Beijing to hold gala to mark 100-day countdown

BEIJING, April 15 (Xinhua) -- Beijing will hold a gala to mark the 100-day countdown to the Olympics on April 30 with performances of 30 songs in the running to be selected as the theme song of the Beijing Games, an official said on Tuesday.

"The theme song is likely to be picked from the 30 songs and it' s up to the choice of the Executive Board of the Beijing Organizing Committee for the 2008 Olympics (BOCOG)," Zhao Dongming, director of BOCOG's cultural activities department, told reporters.

Also on the day, more than 10,000 citizens are expected to take part in a marathon which will finish at the National Stadium, known as the Bird's Nest for its giant latticework structure of metal girders, Zhao added.

Beijing also plans to hold the biggest-ever Olympic cultural festival from June 23 to Sept. 17, with hundreds of musicians, singers and dancers from around the world giving nearly 300 performances in the Chinese capital and other co-host cities.

"This year's sixth Olympic Cultural Festival will last the longest, involve the largest number of performers and enjoy the highest standard of any cultural activity we've organized," said Zhao.