Русская версияA senior Olympics official in China has defended some sleight of hand in last Friday's opening ceremony, saying it enhanced the theatrical impact.
Lin Miaoke was hailed as a rising star after performing a song at the spectacular opener.
But she was later found to have been selected for her looks - in preference to Yang Peiyi, who voiced the song.
"I don't see anything wrong with it, if everybody concerned agrees," said Wang Wei, of the organising committee.
Nonetheless, the story had disappeared from several leading Chinese news websites on Wednesday, including that of the broadcaster which broke the story.
It is one of a number of stories thought to have caused some private embarrassment to organisers.
In another disclosure, it was revealed that parts of the footage of the opening ceremony fireworks were pre-produced. Organisers have also been trying to explain why so many empty seats have been visible at purportedly sold-out events.
Last-minute
Mr Wang - executive vice-president of the Beijing Games organising committee (Bocog) - said the last-minute decision to substitute nine-year-old Miaoke for seven-year-old Peiyi had been taken jointly "by the group of directors".
"Together they are discussing with the broadcasters," he told reporters at Wednesday's news conference.
"They are to achieve the most theatric effects for the benefit of the whole performance, the whole opening ceremony," he said.
The revelation that Miaoke had been miming to the voice of Peiyi was made by the show's musical director, Chen Qigang.
He told Beijing Radio that Peiyi was pulled from the show at the last moment, after a senior Politburo member said she did not look the part.
'Cute'
BBC staff in Beijing found that references to the story had been removed from the Beijing Radio website on Wednesday.
The story was similarly absent from other major news sites, including the China Daily and Xinhua sites - suggesting that Chinese authorities are indeed uncomfortable with the story.
Chinese media and websites are policed by the central government, which has frequently censored access to content deemed unflattering or counter to the national interest.
But the story had not been totally expunged from the web, with extensive coverage still remaining on sites such as the Chinese commercial web portal sina.com.
Meanwhile, the father of nine-year-old Miaoke told Associated Press he believed Peiyi was also cute.
"Yang Peiyi's looks are OK," Lin Hui reportedly said.
"In my opinion, she's not ugly. She looks cute."
(BBC)
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