An Olympics Tradition?

Many were scandalized when the Beijing Olympic organizing committee revealed that Lin Miaoke, the girl who sang a patriotic song during the Olympics opening ceremony, was actually lip-synching over a recording by someone deemed less attractive by authorities. Some said it was indicative of the Chinese government’s reach of control.

But another revelation, this time by the Sydney Symphony, suggests that faking goes beyond the Chinese government and may even be an Olympic tradition.

The orchestra’s managing director told The Sydney Morning Herald that it not only mimed over a pre-recorded set for the opening of the Sydney Olympics in 2000, but that some of the pieces were recorded by the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. Both orchestras were quoted in the story saying the miming act was done purely as a safeguard in case anything went wrong during the performance. They also said it was done only to save time, not because one of the orchestras was better than the other — or because of acid reflux, a la Ashlee Simpson.

According to the report, mimed orchestra performances are not unheard of. Directors of both orchestras said this was the case at both the 2006 Commonwealth Games and the Rugby Union World Cup in 2003.

But miming at religious events is considered a strict no-no. As a spokesman for World Youth Day told the newspaper, music played during the Pope’s visit to the Sydney event did not permit faking because it was “an authentic expression of the prayer and song of those people at the time in that place.”