Bouzouki bard wows Chinese team with Mandarin love-songs

The sweat pours down the face of Games' volunteer George Sapounidis as he serenades the rapt and incredulous Chinese audience at the athletes' village. How, wonder the Chinese media, is a long-haired gweilo able to sing with such flawless diction in Mandarin?

George hails from Ottawa. He is a Greek-Canadian and is one of the 50,000-strong volunteer force at the Olympics. But he is the only one who carries a guitar and a bouzouki, a traditional Greek musical instrument that resembles a mandolin.

George is attached to the Chinese delegation at the Games. Like Yao Ming, he attracts a lot of glances, especially when he opens his mouth and sings in sweet Mandarin.

'If you must get married, please marry me, please bring your money and marry me,' sings George, who obligingly translates for me.

Two years ago, while working as a survey consultant with Statistics Canada, George was hit by a brainwave: To write to creative director Dimitris Papaionnou, who is in charge of the opening and closing ceremonies in Athens.

'I am perhaps the only Greek singer who can sing in Chinese, and I wrote to the organising committee asking if I could sing at the closing ceremony during the segment when they showcase the Beijing 2008 Games,' related George.