Singers and fans celebrate 200-day Olympic countdown at basketball venue

Jay Chou demonstrates his hoop skills, becoming the first person to shoot a basket at the Beijing Olympic Basketball Gymnasium.

(BEIJING, January 21) -- Jay Chou and Emil Chau were among the lineup of singers here Monday evening at the Beijing Olympic Basketball Gymnasium to take part in the 200-day countdown celebration for the Games. It was the first time the recently completed Olympic venue opened to the public.

Audience members enjoyed the debut release of music videos for more than a dozen Olympic songs, in addition to more than two hours of performances by some 20 singers. The evening ended with a chorus performance of the Chinese version of "Forever Friends" (music by Kong Xiangdong and Giorgio Moroder; lyrics by Huang Xiaomao).

Interior view of the Beijing Olympic Basketball Gymnasium

Also present at the celebration were Zhao Dongming, director of BOCOG's Cultural Activities Department and secretary-general of the Olympic song judging committee; Lu Ying, chief editor of Radio Beijing and deputy secretary-general of the Olympic song judging committee; Wang Peng, CEO of Zhengzhou Synear Food Co., Ltd; and Ma Li, deputy general manager of China Mobile Limited's data department.

Gao Mingjun

The music videos for the Olympics songs will air on various television stations nationwide in the coming days. China Mobile users can also elect to have an Olympic song set as their ring tone. In addition, during the Spring Festival holiday, consumers will have a chance to get a free VCD of the music videos courtesy of Zhengzhou Synear Food Co., Ltd, the Frozen Dumplings Exclusive Supplier of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.

The celebration event is to air on CCTV2 from 6:30-8:30 p.m. on February 5.

Sun Yue

Emil Chau performs "I Am A Star"