Actually, the term “crooked teeth” has not been used by any Chinese; in fact, no disparaging remark has yet been made in public, at least, by any official about the girl whose voice was used. So where did it come from? Netizens have traced it to the London Times, from where it was picked up by the rest of the Western media.

Interestingly, the opening ceremony programme listed the names of both girls for the song. And, the morning after, when ceremony director, Zhang Yimou, found that Lin Miaoke, the girl on stage, had overnight become a national heroine, he thought the truth must be told.

Accordingly, the music director of the ceremony told Beijing Radio: “We have a responsibility to explain this to the Chinese viewers. I think the viewers should be able to understand that, in the national interest, for the perception of the country, it was an extremely important and serious matter to present the flag [in the best possible manner]. We made a decision, which I think was fair to both girls.”

Without choice

The transcript of the interview is now available. Explaining how the decision was made, the music director said: “It was felt afterward that Lin Miaoke’s voice wasn’t exactly suitable.... We thought it was in the national interest to put the one with the best appearance and expression on the stage. Lin Miaoke was a very good choice for this role. But in terms of the music, we all felt that Yang Peiyi had the flawless voice.... We played Lin Miaoke’s recording during one joint practice. Many reviewers, particularly someone in the Political Bureau of the Central Committee [of the Communist Party], made comments that it must be changed. We had no choice.”

The funny thing is, both the girls are friends, and when they were told, both said they didn’t mind. Yang Peiyi appeared on CCTV to say this. What else could she have said? Lin Miaoke’s father broke the news to her after he learnt the truth. But the entire incident has left a bad taste, made worse by the Western media’s cruel comments. Fortunately, neither of the girls reads foreign papers.

The Communist Party played as overpowering a role in deciding the final shape of the opening ceremony as Indian officials do in deciding our athletes’ fates. In an interview to a Guangzhou weekly, Zhang Yimou asserted that no other production had been scrutinized by such high-ranking party officials, starting from the vice-president. To persuade his team to incorporate the changes suggested by Central Committee leaders, he asked them to think of the latter as members of the audience making suggestions, not as leaders. Though the vice-president told him he could reject any opinion, Zhang was wise enough not to heed his advice. As he said, “You do not have a chance to talk back.”

Zhang gave an interesting justification for taking the leaders’ opinions seriously: like him, they had been sent to the countryside during Mao’s Cultural Revolution, but after that, had gone on to acquire Masters or PhD degrees. So they knew what they were talking about.