Beijing Olympics 2008

Beijing Olympic and Paralympic torch relay theme song and two theme songs for the volunteer programs were unveiled Wednesday, the 100-day countdown to the Olympic Games, at Tai Miao at the Beijing Working People’s Culture Palace.
The trio songs, “Light the Passion, Share the Dream” “I am A star” and “Smile Beijing“, which jumped out from nearly 80,000 contested songs, were finally released at the Fourth Olympic Songs Contest on Wednesday evening.
The “Light the Passion, Share the Dream” for the Olympic torch relay, was composed by Chris Baobida and written by Huang Xiaomao, who compared the Olympic flame to the eternal starlight, symbolizing that people, led by the light, will be united to realize the dream of friendship, hope and harmony.
One of the theme songs for the volunteers — I am A Star – was created by famous Hong Kong music men Emil Chau and Lam Jik. Lam regards in his lyrics the volunteers to the bow and the wind, which are source of the power and success.
“It is the volunteers who are the real Olympic stars,” Chau said.
Another volunteer theme song “Smile Beijing” was created by Chen Ying, who works for the Beijing Olympic Volunteers Committee. Chen expressed his hope that everyone would remember the sentence “Volunteers’ smile is the best calling card for Beijing.”
This song was also carried to the space by China’s first lunar probe satellite Chang’e-1, which sent back the signal of the song on Dec. 4, 2007

from: xinhuanet.com

BEIJING - Canadian pop star Celine Dion voiced her support for the upcoming Beijng Olympic Games here on Saturday, saying she was “definitely against boycotting” the Games.
“When you talk about the Olympics, you don’t say politics,” she said at a press conference. “We talk about power. We talk about love. And we talk about dreams.”
The Quebec native sang the theme song for the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games, the “Power of the Dream”.
Dion called on all people to “keep the dream possible for our young kids”.
She came to Beijing to express support for the Games after her concert in Shanghai on Friday.
On Saturday, the chanteuse received a gift sculpture from Zhao Dongming, director of the cultural activities department of the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games (BOCOG).
On finding out the name of the sculpture, “eternal flame”, Dion said “keep the flame eternal.”

Canadian singer Celine Dion (R) and her husband Rene Angelil attend a TV program in Beijing, China, April 12, 2008. [Xinhua]

Many foreign governments and senior officials have expressed support for the Beijing Olympic Games, condemning the deeds of those disrupting the Olympic torch relay and politicizing the sports event.
Baleka Mbete, Speaker of South Africa’s National Assembly, said on Friday at a press conference for the 118th Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) that appeals for boycotting the Olympics and disrupting the torch relay would never gain popular support.
She said any person with conscience would condemn such deeds of obstructing the Olympic Games that was a grand sports occasion for the entire human race.
IPU Secretary General Anders B. Johnsson also told the press conference that the IPU was strongly opposed to violent deeds and was against any act of obstructing the Olympic Games.
The Republic of Korea (ROK), Thailand, Peru, Afghanistan and many other countries also expressed support.

from: chinadaily.com.cn

“If God had a singing voice, it would sound a lot like Andrea Bocelli,” Celine Dion once said. Fitting then that the great Italian tenor has lent his vocal talents to a composition that may be chosen as the official song of the Beijing Olympics.
Composed by Tan Dun and produced by 14-time Grammy Award winner David Forster, the song One World One Dream was submitted last week to the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad.
Featuring traditional Chinese instruments - the guzheng and erhu - and a world-music-style orchestration and chorus, the song showcases the universal love, friendship and warmth Chinese people bring to the world, Tan said.
Bocelli is joined by rising Chinese star Zhang Liangying, with each of them singing in both Chinese and English.
“For the past eight years, I have been seeking a voice to sing for the Beijing Olympic Games,” Tan said.
“The voice had to be both of China and of the world, be warm, full of love and able to last forever.
“David and I planned to have Celine Dion and Bocelli sing the duet, but when he (David) heard Zhang’s voice, he said she was the perfect match for Bocelli,” he said.
An internationally renowned composer, Tan’s musical credits include winning an Oscar for the score for the hit movie Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon.
Canadian producer Forster said in Beijing yesterday: “This is my first visit to China, but I can already tell why everybody loves this country.
“I always knew my life would not be complete until I had discovered music in Asia and worked in Asia. Tan has given me a great opportunity to achieve that goal,” he told China Daily.
“I respect Tan. He is a genius, like Mozart or Beethoven. He is also one of the few people I know who works well on both classical and pop music,” he said.
“Tan has the vision, and I believe he knows how to make a piece of music belong to both China and to the world.
“But I have never worked so hard: Tan kept changing things. The finished song is actually the 18th version,” Forster said.
The lyrics were written by Tan and his wife Jane Huang Jingjie “Stand next to me, I want to see you in this place. You are everywhere I look, as the light falls around your face. Stay and take my hand. How many moments do we get. All is right in this world of ours and time will go as time must go. Time will do what we both know.”
“I hope the song expresses the love between East and West, old and new, God and man, and men and women,” Tan said, adding that his inspiration came from the scenes of people celebrating the end of World War II in 1945, in Times Square, New York.
“Strangers were hugging and kissing each other,” he said.
“At the opening ceremony, I want there to be that kind of passion and love that we want to share with the people standing next to us, even strangers.”

from: chinadaily.com.cn/olympics/2008-03/20/content_6551645.htm

Icelandic singer Bjork’s offending support to “Tibet independence” at a Shanghai concert earlier this month won’t affect China’s policy on inviting foreign artists to come and perform in the country, a senior cultural official said here on Thursday.

“It was just an individual case. I don’t think it will affect our invitation of artists from all over the world to come to China and perform, particularly during the Olympic Games,” Vice Minister of Culture Zhou Heping told a press conference held on the sidelines of the ongoing parliament session.

On March 2, Bjork chanted “Tibet! Tibet!” at her Shanghai concert after singing a song “Declare Independence”, a move that Zhou said had made the Chinese audience “very upset”.

“Foreign artistic troupes and artists should voluntarily observe relevant laws and regulations of China when they come to perform on the Chinese soil. It should be a part of an artist’s professional ethics to avoid violating Chinese laws or hurting the feelings of the Chinese people,” said Zhou.

There are also many Chinese artistic troupes that go abroad for performance, and they all abide by the laws of the countries they visit, said Zhou, adding that “this should be a common rule for all.”

He said it is quite “normal” for Bjork to come under fire among both the public and the media. “It is known to all that Tibet has been an inalienable part of China since the ancient times, and no country in the world regards Tibet as an ‘independent state’.”

Any individual wrong behavior like that of Bjork would be “criticized”, he added.

from: http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/olympics/2008-03/13/content_6533684.htm

Countless numbers of envelopes and parcels exploded into the office for the Campaign to Solicit Songs for Beijing 2008 Olympic Games on Monday. BOCOG has set up an Olympic Songfest, in which submitted songs will vie for a place of honor within Olympic history. With the March 10 deadline of this fourth and final round, songwriters all over the world wanted to get their submissions in before the doors closed. Among the clutter of return addresses, some familiar names stand out: Jay Chow, Lin Xi, Vincent Fang, and Xiao Ke, along with many other well-known musicians, have also joined in the fun.
The Jay Chow-Vincent Fang duo has been quite prominent in introducing popular songs to the world. In October of last year, Chow announced that he wanted to be a part of the creation of the Olympic song, attaching great importance to the role he wants to play. The song he composed and submitted for the Olympics, with the help of lyricist Vincent Fang, was the first song he created in 2008, differing in style with his previous songs, with an easily understood melody and simple lyrics. The song arrived at the office at 10 PM the night before, and from initial reactions, seems to be a hit.

Arriving on Monday afternoon was Lin Xi and Xiao Ke’s submission for the Olympic Songfest. Their song incited excited reaction from listeners, who believe the lyrics and melody allow people to feel the great power and deep spirit of the Olympics.
Although Monday is the official deadline for the fourth round of submissions for the Olympic Songfest, the office will continue to accept outstanding songs for the activity. Interested parties may still send songs in, which will, according to a representative of the office, still be judged using the same criteria. If a song passes the test, it may be used by BOCOG.

An unprecedented number of people took part in this last round of the Songfest. All submissions had to be postmarked by Monday, so there are still envelopes in the mail. Even so, the number of packages already in the office is impressive. The next step is for workers to ensure that copyright forms have been filed, before the selection process begins. By the end of April, the winners will be notified.

from: beijing2008.cn