Pretty Face Vs Pretty Voice at the Olympic Opening Ceremonies

Hey New Moon Girls!

How many of you have been watching the Olympics!? Well if you watched the Opening Ceremony you may have noticed a cute Chinese girl in a red dress singing "Ode to the Motherland."

However, did you know that the girl, Lin Miaoke (pictured on right), was actually lipsynching?

As it turns out another young girl, Yang Peyi (pictured on left), was chosen for her voice and it was the voice used for the song. However, they picked Lin Miaoke to "sing" in the ceremony because she was the prettier of the two.

The musical director of the show, Chen Qigang, said that "After several tests, we decided to put Lin Miaoke on the live picture, while using Yang Peiyi's voice." "The reason for this is that we must put our country's interest first," he added.

He also said ,"the girl appearing on the picture must be flawless in terms of her facial expression and the great feeling she can give to people."

I don't know about you girls, but I find it very upsetting that China would do something like this. The girl with the best voice should have been the one to sing in the ceremony. I don't think it's fair for Yang Peiyi to have a supposedly "prettier" girl use her voice.

In the Olympics if you're the lead gymnast, volleyball player, or runner you're still going to be shown and be recognized for your talent no matter what you look like. Shouldn't the same rules apply to these Chinese girls? What are your thoughts on this? Should China have let Yang Peiyi sing instead?

Hey Girls!
Are any of you going on summer vacation with your families this month or next month? My family went out west when I was in junior high, and we had so much fun! We went to the Black Hills, Mount Rushmore, Yellowstone National Park, and a lot more sites! The only bad part of the trip was when I got food poisoning in Wyoming! The day we got there I had eaten a chef salad at a restaurant where the meat tasted kind of funny. Right afterwards we went to Yellowstone where I started feeling dizzy and nauseous, but I thought it was just from the change in elevation. Then I ended up being sick the whole night, it was awful! Also it was right before the day we were all supposed to go on a big white water rafting trip which I had been looking forward to all summer. Since I was sick all night before, I was too exhausted to go the next morning, so my whole family went without me! I was sad, but we still had a lot of trip time left so we did many other cool things. Other than having food poisoning, it was a great family vacation! Where are the best places you girls have traveled to? Do you have any exciting trips planned for this summer!?

Video Contest with a Cash Prize for Kids!

Hey Girls! Do any of you enjoy making home videos? If you do check out this amazing opportunity! MeetMeAtTheCorner.org is a website dedicated to kids (ages 7-13), and is offering a two hundred and fifty dollar prize to whoever creates the best short video of a special summertime event or activity that happens in their hometown! This could be a festival, or a parade, or any kind of summer happening! You can click on the link above to watch a video podcast on how to make a documentary and get more instructions on the contest.

When you make your video it’s a good idea to use “voiceovers” once you’re done filming. In the voiceover you’ll be explaining what is going on in the video without actually being on camera, sort of like being the narrator of a story. There are tips on how to do voiceovers at the website. You need to have five voiceovers at the end of your footage which include:

1.) What and Where your event is.
2.) What the event is like and what kind of people attend it
3.) Why the event is held in your hometown
4.) What your favorite part of the event is
5.) And just anything else you can think of to say about the event!


The video you send in must be postmarked by August 31st, and it must be ten minutes or less. Also the video has to be submitted on a MiniDV tape. In addition to the two hundred fifty dollars the winner gets their video podcast added to the website, so everyone can view it! This is a great way to learn about documentaries and the community you live in. Go to summerinmytowncontest to read more about this exciting competition!