Talk:2008 Summer Olympics opening ceremony

The Mirror
The Daily Mirror source in the reception section has been removed by Nirvana888. I overviewed the archive, and found some editors objected to the source as being disrespectful and "no substance", "ignorant" and also "unprofessional". It should be noted that it shouldn't matter if "us", the users think of the review's as invalid, or question is it a truthful or respectful review? Since this is an opinion piece, the thing we should do is "attribute" the source and the author's opinion, and makes sure the reference was correctly cited. The review came from a published media outlet (Daily Mirror), and it is a criticism, thus it is fitting for this section. Plus, the previous statements in paragraph, in which citing the Straits Times states some reviewers as having cynical and hostile reaction, and I assume this review fits the criteria.--Balthazarduju (talk) 05:33, 4 September 2008 (UTC)
 * Beyond that it is clear that The Mirror is a "sensationalist, gossip-filled tabloid magazine" and therefore it would hardly constitute as a high quality review. If you can find a more credible source that gives a negative review, then please suggest. Another issue is undue weight, with praise widespread among the world's media outlets, the criticism section should not be as long as the section before. I thought it would be a good compromise (and certainly at least 3 other editors feel this way too) to leave it out for now. Since there is a relative consensus, I will remove it for the time being pending further objections. Nirvana888 (talk) 11:47, 4 September 2008 (UTC)
 * The criticism section suggested some reviews were of cynical and hostile tone, which the Daily Mirror fits the criteria. I'm not saying it is even a good review or a professional review, but the criticism do fit the content of this section.--Balthazarduju (talk) 14:50, 4 September 2008 (UTC)

Closing ceremony article still needs work!
Might I suggest that interested users contribute to 2008 Summer Olympics closing ceremony, which needs a lot of work to meet basic Wikipedia criteria, and which is nowhere near as comprehensive as this article. Considering the closing show was just as elaborate as the opening show, and generally praised as a lot more fun, this is surprising. Pro hib it O ni o ns (T) 09:13, 12 September 2008 (UTC)

Bush family attended the opening ceremony
President George W. Bush and his family including his father, former U.S. President George H. W. Bush and former State Secretary Henry Kissinger attended last month's opening ceremony.

Why Jenna Bush hadn't planned to attend the opening ceremony? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 121.96.106.55 (talk) 23:33, 17 September 2008 (UTC)

Girl lip-synching
The previous edits quoted Chen Qigang as saying Yang Peiyi was orginally selected, but then a politburo member said she looked ugly and should be replaced by Lin Miaoke.

Unfortunately, after listening to the recordings (reference #64), what Chen Qigang was saying is this:
 * There were about a dozen of children who were chosen from many candidates. The selection criteria were based first upon a lovely image, after which those with good singing voices were selected. (Note: Both Yang and Lin were selected based on this criteria, so nobody on the directing team actually regarded Yang as ugly)
 * Lin Miaoke was regarded by the directing team as having the best image, while Yang Peiyi was regarded as having the best voice. Lin was the best in terms of appearance and projection of inner feelings, but the breadth and range of her voice was inadequate.  Yang’s voice was regarded as impeccable by the entire team.
 * The directing team decided to let Lin appear while using Yang’s singing. The team believed that this arrangement was fairest to the two children.
 * The opening ceremony went through a number of rigourous screenings. At the final screening a member of the Politburo was present and also pointed out Lin’s voice was inadequate.  This was consistent with the directing team’s thinking.

So, I am afraid a number of the sources from the western media had taken Chen's remarks out of context and framed it in a biased way towards China. While personally I think that it is more desirable if Yang got the opportunity to perform in front of every one, all the talk that Yang was branded as ugly and replaced is without foundation.

Accordingly, I have ammended the relevant paragraphs.

Craddocktm (talk) 11:09, 30 November 2009 (UTC)


 * Unless you have reliable sources in English that support this, I'm afraid this runs into WP:NOR issues. It's got nothing about "western media" being "biased toward China" (or, indeed, the capricious politburo members who run it). For all we know, the Chinese-language source linked to here might be a later attempt to put a brave face on what, indisputably, had turned out to be a public-relations embarrassment; there is no context or date provided. Remember, the standard on Wikipedia is not truth but verifiability, and we have numerous reliable sources that suggest a politburo member objected to the singer's appearance (more specifically, teeth), and asked for another performer to appear. If tou can find a neutral source that examines this issue and shows how this was not the case, this should solve the problem. Pro hib it O ni o ns  (T) 22:33, 24 January 2010 (UTC)


 * Did you read reference #29? Taken from the New York Times, it reads, "In his radio interview, Mr. Chen said a member of the Communist Party’s powerful Politburo, whom he did not identify, attended one of the last rehearsals, along with many other officials, and demanded that Miaoke’s voice “must change.” I don't see how you can ignore this. When you say Chinese-language source might be a later attempt to cover up the embarrassment, it just shows a biased assumption you show towards Chinese sources. While I concede Chinese sources are frequently framed to favour Beijing, academics of media studies in the West have similarly pointed out Western sources are inherently biased towards China. See Mann, J. (1999). Covering China, Media Studies Journal, 13(1) p.102. Alternatively, see the comment of Bill Holstein, the current President of the Overseas Press Club of America (OPC):http://opcofamerica.wordpress.com/2007/09/07/by-bill-holstein. It is also worth noting that reference #62 is a video on youtube which was placed there on the same day as the Daily Telegraph article in reference #63. Therefore, while truth is not what we are after, it is a smoke screen to say that Chinese sources are not reliable while Western sources are, especially when the original meaning may be lost in translation.Craddocktm (talk) 17:58, 25 January 2010 (UTC)


 * Just found another source on the issue: http://www.smh.com.au/news/opinion/western-media-shows-its-ugly-face/2008/08/21/1219262408623.html. That should settle the matter.Craddocktm (talk) 18:02, 25 January 2010 (UTC)


 * So much for your defense Mr ProhibitOnions. Maybe if you weren't so caught up licking the teet of Western Propaganda, you'd realize just how much "western media" is biased toward China. Don't believe it still? Ask yourself when was the last time you saw a Hollywood movie or a show on tv with a decent Asian character that wasn't a martial artist or Jackie Chan. It's so bad they had to recast and remake the Hong Kong movie Infernal Affairs just to bring it to American audiences as The Departed. God forbid Andy Lau and Tony Leung show the west that Chinese people aren't all stereotypical or communists. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 207.38.213.212 (talk) 21:22, 13 July 2012 (UTC)

Ceremony shown on YouTube
I wish this ceremony was shown in its entirety without commercials on YouTube. Nate-Dawg921 (talk) 21:11, 1 December 2014 (UTC)

External links modified
Hello fellow Wikipedians,

I have just added archive links to 2 one external links on 2008 Summer Olympics opening ceremony. Please take a moment to review my edit. If necessary, add after the link to keep me from modifying it. Alternatively, you can add to keep me off the page altogether. I made the following changes:
 * Added archive http://web.archive.org/web/20080603215030/http://www.latimes.com:80/entertainment/news/movies/la-et-spielberg13feb13,1,7027646.story?ctrack=2&cset=true to http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/movies/la-et-spielberg13feb13,1,7027646.story?ctrack=2&cset=true


 * Added archive http://web.archive.org/web/20080906200501/http://www.kansascity.com:80/449/story/739575.html to http://www.kansascity.com/449/story/739575.html

When you have finished reviewing my changes, please set the checked parameter below to true or failed to let others know (documentation at ).

Cheers.—cyberbot II  Talk to my owner :Online 22:44, 1 March 2016 (UTC)

External links modified
Hello fellow Wikipedians,

I have just modified 12 one external links on 2008 Summer Olympics opening ceremony. Please take a moment to review my edit. If you have any questions, or need the bot to ignore the links, or the page altogether, please visit this simple FaQ for additional information. I made the following changes:
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20080809233016/http://www.travelchinaguide.com:80/news/show.asp?nid=138 to http://www.travelchinaguide.com/news/show.asp?nid=138
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20090428200852/http://en.beijing2008.cn/culture/ceremonies/n214143744.shtml to http://en.beijing2008.cn/culture/ceremonies/n214143744.shtml
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20080504151308/http://news.sbs.com.au:80/worldnewsaustralia/beijing_lifts_air_quality_goal_for_games_537003 to http://news.sbs.com.au/worldnewsaustralia/beijing_lifts_air_quality_goal_for_games_537003
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20080809231942/http://en.beijing2008.cn:80/ceremonies/headlines/n214518560.shtml to http://en.beijing2008.cn/ceremonies/headlines/n214518560.shtml
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20080809220442/http://en.beijing2008.cn:80/ceremonies/headlines/n214518986.shtml to http://en.beijing2008.cn/ceremonies/headlines/n214518986.shtml
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20080814182130/http://hk.news.yahoo.com:80/article/080809/3/7m25.html to http://hk.news.yahoo.com/article/080809/3/7m25.html
 * Corrected formatting/usage for http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/08/12/fake.fireworks.ap/
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20090428182913/http://en.beijing2008.cn/news/official/ioc/n214520633.shtml to http://en.beijing2008.cn/news/official/ioc/n214520633.shtml
 * Corrected formatting/usage for http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-08/11/content_9182335_1.htm
 * Corrected formatting/usage for http://tonyblairoffice.org/2008/08/we-can-help-china-embrace-the.html
 * Corrected formatting/usage for http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/35384274/ns/entertainment-television/
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20080809145103/http://en.beijing2008.cn:80/ceremonies/headlines/openingceremony/ to http://en.beijing2008.cn/ceremonies/headlines/openingceremony/

When you have finished reviewing my changes, please set the checked parameter below to true or failed to let others know (documentation at ).

Cheers.— InternetArchiveBot  (Report bug) 18:42, 19 September 2016 (UTC)

External links modified
Hello fellow Wikipedians,

I have just modified 7 external links on 2008 Summer Olympics opening ceremony. Please take a moment to review my edit. If you have any questions, or need the bot to ignore the links, or the page altogether, please visit this simple FaQ for additional information. I made the following changes:
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20080916112348/http://www.tickets.beijing2008.cn/browse?category=8224&major_category=8224&game_type=olympic to http://www.tickets.beijing2008.cn/browse?category=8224&major_category=8224&game_type=olympic
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20080808103425/http://en.beijing2008.cn/ceremonies/n214508163.shtml to http://en.beijing2008.cn/ceremonies/n214508163.shtml
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20080812004040/http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5ibNAUAq-kZNOy3LmO9HAI2cN-smg to http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5ibNAUAq-kZNOy3LmO9HAI2cN-smg
 * Corrected formatting/usage for http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/movies/la-et-spielberg13feb13%2C1%2C7027646.story?ctrack=2&cset=true
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20080903010402/http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5jsyEOUQ7dS3m23i8C_qs9vyJhphA to http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5jsyEOUQ7dS3m23i8C_qs9vyJhphA
 * Corrected formatting/usage for http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-08/11/content_9182335_1.htm
 * Corrected formatting/usage for http://tonyblairoffice.org/2008/08/we-can-help-china-embrace-the.html

When you have finished reviewing my changes, you may follow the instructions on the template below to fix any issues with the URLs.

Cheers.— InternetArchiveBot  (Report bug) 05:37, 18 June 2017 (UTC)

Dignatary List Restoration (What needs to be done?)
If I cite every source for dignitary attendance, we can restore the dignitary list? The other Olympic opening ceremonies have this list as well.Rwat128 (talk) 02:18, 16 August 2021 (UTC)