Tuesday February 5th was lunar new year for 2019, ushering in the year of the pig and of course CCTV put on the Spring Gala performance that is the biggest stage of the year for C-stars. Performances are recorded beforehand though some appear to be live but the exquisite “Blossoming” titled performance with Taiwanese model Lin Chi Ling could only be filmed beforehand. The title Blossoming refers to flowers in bloom or the idea that spring blossoms from the cold winter freeze, and the thematic elements of the show were all about flowers blooming done via the performers or floral elements.
It was a ballet and synchronized swimming dance that was very skillfully choreographed and everyone was impressed at how Lin Chi Ling pulled it off. Of course the next day came word that she used a body double, and then everyone was mad at her. The third day her agency clarified that 90% of the performance was done by her personally and the rest was due to the request of the director to use a body double. I’m lulzing at the speed of praise-criticism-understanding that happens so often, I’m just park myself at enjoying this very pretty air/land/water show.
“Blossoming:
This reminds me of the Oscar candidacy run of Natalie Portman for Black Swan. Though this one is probably to a lesser degree than that issue.
The media was all abuzz about how amazing Natalie was for it and how she did 90% of the performance in the movie and everyone was loving it. She won her first Oscar statue for it.
Turns out there was a dancing double named Sarah Lane, a professional ballet dancer, who was told to keep her silence during the Oscars time and worse still was never mentioned in Natalie’s acceptance speech.
Natalie was awesome in that movie. And she totally deserve her nomination and win. Same way for Lin Chiling who deserve praise for an awesome ensemble performance put up.
But to disregard the one who made the performance at that level and discredit them in some way to make the star shine is wrong. These people worked hard through blood, sweat and tears through countless hours in all those years for their craft. For stars to ‘practice’ for a performance and take all the credit, just seems wrong. Give credit where credit is due.
Disagree. That’s the job of a body double, get paid and stay quiet, and let the star shine. Same for the stunt man/woman. This is the nature of their job which is very clearly stated in the contract. The stars do not get to where they are without hard work but ballet or swimming is not their profession, they are only actors. Professionals should get recognized in competitions or their own performances, not working as a double nor to steal the spotlight of an actress.
But Lin Chiling is not an actress acting in a movie. It’s not like she pretends to be a different person in this case. This is a year end performance and she got the praises and headlines by taking all the credits of performing by herself. She lied to the public. That said, the stunt double is unprofessional as well for revealing the secret and I wonder she signed an NDA beforehand. She will surely have trouble getting employed from now on.
Yes, LCL appearance is more like a show, at least she is very pretty to look at. I was more referring to Natalie Portman’s case, I don’t agree with @Reina that Natalie has to mention the body double in her acceptance speech because the double was only hired to dance, not acting. Natalie got an Acting Oscar, not dancing! just saying.
Yeah, that incident left a bad impression on me. Nearly everyone uses body doubles for difficult and demanding moves. No big deal. There’s need to mention the double in the Oscars speech, but what was really wrong was the media and production team exaggerating how much of the moves were Natalie’s. No one becomes a professional ballerina with a few months of intense training.
What was the big deal? Lin Chi Ling didn’t even swim for most of the performance. It was the other girls that did most of the hard work. She pops up here and there as a center piece. I’m sure it was a lot of work on her part too to coordinate with them. I was more impressed by the other people.
It would have been an amazing performance without her too. Her performance is very limited, which is understandable since she is not a professional with years of training. Can’t expect her to even attempt any of those amazing but dangerous dives.
Probably it’s the producers that edited in such a way it seems like she performed everything.
I haven’t seen the performance but like someone said ‘Give credit where credit is due.’ If she performed 100% herself then it’s OK but if someone else did the performance for you – even if partially – they should be acknowledged for it. Things like this are eventually exposed to the public. Better to just tell from the very beginning so no one is surprised.
Lin Chi Ling is always so overrated. Apart from being beautiful, I really dont understand what is there so hype about her.
Stunning CNY performance although I feel LCL’s presence was redudant as the performers were already spectacular. It’s the naivety of the viewers to expect an amateur to pull off such a highly skilled stunt without using a body double.
I just watched it and frankly, i’d find it fairly obvious that she did not do any of those dives or jumps. Those are not easy and they also need to protect the celeb. It makes sense to have a synchro diver be the “stunt” double. I don’t know the background – if she said she did all those stunts, then I guess she lied. If not,m and everyone just assumed it, then I don’t know ??♀️