The Little Nightingale

All who watched the opening ceremonies at the Beijing Olympics were touched by the performance of young Lin Miaoke. It turns out she was lip synching to a recording by the even younger Yang Peiyi. It seems that Yang's uneven teeth, while unremarkable in a seven-year-old, were considered potentially damaging to China's international image. I feel bad for little Yang Peiyi who was considered too ugly to perform in front of the world. I think she's as cute as can be.


It reminds me of the Nightingale fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen which also takes place in China:

The Emperor of China hears that one of the most beautiful things in his own land is the song of the nightingale. He sends his courtiers to take a nightingale from the nearby forest and present her as a guest at court. The bird can communicate with the humans and agrees to come, but when the Emperor is given a mechanical nightingale covered with jewels, he loses interest in the real bird, which flies back to its home. The mechanical bird breaks down. When the Emperor is taken deathly ill, he learns only the song of the real nightingale can restore him to health.

Maybe there will be a fairy tale ending and little Yang will get her chance to shine before the games are over.