Scoring their own piece of history

Some theme songs for sports events have lived beyond their purpose and become popular in their own right. Think of the theme song for the 1988 Seoul Olympics, Hang in Hand, or The Cup of Life for the 1998 football World Cup or The Power of the Dream for the Atlanta 1996 Olympics. Now, as Beijing 2008 approaches, Chinese musicians are vying for their place in history by creating the theme song for these eagerly-awaited Games.

Beijing officials have been sifting through hundreds of songs to find the one that best represents Beijing. The process to choose Olympic songs started five years ago. Tens of thousands were heard before the final list was drawn up. The music videos of the 30 official Olympic songs were released together with the music album. The gold medal - the choice of theme song - won't be revealed until Friday's opening ceremony but there seem to be some front-runners.

One World One Dream, the same title as the 2008 Games slogan, is sung by Chris Yu from Taiwan and Guan Zhe from the Chinese mainland.