Empty Seats: Beijing Goes Local

Chinese Olympic officials admitted today that they have been bussing in volunteers in an attempt to fill empty seats at the Games.

The “cheerleaders” have been brought in to improve the atmosphere at some of the venues where spectators have stayed away.

The official line is that the Games are sold out, according to the Beijing Olympic Organising Committee (BOCOG). But journalists and visitors have noticed many empty seats, raising suspicions about these claims.

A senior BOCOG official has said he is concerned about the empty seats, blaming the hot, humid weather for the poor turnout.

Mr Wang Wei said: “The tickets are sold out – but for the preliminaries people may not show up and I think that is understandable.”

He explained that tickets for the beach volleyball and basketball events have just one ticket for the morning, afternoon and evening games, which may explain the poor turnout figures. Punters may only go to one or two of the sittings, he said.

Read more: Empty Seats: Beijing Goes Local

Want to watch something not related to the Olympics?

Want to watch something not related to the Olympics? Check out these choices:

1) What you’ve been breathlessly waiting for: The E! True Hollywood Story on Britney Spears. 8 p.m. on the E! network.

2) Can you prevent brain freeze? Find out on the Food Detectives at 9 p.m. on the Food Network.

3) Think your job stinks? Episodes of Dirty Jobs feature mule loggers and cranberry farmers. 8 and 9 p.m. on Discovery.

Read more: Want to watch something not related to the Olympics?

Microsoft Silverlight Ready For Olympics Closeup

By Kevin McLaughlin, ChannelWeb

Microsoft’s Silverlight technology will get two big doses of exposure during the month of August, as the technology delivering online multimedia for both the Beijing Olympics and the Democratic National Convention later this month in Denver.

Silverlight, a subset of the Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) system that powers Windows Vista, is Microsoft’s attempt to trump Adobe’s Flash technology by offering better-looking, more advanced display and interactive functionality, as well as superior tooling support.

When the Olympic games kick off on Aug. 8, the Silverlight-powered NBCOlympics.com Website on MSN will go live with event coverage and features that go beyond the typical Web video experience, such as multiple camera angles, rewind, and picture-in-picture, according to Eric Schmidt, director of media and advertising evangelism at Microsoft.

Read more: Microsoft Silverlight Ready For Olympics Closeup