Venues spread more than 100 miles apart, opposition from human rights’ groups and a glaring lack of snow – Beijing’s 2022 Winter Olympic bid managed to defy the doubts of numerous naysayers when it was awarded Olympic hosting duties on Friday.
However, new criticisms have emerged alleging one of Beijing’s 10 official Olympic songs plagiarized ‘Let if Go,’ the ubiquitous Idina Menzel hit from Disney’s 2013 animation Frozen.
The song in question is called ‘Bingxue Wudong’ or ‘Dancing with Snow’ (sometimes translated as ‘The Snow and Ice Dance’). Have a listen to the original below:
Chinese Internet users seemed to have spotted the resemblance to 'Let it Go' shortly after the song was released in May, but it wasn’t until after Beijing won the bid that the allegations moved beyond online forums and into the pages of respected business publication Caijing.
While not everyone thinks it's a case of plagiarism, many commenters detect similarities in the first half of 'Dancing with Snow' and some have even called the song a national embarrassment.
One commenter, who declined to call ‘Dancing with Snow’ a copy but concluded the compositions are “80 percent similar,” even produced a handy table comparing the two songs’ similar tempo, eight-beat introduction and use of piano.
If you're unsure where you stand on the controversy, have a listen to this mash-up by YouTube user Jack Sze (VPN-free version here):
One notable improvement the Olympic song has over the Disney mega-hit: it’s not nearly as difficult to banish from your head.
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