OPENING CEREMONY #2: How do you squeeze 5,000 years of history and culture into a three-hour show? Director Zhang Yimou tried anyway, to mixed reception. While many applauded the stunning visual spectacles that he and his collaborators dreamt up, some critics complained about the ceremony' lack of "soul". It did not help that it later emerged that the seven-year-old girl who sang "Ode to the Motherland" was merely lip-synching.