which she lapped up the praise for her singing. Mr Chen said she might not have known that the words she was singing could not be heard. She had, in fact, only known she was going to perform at all 15 minutes beforehand.
Yang Peiyi is said to have reacted well to the disappointment. "I am proud to have been chosen to sing at all," she is reported to have said.
08-12-2008, 11:41 AM
#210
Team Owner
I shouldn't be surprised considering the opening ceremonies fireworks were faked on the broadcast.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26139005/
Originally Posted by MSNBC
updated 10:16 a.m. PT, Mon., Aug. 11, 2008
Part of the elaborate Olympics fireworks show broadcast to the world in the opening ceremony was altered, done digitally in 3-D computer graphics, according to several news reports.
While the dramatic display actually happened as portrayed on television, members of the Beijing Olympic Committee said it was necessary to replace live video with computer-generated imagery because the city’s hazy, smoggy skies made it too difficult to see, according to The Beijing Times, which first reported the story.
Committee members also said they were concerned that the helicopter pilot who would have flown overhead to film the fireworks would have been “at risk by making him try to follow the firework route,” according to a quote from a committee member reported in a Daily Telegraph story.
NBC broadcasters Matt Lauer and Bob Costas made mention of the alteration as it aired.
"You’re looking at a cinematic device employed by Zhang Yimou here," Lauer said. "This is actually almost animation. A footstep a second, 29 in all, to signify the 29 Olympiads."
Costas responded, "We said earlier that aspects of this Opening Ceremony are almost like cinema in real time. Well this is quite literally cinematic."
It took planners almost a year to create the 55-second sequence which appeared to be more than two dozen footprints amidst fireworks in the sky, said Gao Xiaolong, head of the visual effects team for the ceremony, in the Daily Telegraph story.
Even those at the city’s new Bird’s Nest National Stadium, where the Olympics are being held, viewed the computer-generated footage from their seats as they watched on the stadium’s giant television screens, said Britain’s Sky News in a story.
“Stunned viewers thought they were watching the string of fireworks filmed from above by a helicopter,” said SkyNews.com. “But in reality they were watching a 3-D graphics sequence that took almost a year to produce.”
There were some real fireworks going on outside the stadium. But the footprint display was “inserted into the coverage electronically at exactly the right moment,” the Daily Telegraph said.
“Meticulous efforts were made to ensure the sequence was as unnoticeable as possible,” the newspaper reported Xiaolong as saying. “They sought advice from the Beijing meteorological office as to how to recreate the hazy effects of Beijing’s smog at night, and inserted a slight camera shake effect to simulate the idea that it was filmed from a helicopter.”
“Seeing how it worked out, it was still a bit too bright compared to the actual fireworks,” Xiaolong said in comments that appeared in the Daily Telegraph. “But most of the audience thought it was filmed live — so that was mission accomplished.”
Because the only organization in control of all Olympics footage is Beijing Olympic Broadcasting, the feed went out to everyone broadcasting the event, including NBC, which has exclusive rights in the United States to show the games. NBC's online coverage is being delivered by the MSN Network, NBCOlympics.com on MSN. (Msnbc.com is a joint venture of Microsoft and NBC Universal.)
During Friday night’s opening ceremony, the network averaged 34.2 million viewers, making it the biggest television event since the Super Bowl, according to the Associated Press.
The network has been criticized itself for the 12-hour tape delay in showing the opening ceremonies, which it did because of the time difference between China and the United States, driving some viewers to other Web sites around the world to see the event live.
Part of the elaborate Olympics fireworks show broadcast to the world in the opening ceremony was altered, done digitally in 3-D computer graphics, according to several news reports.
While the dramatic display actually happened as portrayed on television, members of the Beijing Olympic Committee said it was necessary to replace live video with computer-generated imagery because the city’s hazy, smoggy skies made it too difficult to see, according to The Beijing Times, which first reported the story.
Committee members also said they were concerned that the helicopter pilot who would have flown overhead to film the fireworks would have been “at risk by making him try to follow the firework route,” according to a quote from a committee member reported in a Daily Telegraph story.
NBC broadcasters Matt Lauer and Bob Costas made mention of the alteration as it aired.
"You’re looking at a cinematic device employed by Zhang Yimou here," Lauer said. "This is actually almost animation. A footstep a second, 29 in all, to signify the 29 Olympiads."
Costas responded, "We said earlier that aspects of this Opening Ceremony are almost like cinema in real time. Well this is quite literally cinematic."
It took planners almost a year to create the 55-second sequence which appeared to be more than two dozen footprints amidst fireworks in the sky, said Gao Xiaolong, head of the visual effects team for the ceremony, in the Daily Telegraph story.
Even those at the city’s new Bird’s Nest National Stadium, where the Olympics are being held, viewed the computer-generated footage from their seats as they watched on the stadium’s giant television screens, said Britain’s Sky News in a story.
“Stunned viewers thought they were watching the string of fireworks filmed from above by a helicopter,” said SkyNews.com. “But in reality they were watching a 3-D graphics sequence that took almost a year to produce.”
There were some real fireworks going on outside the stadium. But the footprint display was “inserted into the coverage electronically at exactly the right moment,” the Daily Telegraph said.
“Meticulous efforts were made to ensure the sequence was as unnoticeable as possible,” the newspaper reported Xiaolong as saying. “They sought advice from the Beijing meteorological office as to how to recreate the hazy effects of Beijing’s smog at night, and inserted a slight camera shake effect to simulate the idea that it was filmed from a helicopter.”
“Seeing how it worked out, it was still a bit too bright compared to the actual fireworks,” Xiaolong said in comments that appeared in the Daily Telegraph. “But most of the audience thought it was filmed live — so that was mission accomplished.”
Because the only organization in control of all Olympics footage is Beijing Olympic Broadcasting, the feed went out to everyone broadcasting the event, including NBC, which has exclusive rights in the United States to show the games. NBC's online coverage is being delivered by the MSN Network, NBCOlympics.com on MSN. (Msnbc.com is a joint venture of Microsoft and NBC Universal.)
During Friday night’s opening ceremony, the network averaged 34.2 million viewers, making it the biggest television event since the Super Bowl, according to the Associated Press.
The network has been criticized itself for the 12-hour tape delay in showing the opening ceremonies, which it did because of the time difference between China and the United States, driving some viewers to other Web sites around the world to see the event live.
08-12-2008, 11:47 AM
#211
The sizzle in the Steak
Sold-out......but where are the spectators??
Until now we've all been reporting that the Chinese are thrilled at their Olympics. From the snapshot conversations I've had with ordinary people, that's certainly been my view. But now, as better evidence starts to arrive, the doubts are creeping in. Where are all the spectators?
We were told by the Games organisers that apart from a few football matches outside Beijing, every one of the 6.8 million Olympic seats was sold, and had been for weeks. We saw pictures of people fighting for tickets. This would not, it seemed, be the normal Olympic story where the early rounds and the more obscure sports struggle to attract interest.
But this week, even in sports with a serious chance of glory for the nation, there have been hundreds, even thousands, of empty seats.
At the women's archery, China won silver - but the stands at the Olympic Green Archery Field were only just over half full.
Admitting today that he was "concerned about not filling the seats," Wang Wei, executive vice-president of the Beijing Games organising committee, confessed that Olympic volunteers had been pressed into service to fill up the empty spaces and "encourage atmosphere".
And he offered what you might call the British Rail excuse. "I think it is due to a number of factors, [such as] the weather conditions - hot, humid and then rain," said Mr Wang. "
The seats are sold out. Some people have tickets for the whole day but only attend the morning, afternoon or evening session." Sponsors and athletes' families, too, are blamed for not using their allocations.
Over the weekend the rain was indeed heavy but Beijingers must be acclimatised to heat and humidity. And as for the sponsors - mostly Western corporations - there cannot be that many sponsors' guests in a country so far away from where the main corporate headquarters are.
Mr Wang did not mention this, but it seems likely that the heavy hand of choreography and security that's settled on Beijing has done far more to put off would-be spectators than any thunderstorm.
And there's one other explanation that went unmentioned: that in Beijing, the age-old Olympic discipline of spin is alive and kicking.
It emerged yesterday that part of Friday's opening ceremony, the bit where 29 giant "footprints of fire" advanced towards the Bird's Nest, was faked. For that section of the programme, TV viewers, and those of us watching on big screens inside the stadium, saw pre-recorded, digitally created fireworks, not real ones.
That worldwide TV audience was said, on the night, to have numbered four billion. This actually turns out to have been the total possible reach of all the stations carrying the broadcast. The actual audience was a rather lower one billion, five million of whom were in Britain.
In a Games where, as we've been reporting, the entire host city has been turned into a kind of Potemkin Olympic village for the duration, with significant parts of its real personality suppressed, such untruths may not be surprising.
But the sad thing is that the real bits of the ceremony were great: one billion TV viewers is still an incredibly impressive number and few, if any, previous Olympics have been total sell-outs.
In its desperation to be seen as the most perfect Games in human history, Beijing 2008 may have held itself to a standard that it cannot truthfully fulfil and created conditions which work against a totally successful event. There really is such a thing as trying too hard.
We were told by the Games organisers that apart from a few football matches outside Beijing, every one of the 6.8 million Olympic seats was sold, and had been for weeks. We saw pictures of people fighting for tickets. This would not, it seemed, be the normal Olympic story where the early rounds and the more obscure sports struggle to attract interest.
But this week, even in sports with a serious chance of glory for the nation, there have been hundreds, even thousands, of empty seats.
At the women's archery, China won silver - but the stands at the Olympic Green Archery Field were only just over half full.
Admitting today that he was "concerned about not filling the seats," Wang Wei, executive vice-president of the Beijing Games organising committee, confessed that Olympic volunteers had been pressed into service to fill up the empty spaces and "encourage atmosphere".
And he offered what you might call the British Rail excuse. "I think it is due to a number of factors, [such as] the weather conditions - hot, humid and then rain," said Mr Wang. "
The seats are sold out. Some people have tickets for the whole day but only attend the morning, afternoon or evening session." Sponsors and athletes' families, too, are blamed for not using their allocations.
Over the weekend the rain was indeed heavy but Beijingers must be acclimatised to heat and humidity. And as for the sponsors - mostly Western corporations - there cannot be that many sponsors' guests in a country so far away from where the main corporate headquarters are.
Mr Wang did not mention this, but it seems likely that the heavy hand of choreography and security that's settled on Beijing has done far more to put off would-be spectators than any thunderstorm.
And there's one other explanation that went unmentioned: that in Beijing, the age-old Olympic discipline of spin is alive and kicking.
It emerged yesterday that part of Friday's opening ceremony, the bit where 29 giant "footprints of fire" advanced towards the Bird's Nest, was faked. For that section of the programme, TV viewers, and those of us watching on big screens inside the stadium, saw pre-recorded, digitally created fireworks, not real ones.
That worldwide TV audience was said, on the night, to have numbered four billion. This actually turns out to have been the total possible reach of all the stations carrying the broadcast. The actual audience was a rather lower one billion, five million of whom were in Britain.
In a Games where, as we've been reporting, the entire host city has been turned into a kind of Potemkin Olympic village for the duration, with significant parts of its real personality suppressed, such untruths may not be surprising.
But the sad thing is that the real bits of the ceremony were great: one billion TV viewers is still an incredibly impressive number and few, if any, previous Olympics have been total sell-outs.
In its desperation to be seen as the most perfect Games in human history, Beijing 2008 may have held itself to a standard that it cannot truthfully fulfil and created conditions which work against a totally successful event. There really is such a thing as trying too hard.
08-12-2008, 01:17 PM
#213
China's always worried about saving face, and it seems to backfire quite often.
08-12-2008, 01:33 PM
#216
Three Wheelin'
Join Date: Aug 2001
Location: Oakland...smokin'
Posts: 1,555
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Just to be clear....
Ths USA basketballl sechdule is showing eastern time correct? I missed this morning's Angola game cause I thought it would be 8am pacific - cause the USA-China game was broadcast at the time listed.
Ths USA basketballl sechdule is showing eastern time correct? I missed this morning's Angola game cause I thought it would be 8am pacific - cause the USA-China game was broadcast at the time listed.
08-12-2008, 01:45 PM
#217
Damn... fake singing, fake fireworks... next thing we'll find out is that the guy who lit the torch didn't really fly.
08-12-2008, 02:08 PM
#219
The sizzle in the Steak
There were no glitches...everything was perfect.
08-12-2008, 02:33 PM
#220
The sizzle in the Steak
Why no medals so far for teh 
?
?
A most appropriate use of smileys.
08-12-2008, 03:34 PM
#223
Senior Moderator
Congrats to both Aaron Piersol and Natalie Coughlin for their performances last night in the 100 back. I have a soft spot since 100 back was also my event. 
And I must say, Piersol is one hot piece of ass.
And I must say, Piersol is one hot piece of ass.
08-12-2008, 04:36 PM
#224
Moderator
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Not Las Vegas (SF Bay Area)
Age: 40
Posts: 63,306
Received 2,811 Likes
on
1,991 Posts
Originally Posted by Black Tire
HAHAH...giltch at the opening:
apparently that screen was like that for 2 hours in the opening ceremony before a technician caught it.
08-12-2008, 04:39 PM
#225
Team Owner
Originally Posted by LuvMyTSX
Congrats to both Aaron Piersol and Natalie Coughlin for their performances last night in the 100 back. I have a soft spot since 100 back was also my event.
And I must say, Piersol is one hot piece of ass.
And I must say, Piersol is one hot piece of ass.
08-12-2008, 04:44 PM
#226
Moderator
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Not Las Vegas (SF Bay Area)
Age: 40
Posts: 63,306
Received 2,811 Likes
on
1,991 Posts
Originally Posted by lowpost
tickets are probably too expensive for most Chinese
and that was for the more popular events like swimming. Something like archery the tickets are 50 yuan ($8)
08-12-2008, 04:51 PM
#227
Benchwarmer
Originally Posted by Mizouse
i was looking at the prices and they aren't terribly expensive, the closest seats usually ran about 800 yuan ($116) and the further back seats were 100 yuan ($15)
and that was for the more popular events like swimming. Something like archery the tickets are 50 yuan ($8)
and that was for the more popular events like swimming. Something like archery the tickets are 50 yuan ($8)
08-12-2008, 04:53 PM
#228
The sizzle in the Steak
Originally Posted by IlliNorge
That's 3 months' salary to them. I would be interested to know what they are paying all the helpers in the blue and white uniforms.
08-12-2008, 05:10 PM
#229
Moderator
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Not Las Vegas (SF Bay Area)
Age: 40
Posts: 63,306
Received 2,811 Likes
on
1,991 Posts
Originally Posted by IlliNorge
That's 3 months' salary to them. I would be interested to know what they are paying all the helpers in the blue and white uniforms.
08-12-2008, 10:01 PM
#230
Moderator
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Not Las Vegas (SF Bay Area)
Age: 40
Posts: 63,306
Received 2,811 Likes
on
1,991 Posts
so phelps has 4 golds right now, and possibly his 5th in 19 minutes
08-12-2008, 10:37 PM
#235
Moderator
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Not Las Vegas (SF Bay Area)
Age: 40
Posts: 63,306
Received 2,811 Likes
on
1,991 Posts
i hate that i have to watch swimming on NBC. give me the option to watch it live online 
08-12-2008, 10:38 PM
#236
Moderator
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Not Las Vegas (SF Bay Area)
Age: 40
Posts: 63,306
Received 2,811 Likes
on
1,991 Posts
Originally Posted by sho_nuff1997
China is catching us in total metals.
08-12-2008, 11:10 PM
#240
Moderator
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Not Las Vegas (SF Bay Area)
Age: 40
Posts: 63,306
Received 2,811 Likes
on
1,991 Posts
nvm.