China will stage the biggest Olympic cultural festival ever seen during the August Beijing Games, headlined by top international and domestic stars, officials said in Beijing Tuesday.
"You will see excellent performances every night from artists from around the world," said Zhao Dongming, head of the Beijing Olympic organising committee's cultural division.
The festival starts June 23 and will fill Beijing's theatres until the end of the August 8-24 Games with the "richest and most diverse" programme ever run in a Games host city, he said.
"This Olympic cultural festival will last for the longest in Olympic history, and be the biggest and involve the largest number of performers and enjoy the highest standard of any cultural activity we've organized," said Zhao.
Zhoa also told reporters that Beijing Olympic officials were closer to selecting an official Games song and would release a 30-song short-list from 4,000 original entries during a gala show on April 30 to mark the 100-day countdown to the Games.
"We have selected around 30 good songs," he said. "But the final result has not been decided yet."
Beijing selected the catchy pop song "We Are Ready" for the one-year countdown and will release "Beijing Welcomes You" for the 100-day countdown, which Zhao described as a very important milestone.
Both songs are in Chinese apart from the title chorus.
Zhao also announced that the design for the uniforms of the women hostesses who will attend the medal ceremonies at the Games had been decided.
"We have finished the design and now we are in the production stage," he said. "However we have a confidentiality agreement, so the announcement will be made close to the Games, not now."
There has been heated debate in the media about whether hostesses should wear traditional Chinese attire or more modern garb.
Traditionalists favour the elegant qipao, but opponents say that the dress with the slit skirt is too commonly associated with restaurant waitresses.
