panamfan

Behind the Scenes of the Opening and Closing Ceremonies of the 2011 Pan American Games in Guadalajara.

Full ESPN broadcast of the 2025 Special Olympics World Winter Games Opening Ceremony courtesy of ESPN and Special Olympics International:

Two segments from the Opening Ceremony of the 1991 U.S. Olympic Festival held at Dodgers Stadium Los Angeles. In the first clip the ceremony begins with a nod to the Welcome segment from the 1984 Olympic opening as the band plays John Williams' magnificent Olympic Fanfare and Theme from those games.

Well, here is my 2 cents worth. The ceremony was terrible. Very little emotion or chills at all. Cool trick with the vertical piano, which was one of the only memorable things about the ceremony. (And as a historian I can at least appreciate the performance of "Hymn to Apollo" as a callback to the International Congress at the Sorbonne in Paris in 1894 where the decision was made to create the modern Olympic Games. Baron de Coubertin specially arranged for "Hymn to Apollo" to be performed at the Congress - most people would not get the connection.) Even the flame-extinguishing was lame. The Albertville ceremonies have always been my least favorite, but at least the Albertville Closing was better than this. (Jeez!) The sound system was awful. And even the LA handover was bad. As an American, I am embarrassed that the best we could show the world was a bunch of over-the-hill rockers making obscene gestures with their hips! I'm not a fan of rap music, but at least Snoop Dog and Dr. Dre were better. And Billie Eilish mic feed was poor. I am also not a fan of Tom Cruise, but I thought the Hollywood Sign reveal was a nice touch. All-in-all, it was definitely one of the worst Closing Ceremonies I have seen. And I have watched the U.S. broadcast of every ceremony since 1984.

Just a bit of explanation. That bit with the vertical piano and the "Hymn to Apollo". Hymn to Apollo was performed as a tribute to the birth of the modern Olympic Games. At the International Congress at the Sorbonne in Paris in 1894, where Baron de Coubertin persuaded the delegates to create the modern Olympic Games, Coubertin arranged for "Hymn to Apollo" to be sung. Hence it's incusion here. Most people would not understand the background for it.

Just wanted to get my two cents in here. I liked some things about the ceremony, but on the negative side it dragged ALOT. Some of the segments were too long and killed the pacing of the show. and the overall show was very disjointed. I thought the hot-air balloon cauldron as tribute to the Montgolfier Brothers was brilliant and I actually cried during Celine Dion's performance - it reminded me of Luciano Pavoratti in Torino 2006. But the trips up and down the river (especially for the torch) took way too long. And I don't know if anyone else here noticed, but Paris 2024 now joins Sarajevo 1984 as the only Opening Ceremonies where the Olympic Flag was accidentally raised upside down. (LOL) I watched it live on NBC and unlike past ceremonies there was very little explanation by Mike Tirico of the ceremony's elements. I know they were broadcasting live, but it seemed the relevant information was not reaching him in a timely manner or at all in some cases. Then again, from what I understand there was no actual complete dress rehearsal for the media to preview the ceremony either. (NBC also cut to commercial instead of showing the Olympic oaths, as usual). By the way, someone was asking about the minions appearance. Mike Tirico explained on NBC that the animation studio that makes the Despicable Me films is located in Paris. And the submarine they were supposed to be on was the Nautilus from the novel 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea by French author Jules Verne. And I do have to say I liked the little side plot of the Mona Lisa being "stolen" from the Louvre and having it revealed that the minions stole it! Nice touch! (LOL).

He also narrated a portion of the Opening Ceremony and helped carry the Olympic Flag into the stadium: Legendary actor Donald Sutherland, Olympic flagbearer in 2010, dies at 88 (olympics.com)

I hope this isn't an ill omen of bad things to come in Paris!

A 1977 film by the Lake Placid Olympic Organizing Committee on preparations for the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid.

I think B looks too much like the Special Olympics logo.

Highlights of the Opening Ceremony of the 1st World Games in Santa Clara, California, USA in 1981! Looking at this humble beginning it's amazing how far the World Games have come.

A recent fireworks and drone show over the LA Coliseum in celebration of it's 100th anniversary. Perhaps a preview of what might be coming in 2028? (Note: there are no spectators in the stands as this was a private show for the Coliseum's "1923 Club".) Absolutely stunning!

Opening Ceremony of the IXth Jeux de la Francophonie in Kinshasa, Congo. France's equivalent to the Commonwealth Games. In two parts:

I just realized that this month marks the 100th anniversary of one of the world's greatest stadiums - the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, which opened in June 1923, and has hosted the 1932 and 1984 Olympic Games (and, in a few years, the 2028 Olympic Games). Let us all take a moment to appreciate this historic Olympic Stadium on its milestone anniversary. Personally it has always been my favorite Olympic venue and I think it was one of the most beautiful venues to ever host the opening and closing ceremonies with it's graceful peristyle and soaring torch. And how versatile and adaptable it has been, hosting everything from American Football to Association Football (Soccer), to Baseball, track and field, dirt track racing, NASCAR, Evel Kneival's daredevil jumping, political conventions, concerts, religious events and much, much more.

Complete Live Australian TV coverage of the 1984 Opening Ceremony: