Written by Staff Writer, CNN Beijing
Dancers were out on the Great Wall on Sunday performing a version of Jack White’s song “Try Me” that uses extracts from Peng Shuai’s interview with Olympic officials during the Beijing Olympics last year.
The video, which was released this week, and posted to her official YouTube channel, concludes with Peng asking, “Are you ok? Are you safe? I think I’m safe, don’t worry about it. I’m in town.”
The band played Chinese national anthem as dancers moved under a huge shadow of the wall to the song.
An hour earlier, the video’s music track “Tempted” was released. The country’s most popular singer, Gao Xingrui, was also present, wearing a red cap and heavy chunky, accented bling.
The rapper’s song “Temptation,” according to baidu.com, was considered to be a hit in China’s economy and state media. It follows by mere months another patriotic rap called “Four Temporaries” by rocker Yao and Jay R.
During the Opening Ceremony of the Beijing Olympics last year, Peng accidentally mixed up the first two letters of the two competing teams. Her error led to Chinese athletes representing Mongolia and Afghanistan competing in a mixed doubles match.
A few months later, the combined team of Mongolia and Afghanistan players came second after losing to China.
The saga became an internet sensation with a video showing Peng talking to IOC President Jacques Rogge (“What in the world did I do?”), the then-Secretary General of the International Olympic Committee, Jacques Rogge (“You’re smarter than you think”), then IOC Youth Committee head, Zhang Hongliang (“Give it up now!”), and finally a frustrated women from the IOC Youth Committee.
The video was launched to coincide with the Lunar New Year festivities this year, to honor the “Year of the Pig.”