Olympian2004

I wouldn't consider that weird -- it's only natural that things that don't work at the ceremony itself have worked at the dress rehearsal. Otherwise they would have fixed the problem for the ceremony, wouldn't they?

Actually its capacity during the Games will be 91,000. At least according to what the official Beijing 2008 website says.

I don't think so. I mean, the woman seen in this clip is the wife of a TV executive, not of a BOCOG member. So I doubt that he knows any details about the cauldron. Also, Mrs. Hu said that she got to know only two hours earlier that her husband had cheated on her. But our alleged "insider" told us already months ago that his/her marriage broke up.

That reminds us once more that the upcoming Olympic Games take place under a regime which cares a sh*t about Olympic ideals (such as human rights).

That is a pretty rough, literal (and of course not very poetic) translation, so you should better not add it to Wikipedia (if you intended to do so): "Peoples! Be the people's guest, come in through the open gate! Peace be upon the festival of peoples! Honour shall be the slogan of strife. Young strength wants to prove courage, hot game Olympia! Praise your splendour with deeds, pure destination: Olympia. Many countries' pride and bloom came here to the festival of strife; all fire that glowed there merges together highly and freely. Strength and spirit approaches with hesitation. Self-sacrifice Olympia! Who may wear your laurel, sound of glory: Olympia? While now all hearts are beating in distinguished union, loyalty to the oath shall be the highest value in deeds and sagas. Champions shall win joyfully, festival of victory Olympia! Joy shall be even in defeat, festival of peace: Olympia. Champions shall win joyfully, festival of victory Olympia! Olympia! Olympia! Olympia!"

P*ss off with your bloody ads -- and shove them deep into where the sun ain't shine.

The only major fault about those mascots is that Muk Muk (of all mascots the cutest!) isn't officially included. That's plain stupid since they'd probably sell that funny little chap with his foam finger like hot cakes.

I see. First I was pretty irritated by the name "sea bear" because in German, "sea bear" (as we say, "Seebär") is how we call the northern fur seal (see here). And I didn't recognise a fur seal at all in Miga. Anyway, this is how I rate the mascots: Thumbs up, Vancouver! I like them although I agree that they have a pretty Asian (especially Beijing 2008) touch. Nevertheless, they are cute and especially Quatchi suits the logo's clumsy Ilanaaq a lot. And now I know why they had Ben Heppner sing the national anthem at the handover ceremony -- it was a new way of presenting the mascots already at the preceding closing ceremony: Heppner Quatchi I also think that the design of the mascots suits the look of the Games very well. But I don't think that they resemble the South Park characters. Looking at the promotional video, they remind me rather (but only slightly, though) of the Happy Tree Friends.

That's right. And the otter has been used only once, for the Salt Lake 2002 Winter Paralympics: Otto the Otter

I see. But what you hear after Gustav Heinemann's opening speech is not the introduction to the entrance of the Olympic Flag. It's the moment when Günter Zahn climbed the last steps to the cauldron and finally lit it. By the way, the recording seems to be a part of a documentation of the live broadcasts on German radio during the Munich 1972 Games. Here's the transcription of the whole clip: "[Live commentator:] Gustav Heinemann erhebt sich, um die Spiele zu eröffnen, meine Damen und Herren. Und mit ihm das ganze Rund. [President Heinemann:] Ich erkläre die Olympischen Spiele -- München 1972 -- zur Feier der XX. Olympiade der Neuzeit für eröffnet! [Narrator:] Und dann erreichte das Olympische Feuer nach seinem langen Weg über mehr als 5000 Kilometer von Griechenland nach München das Stadion. Der 18-jährige Günter Zahn aus Passau trug es als letzter Läufer hinauf zur Feuerschale. [Live commentator:] Die letzte Stufe. Er läuft etwa zehn Meter rechts herüber, steht dort oben und jubelt. Und die Menschen haben sich selbst von ihren Plätzen dort unten auf der Gegentribüne gedreht. Und jetzt ist es soweit: Er taucht die Fackel hinein in diese Schale -- und das Feuer brennt!" Translation: "[Live commentator:] Gustav Heinemann rises to open the Games, ladies and gentlemen. And with him the whole round [=the whole stadium]. [President Heinemann:] I declare open the Olympic Games -- Munich 1972 --, celebrating the XX Olympiad of the modern era! [Narrator:] And then the Olympic Flame reached the stadium, after its long way of more than 5,000 kilometres from Greece to Munich. The 18-year-old Günter Zahn from Passau carried it as last runner up to the cauldron. [Live commentator:] The last step. He runs about ten metres to the right, stands there and cheers. And even the people down there at the opposite grandstand have turned from their seats. And now the moment has come: He dips the torch into that cauldron -- and the fire is burning!"

Sorry, the more correct translation of "Haltet fest an dem alten Brauch" is "Stick to the old custom", not "Abide by the old custom".

Yes, it was an ancient oracle called "Ekecheirija". You can hear the text read by stadium announcer Joachim Fuchsberger when you click on the MP3 link. The text reads: "Abide by the old custom. Preserve your country. Stay away from war and give a signal to the world for brotherly friendship when the time of the quadrennial Games approaches." By the way: You said that the website contains also an audio recording of the "entrance of the flag". Did you mean the Olympic Flag? If yes, where is that file? I didn't know that the website also has a recording of that segment. That would be great because as I said, Munich had a magnificent instrumental arrangement of the Olympic Anthem.

I'm hoping for the hands-holding sea otters. It can't get cuter than that. And it also would be a nice reference to internet culture.

Sorry, I have to correct you: For the entrance of West Germany, the traditional song "Hoch auf dem gelben Wagen" ("High Upon The Yellow Carriage" -- a reference to the old stagecoaches) and some other song (I don't know what it's called) were played. Polka is something different.

Oh, you're right. Forgive me my bad memory. I was really certain that they used an instrumental version of the anthem back then, but maybe I confused it with Munich (which had a magnificent arrangement of the anthem, by the way -- sadly, I haven't the facilities to upload it and haven't found the piece anywhere on the web). This time, I think my memory serves me right: When the Montreal 1976 OC was broadcast on German TV in 2000, they used the version with the original German comment. And the commentator back then in 1976 actually complained about the music during the parade of nations: He found that it was dull, uniform and also very loud. And he complained that it hadn't any references to the different countries, unlike Kurt Edelhagen's legendary arrangement for the parade of nations in Munich four years earlier. But that was only his two pennies' worth. It's no miracle that the Germans were very eager that Montreal's OC didn't leave a better impression than their own OC in 1972.

Actually, this is only a recording of the anthem produced on the occasion of the Montreal 1976 Games. It's obvious because this recording was made by a Greek choir and a Greek conductor in Greek language. A German TV channel broadcast Montreal's opening ceremony in the lead-up to the Sydney Olympics (I could still kick myself in the a** that I didn't record it back then), and if I recall correctly, an instrumental version of the Olympic Anthem was used for the hoisting of the Olympic Flag. At least I don't remember the Anthem to be sung by such a distinctive all-male choir. By the way: The Harry van Hoof arrangement of the Olympic Anthem which can be downloaded at the nationalanthems.us thread you mentioned, too, is exactly the arrangement played (in a shortened version) at each IOC session. At least unless they use such awful singers like in Singapore.

But what is breath-taking about a cauldron tower -- something we already had in Atlanta, Salt Lake and Torino? And if you meant that temporary cauldron rising from the centre of the field: I don't consider that very breath-taking either. Any kind of light metal -- or any material surrounded by carbon fiber or whatever. There are so many flameproof materials that this shouldn't be a problem. You're pretty much of an alarmist. If they would install such kind of cauldron they would of course take every action to make that thing safe. Safety valves, sprinklers, video surveillance and what have you. If you want to crap your pants because of every possible danger, you should do that also regarding the safety of that extremely heavy roof with all its girders which could fall down, for example. If everyone was so fearful like you, we would never have seen Barcelona's flaming arrow or Sydney's elaborate cauldron installment. You have to accept risks if you don't want to do bland.

I've even found that scene on YouTube (its a clip from German pay TV channel Premiere): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JDfmAj6uUaY Do you know, by any chance, what that "spider's" purpose was? I always found it quite strange when I saw footage from the Azteca Stadium during Mexico 86.

Why does the cauldron have to be a surprise. Most Olympic cauldrons weren't. Just think of Moscow, Los Angeles, Barcelona, Lillehammer, Atlanta, Salt Lake, Athens and Torino. They are usually highly visible already before the ceremony. It's not that risky. The cauldron is supplied with natural gas, not with liquid fuel. Similar to what that alleged insider (I've already forgot his/her name) described lately: The pipes with the cauldron can be lowered to the ground. Or they'll lift someone into the air, with cables. Just think of Nikki Webster in Sydney. I suppose, due to the heavy smog in Beijing, the Games won't have a lot of sun anyway. Seriously: I think a shadow on the field is not that problematic. Because: Which athletes will be on the field? Only the players of the men's football final will. The main action of the track and field events takes place around the field. And at the 2006 World Cup, the video cube of Frankfurt's stadium cast a shadow on the field, too. That was not that distracting. Seoul's wasn't either. I think the IOC isn't so strict about that rule. Especially if it even allowed Torino to not use the original Olympic flame to light the cauldron.

I still think the cauldron will most likely hang above the centre of the field and have a shape like a ball (not a dish) so that the flame can be seen also from below. I actually thought that a cauldron tower outside the stadium would be possible, too -- but after looking at the video, the stadium's roof looks very high and it strongly obstructs the view to the outside (besides that small gap between the stadium's upper rim and the roof). That stadium and its roof are not comparable to Torino's Stadio Olimpico. So in order to make the flame visible from inside the stadium, a cauldron tower would have to be a lot higher and nearer to the stadium than Torino's. And I somehow don't expect that to happen. And by the way: With a cauldron tower, a part of the audience (the one who has the cauldron in its back) wouldn't see the flame either. Torino had the same problem. And I don't think that they'll shift the flame from one cauldron to another in the course of the Games. I'm very certain that the cauldron (whatever its shape and location will be) will be permanent. But I suppose it will be a hanging cauldron. The roof seems high enough to get the cauldron out of the way of flying javelins, disci and hammers.

You shouldn't have -- because at the end, the video offers some nice pictures from inside the stadium. I must say, from the inside, the stadium looks very impressing and dignified. But from the outside... I'll never fall in love with it.

Hear, hear. Does your choice of countries have anything to do, by chance, with your president Hugo Chavez, his criticism towards the USA and his encounter with King Juan Carlos last week?

That is not only a disgrace for a future Olympic host city but also for a tourist destination in general. It's incredible that Dziekanski had to stay at the airport for ten hours -- and nevertheless, he didn't get any sort of help, not even a translator. And those damned tasers make me really sick. I'm glad that they aren't used here in Germany -- and nevertheless, our police still manages to arrest unruly people.

I have a certain sensation that it will be two mascots again -- just as in Torino. It would also link to Calgary 1988, with Hidy and Howdy. Maybe this time, we'll have Shity and Shouty, the two obnoxious seagulls? However, I'm fearing the worst. The mascots of the past years (including those of the World Cup and the EURO, maybe only with the exception of Beijing's cute little panda) were ugly enough to kill my optimism.

Zainhasan, Baron was only trying to be funny. As usual.