Ikarus360

Opening ceremony producer is none other than Scott Givens himself (FiveCurrents CEO, the people in charge of Atlanta '96 and SLC 2002 ceremonies, and also the 2019 Pan Am Games and the last Asian Games ceremonies in Jakarta-Palembang). There's a new video with an interview with Scott Givens giving more insight about the upcoming show.

Seems video didn't embed well It looks very impressive though. Its sad they couldn't do something like this for the Winter Olympics. Also seems they really want to beat Jakarta-Palembang ceremony in terms of scale. I appreciate they put a bigger effort than usual for the stage design instead of making it just flat. Aichi-Nagoya is going to have a very huge bar to surpass (and because of the sh*tshow which was Tokyo 2020+1, for what i'm reading they want to make a more minimalist edition, with the original plan for the Athletes village being clamped down due to the costs). Speaking of which, they already described their plans for the handover in the closing ceremony (you'll need to translate these articles tho) https://www.yomiuri.co.jp/local/aichi/news/20230913-OYTNT50142/ https://www.pref.aichi.jp/press-release/hyoukei20230913.html

Its very rare from China to spoil so much from their ceremonies when we're still some days to go, but we got pics of how's the ceremony going to be. http://news.cjn.cn/whpd/yw_19947/202309/t4686511.htm https://www.ixigua.com/7277113720025664768 https://news.cctv.com/2023/09/10/VIDEKpvxMmlRzN4yCaYhKdsI230910.shtml

The saddest thing is his replacement will probably not be any better. The whole federation needs to be cleaned from head to toe.

Short and straight to the point doesn't always mean its good. Except for the Ice block segment before the parade, i feel the 2022 ceremony fell really short creativity wise and depended almost completely on the gigantic floor screen... Also they shortened it in 2022 because of different circumstances (the pandemic). I feared Chengdu would suffer of the same problem...but to be honest despite its shortness, i feel the artistic segment of the Universiade was much better done and devised, with physical performers doing some actual impressive stuff (really loved the segment with the Sichuan opera) instead of depending fully in technology (after all it was the same director of the 2014 YOG). By the words of Chengdu director, the 10-15 minute mandate (which, btw, it seems it also includes that they can't exceed more than 2000 performers) was to force directors/artists to be creative and make good use of that time. I guess Zhang Yimou isn't someone who is good for those short amount of time limits.

51:20 Opening Ceremony of the Rugby World Cup France 2023. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7oK8O58zvL0 Typical french weirdness...

For what i'm seeing, it seems there is a mandate regarding how ceremonies are now done in China. From the massive, long ceremonies we used to see from them in the past, to a preset of a maximum of 10-15 minutes of artistic performances. The Universiade in Chengdu did this and, for what i've been reading, it seems to be the same case for Hangzhou.

And now only a bit more than a year since the CWG, and Birmingham declares itself in bankruptcy....really feels like more nails in the CWG's coffin. Councils in England in crisis as Birmingham ‘declares itself bankrupt’ https://www.theguardian.com/society/2023/sep/05/councils-in-england-in-crisis-as-birmingham-declares-itself-bankrupt.

Whatever hopes Spain had of hosting the 2030 WC are pretty much smashed to pieces after this catastrophic embarassment. Worst thing is he might get away with it. I honestly feel very bad for the team. It was their chance to shine and the whole spotlight was stolen by this mysognistic moron, the same idiot who is also involved in corruption and sold the Supercopa to the Saudis. And the sad thing is, much like FIFA, he will be replaced by someone as bad or worse.

Busan is considered by many journalists and critics as the favorite, but lets not fool ourselves. Salman will do anything in his reach to keep buying events for his Agenda Whitewashing 2030 (keeping in line with how every Gulf state has been trying to get the sport world inside their pockets over the last decade), and getting the Expo would be the jewel of the crown of his ambition. The only thing which might hurt Riyadh bid is the fact UAE edition is still recent. Still though... SK is aware of this which is why every single big company in the country (Samsung, LG, etc.) has compromised to support the Busan bid. However, things like the Jamboree (which were apparently also caused by very bad mismanagement which is kinda unusual for them) might be a very ugly stain for their race.

Things not looking good for Busan bid after the catastrophe which has been the World Scout Jamboree in Saemangeum so far. A mix of weather conditions (heat wave, typhoon) and many other problems with its organization. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-66425588

Couldn't watch it live but here's for anyone interested https://www.fisu.tv/featured/videos/opening-ceremony-chengdu-fisu-world-university-games

Opening Ceremony rehearsals (video inside the link) https://focus.scol.com.cn/zgsz/202307/58941162.html https://finance.sina.com.cn/wm/2023-07-26/doc-imzcztcm8222108.shtml?cref=cj

I appreciate they are trying to deviate from the usual shape of torches, but like Australian Kiwi said, it feels more like a CWG's baton than an Olympic Torch. Also seems the flame will be small. I have a feeling they will keep with the trend of cauldrons being small (hopefully not what we saw in 2022).

Medal design for the Universiade Unlike the WOG, the torch relay was more lucky and has lasted for more days Athletes Village