In his radio interview, Mr. Chen said that a member of the ruling Communist Party’s powerful Politburo, whom he did not identify, attended one of the last rehearsals, along with numerous other officials, and demanded that Miaoke’s voice “must change.”
Initially, a 10-year-old girl was selected “whose voice was really good.” This girl held the role for most of the rehearsals — until Mr. Zhang decided she was too old.
张艺谋骗人：
After last Friday’s performance, Mr. Zhang appeared at a news conference with Chinese reporters and praised Miaoke. “She’s very cute and sings quite well, too,” he said. Asked to name which section of the show he found most satisfying, he first mentioned Miaoke.
“I was moved every time we did a rehearsal on this, from the bottom of my heart,” he said, according to a transcript of the news conference.