Beijing Olympics opening ceremony footage leaked on Korean TV
Chinese security officials might be able to clamp down on Tibetan protesters and block out all of those pesky Web sites that talk about quaint western concepts such as 'human rights' and 'freedom' but they can't keep a plucky Korean TV crew away from one of the biggest secrets of the Olympics.
A Korean TV crew has managed to capture footage of thousands of performers rehearsing the opening ceremonies of the Beijing Olympics. The Telegraph has the story:
In a breach of China's fearsome security apparatus, a Korean television journalist was able to walk straight into the National Stadium - the Bird's Nest - and film long sections of a rehearsal.
The results were shown on his network, SBS, and the video was later put on the internet by News Limited, and Australian media group.
Watch the video.
Like previous opening ceremonies, Beijing's will lean heavily on its national culture and iconography. The leaked footage shows that the ceremony will showcase Chinese acrobatics, dance and martial arts. The opening is being choreographed by Chinese director Zhang Yimou, best known outside of China for martial arts films such as Hero and House of Flying Daggers.
Chinese authorities have been scrambling to get the video pulled off video sites, particularly on the mainland. Fortunately, the security leak didn't reveal the biggest secret, how the torch will arrive to the stadium and how the Olympic cauldron will be lit.
According to the Canberra Times, workers and volunteers on the ceremony were forced to sign confidentiality agreements and could have been punished with up to seven years in prison for breaking the contract. It is not known whether Korean broadcaster SBS will face actions from Olympic organizers for capturing the footage.
There will be a few quirks in Beijing's ceremony. At previous ceremonies national teams march in by alphabetical order, with the home team arriving last, at this Games, teams will march in determined by the number of strokes in the nation's Chinese name. The Chinese delegation will still arrive, to the 3 1/2 hour long ceremony, last.
The ceremony is scheduled to start on August, 8, 2008 at 8:08 p.m. Beijing Time. The number eight is considered auspicious in Chinese culture.
Photo: A screen grab from the web site of the Daily Telegraph showing leaked footage of the Beijing Olympic ceremony rehearsal
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