VANCOUVER - As the Winter Olympics near , the Games are being hit by defections from their opening and closing ceremonies.

The Grammy-winning Vancouver Symphony Orchestra and its celebrated conductor Bramwell Tovey walked away from the opening ceremonies this week after being asked to prerecord music that would then be mimed by others during the live, lavish spectacle.

Yesterday, Mr. Tovey called the plan fraudulent, likening it to Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson's "faux gold medal" at the 1988 Summer Olympics. Mr. Johnson was stripped of his medal when he tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs.

"In our field, for you to plagiarize somebody else's recording - to mime it and pretend that it's you - is absolutely on a par with Ben Johnson's fraud. ... It's non-Olympian in spirit and VANOC really should have known better."

Although Mr. Tovey and the orchestra are boycotting the opening gala, the sweet strains of the VSO will still be heard many times during the Olympics. All 98 national anthems required for the Games were prerecorded by the orchestra, which won its Grammy last year for a recording with violinist James Ehnes.

Further down the prominence scale, but equally heartfelt, is the decision by performer Terry Dove to withdraw from a role he auditioned for and won in the Olympic Games' high-budget closing ceremonies.

Mr. Dove was selected to march and dance in one of the ceremony's many routines, but said he no longer feels good about taking part.

His once strong, pro-Games sentiment has been eroded by events ranging from the banning of the organization Right to Play at the Olympic Village to allegations that security police and Canadian border guards harassed anti-Games activists, Mr. Dove said.

"It's the whole mentality that seems to have developed around the Games. It's sort of soured me."

He informed ceremony organizers of his wish to pull out the day after reading of problems that Olympic protester Marla Renn encountered at the U.S.-Canada border. "That was the last straw for me," Mr. Dove said. "I decided: 'You know what? I can't do this.' "

The 53-year old corporate communications consultant had taken part in three rehearsals before withdrawing.

Mr. Tovey, meanwhile, said VANOC's plan to have an orchestral segment mimed during the opening ceremonies reminded him of the furor over lip-synching by a young girl at the 2008 Summer Olympics.

"I said 'no' to VANOC, because I felt it was dishonest. I thought it was fraudulent. It's promoted with public money, and I didn't want anything to do with this kind of dishonest practice."

David Atkins, executive producer and artistic director of Games ceremonies, said in a statement that it is standard practice to prerecord some music for large, internationally-televised live events.

Mr. Atkins said the tactic is necessary to ensure the ceremony broadcast goes on if there are unforeseen technical difficulties.

After the Beijing lip-synching controversy, B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell vowed there would be no lip-synching during Vancouver's opening ceremonies. VANOC officials, however, have been non-committal.

As for Mr. Dove, he said he remains a fan of the Olympics, despite his unhappiness over local incidents.

"I like the idea of the world's best athletes coming together for peaceful competition and seeing the world basically coming to a standstill for two weeks. But right now, I feel much better about dropping out than participating."

The 2010 Winter Olympics begin Feb. 12 and end with the closing ceremony on Feb. 28.