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BOCOG press conference on Beijing Olympic
mascot selection process.(BOCOG) |
The question of the mascot for the Beijing 2008 Olympic
Games has been the subject of discussions since the bid to host the sports
was won.
In the two years since then, a host of Chinese treasured symbols have been considered.
The giant panda; the endangered golden monkey and
red-crowned crane; and the traditional cartoon figure the Monkey King have
all been favourites along the way.
Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad (BOCOG)
has announced that the selection process for the mascot design officially
started on Thursday, and the final mascot will be unveiled on June 1 next
year.
Professional design organizations and staff from all over the world
will have the chance to propose their designs. Children's opinions will be
considered an important part.
Vice-director of BOCOG Cultural Activity Department Zhang Ming says
BOCOG will mail hundreds of invitation calling for entries to design the
mascots for the Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Other interested professionals can download the invitation from BOCOG's
official website www.beijing-2008.org.
"The mascot carries the concept of the Games," said Zhang.
"It should be endearing and
characterized by Chinese culture. It should be popular with children and
liked by men and women of different cultural backgrounds and age groups."
To involve more people, as well as the judging committee of experts,
there will be an appraisal committee, composed of representatives from
different fields.
But ordinary people will not get to vote for the final mascot.
"There won't be a public vote for the mascot as there was in the
selection of the design schemes for the national stadium," said Jiang
Xiaoyu, BOCOG vice-president. "We will seek legal protection before we
publish the final decision."
Zhang said all the candidate designs should be made up of individuals
or groups of main cartoon figures and five extended figures, involving
equestrian, swimming, running,
cycling and gymnastics events.
"The mascot should also have a marketing value so it can be easily
attached to different Olympic licensed products, such as T-shirts, bags,
cups, pens, and so on, and look good on TV, the Internet, mobile phones
and anything to do with the Olympics," Zhang added.
The designs must be collected by 5:30 pm on December 1. The entire process of judging, revising, reporting and legal
registering will end before May.
(China Daily) |