<![CDATA[Jezebel: opening ceremonies]]> http://tags.gawker.com/assets/base/img/thumbs140x140/jezebel.com.png <![CDATA[Jezebel: opening ceremonies]]> http://jezebel.com/tag/openingceremonies http://jezebel.com/tag/openingceremonies <![CDATA[Fallen Dancer]]> Liu Yan, considered one of the top classical dancers in China, was seriously injured while practicing a solo routine for the opening ceremony for the Olympics in Beijing, and she may be paralyzed from the waist down for the rest of her life. On July 27, the 26-year-old dancer was practicing in the National Stadium when a platform malfunctioned and she fell 10 feet, landing on her back and suffering nerve and spinal damage. At the moment, she cannot feel anything below her chest, and she cannot move her lower body. Organizers for the opening ceremonies initially told witnesses and friends to not disclose the accident until after the Olympic Games, but news began to leak after several newspapers began inquiring about Liu. [NY Times]

]]> http://jezebel.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5037429&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[The Kid Stays Out Of The Picture]]> Yang Peiyi, a 7-year-old Chinese girl, had the perfect voice to sing the the Chinese national anthem, "Ode to the Motherland" at the opening ceremonies of the Olympics, but apparently she wasn't TV-ready. Officials decided it was in "the national interest" to have a different, cuter girl lip-synch to Peiyi's version of the song to present the perfect image of China to the world. Sure, the girl who was chosen to lip-synch is cute as a button (she's pictured above), but is it appropriate to tell a little girl that she isn't pretty enough to represent her country? Or to give another girl instant fame by turning her into the country's littlest Milli Vanilli? [AP]

[Image via Window of China]

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