mattygs

I may very well stick the lappy on while im in there watching .

We've got some major organisational problems with the netball competition, the chief netball rep in Delhi is not a happy lady. She has given the OC til midnight Sunday to sort their sh1t out or else the competition won't be able to start on schedule.

I will too, but McBeth will still be commentating, not sure what though - probably swimming again. Ill actually miss him with Anthony Moss who have been the tvnz swimming commentators for some time. Never know, John might be doing the opening ceremony. Possibly Steven McIvor and Lavina Good (who funnily enough did Melbournes opening too). Not sure about the Foxtel relationship though.

Just saw highlights of the rehearsals of the opening. They only showed close shots of dancing, seems to be a very people based ceremony, as opposed to technology based (though in saying that it also features the highly technical aerostat. Seems to be more in the style of KL , rather than Melbourne. Looked pretty decent.

Paul is just a journalist, quite controversial and funny though - prone to having *moments* on air. His acceptance speech at the NZ Television awards was a classic. Check these out. Rats wash their faces with their own Urine That is a lady with a Moustache As for Miss Dikshit. I think having her first name as Sheila just makes it even better. In saying that, the lady really does need a fair bit of kudos after moving Delhi into action with the athletes village.

OK, this is totally politically incorrect and in fear of being flamed by Indian members - u gotta laugh. Paul Henry, host of New Zealand's most popular breakfast tv show - Breakfast, has a bad habit of overstepping the line on tv. He did it again, when pronouncing the name of Delhi's chief minister Sheila Dikshit. NZ breakfast tv This is a must watch. Paul has been notorious with other such youtubable moments as commenting on the mostache on a lady he interviewed , and talking about how rats urinate on their hands to clean their faces.

Well, TVNZ sold its New Zealand broadcast rights to SKY TV, so these will be there first Commonwealth Games, and no doubt they will be wanting to test the waters for their Summer Olympic debut in London . The coverage will be the best NZ has ever seen, featuring 5 24hr Commonwealth Games channels, in addition to this, they will have a mosaic channel which will feature 5 screens in 1, showing what's happening on all the other channels. Prime TV will be the free to air broadcast partner featuring 12hrs of coverage a day. I just flicked over, the the 6 Sky channels have just gone operational with a blurb page with the Sky TV Delhi 2010 look.

Well, the truth is, there are still some athletes village apartments not completed.... 3 days to go.... nuff said.

Rumours of the use of sticks in the opening ceremony, wow. haha. In all honesty, it does appear to be a good show, I think perhaps it will be a return to the old school style of opening ceremony, rather than the more *concept* driven ceremonies of the likes of Athens and Melbourne. Strictly speaking though, it's not completely true that it's the first time the athletes have been seated in the stands to watch the majority of the opening ceremony. Auckland did something similar and had special seating for the athletes. There was a brief Maori powhiri opening number, and then the athletes marched around the track and took their seats - leaving them to watch the majority of the rest of the cultural performances.

I doubt it, the tunnel was a last minute addition, probably didn't plan underground holds. Never know though. Probably just for performers though.

Well originally they were going to have drummers up there but budget cuts meant they had to go with puppets.

Just through my daily trawls through the indian newspapers, as ya do. Balloon has been provided by k events, the Torino 2006 mob, I think stage one was also involved. Apparantly the names of some of the segments are swagatam, rhythm of India, celebrations, tree of knowledge, great Indian journey, and mahatma. Remarkably though, some of the score is still to be completed.

There is without a doubt lots of negative news regards to Delhi 2010, thought I'd start the usual ceremony thread in light of the much hyped and expensive Aerostat being unleashed on the Delhi skies. They have just inflated and tested the aerostat which is to be the focal point of the opening ceremony. It's been raised 10m, and will rise a further 20m in the next few days. Supposedly a large stage will be situated below. The Aerostat will have lighting features, will reflect light, be a projection screen, and will also lift props. Other bits and pieces of information, there will be a 90ft face bamboo tree covered in textiles. Also, currently the infield is covered by a number of layers. A waterproof protective layer, a special covering which can withstand pressure loads of up to 10ton a m, and it will be topped off by a blue carpet.

It's on ITunes

The music used in the Lillehammer handover? I have seen it go by a few names, prosesjon, but most commonly- mold canticle, it's by sissel

Aussies want early opening Seems Aussie broadcasters want a 5.30pm start to Delhi's opening, instead of 7 - a shame and surprise.

Nah, mainly inspirational style pop, similar to Rhythm of the Games from Atlanta.

I think from memory they said the outdoor cauldron would be remote lit, so I guess it just burst into flames randomly. There seems to be less effort for the Paralympics to at least pretend that the flame has directly lit the cauldron. The same was the case in Sydney's opening ceremony where they created a supposed *relay of flames* going from the mini cauldron in the middle of the field to the main cauldron.

Well, Sky Sport screened the ceremony live here in New Zealand, which was quite impressive, so good work to them. Ummm, a little bit disappointed, but I guess good in the context of the budget and that these were the Paralympics. Not surprisingly, a downer after the amazing Beijing ceremonies. Not from just a size point though, I can't help but feel they were just falling into that corny mould of *how inspiring, overcoming the ods etc etc*. Yes, we get that. But these are high performance athletes with the mindset of any other Olympic athlete, I can't help but think that these guys would be cringing at the cheese put before them. I don't see why they can't give them just a normal artistically fun opening ceremony, keeping in mind budget restraints of course. There were moments of that in this ceremony, which worked well, but overall was just a tad kitch and abit too wordy too, definetely not one of the multi-national non English speaking nations. As for the music, there were a few nice parts, but had that really bad casio keyboard calgary 88 sounding quality to alot of it. A few times I could see that they had some good ideas, but maybe budget got in the way, and that particular idea turned into various levels of nothingness. They set it up so well during the story blanket part, with that thing covering the floor and then the storytelling scene rising up on the main stage. But instead of doing something cool with that, they just propelled Sumi into the air, a mascot. I just wouldve liked them take a different thematic approach instead of doing the Paralympic standard. Something like the Plane tree in Athens. In saying all this, for a 5m production for the Paralympics, it was decent.

Opening to celebrate Indian Culture - not all Bollywood And article mentioning a few of the others involved in the ceremonies of the Delhi Games, and also saying that it would not have the same Bollywood influence as the Melbourne handover. Seems like there will be a huge cast. And again, mentioning that Ric Birch and Mark Fisher are their international advisors. At least that means there could be some impressive staging with MF on board.

I guess it's the difference between a creative mind and the technical know-how. I am guessing that there are alot of people who have the mind to be able to come up with a memorable ceremony, the whole taking those ideas and turning it into a production is a different kettle of fish. I guess I can't really picture a DAE ceremony though, where David isnt the creative drive behind it.

Nope. Patrick Roberge Productions are the producers, their track record goes back to expo 86 and calgary 88. Id be happy with Atkins involved with London, far more than Birch whi is now best kept as a technical advisor. Surely tho it must be Zolkwer and JMW to lose??? Maybe look out for Nigel Jamieson or Andrew Walsh to be involved. As for Don Mischer, he always produces beautiful well flowing ceremonies imo. He has a knack of treating them as the grand spectacles they are, maybe too traditional for London tho???

Much like the opening I've got mixed feelings on the closing ceremony, I gotta say I can't see it as being one that I would go back and watch multiple times - like others have said, a ceremony that had highs and lows. Highs: - The opening sequence of the cauldron leg was a good one and got the ceremony off to a good start, kind of following in the footsteps of the lawnmower man chase in Sydney where it passed Ric Birch on one of the infamous roo bikes of Atlanta. - The made in Canada segment was a good one, however, I don't really think it was good enough to form the backbone of the field entertainment. It had a great soundtrack and did the whole Canadiana thing well. But I guess the problem here is that it was so similar to the concept used in Sydney. There is surely a danger that an *ana* segment will be the common place during all closing ceremonies. - musical performances of the night fell in both the high and low bucket. But I think the performance of Alanis was a good one. I do think though that perhaps they could have given it a tad more substance artistically - The Sochi handover is probably the part of the closing that I will go back and watch. I do agree with the fact that it did seem abit disjointed and I didnt see too much of a theme or a concept in it. In saying that, it was visually pleasing and used some cool stunts, I particularly liked the troika . I dunno if they would have spent *that* much money on it. They have to thank Vancouver for giving them a good stage to work with. Lows: - I liked the return of the comedy sequence to a closing ceremony, something that past events have had, but which have been missing of late. But I just think it was abit too wordy, it would have gone way over the head of most people who don't have English as their main language. And at times, it did kind of fall ever so slightly into the same mould as the tryhard poem from the opening ceremony. The idea of it though, the pulling down of the stars and making them seem like very regular people, was a good one. I think my approval rating would have increased with the inclusion of Ryan Reynolds. - Half of the music of the concert was pap, Im sure there could have been a bunch of better people that could have been included. - Oh Canada sounded like it was performed by the cast of High School Musical or Barney. A shame. And unfortunately the tribute to the athletes song at the start really just was a tad too cheesey. Ironically, going against everything Bjork wanted when she wrote her song for Athens (not that I think that was a great one, but *uve got to try your hardest, ure doing ure best* sorta lyrics just don't cut it) I think in general I am maybe from the old school when it comes to closing ceremonies. I definetely think that the prime purpose should be to give the athletes a good time. But I do think there is a room for a small artistic portion right at the start, something that Vancouver didnt have. It doesnt have to be a wankfest, but past closings have managed to juggle the party aspect, with this. Manchester 2002 Com Games closing a prime example. It managed to keep the party atmosphere (despite the rain) while producing one of the most epid pieces of stadium theatre during the *Common wealth* segment. You can even interweve this with the concept of *I am Canada*. The way for instance, that at the 2006 Com Games ceremony in Melbourne, they used some iconic Melbourne landmarks in lights, creating an ethereal scene. As I mentioned above, the Alanis performance imo could have been turned into something similar to Christine Anu's *My Island Home* from Sydney. I think it would have been nice to have a reflections kind of segment, and I do feel it was missing that emotive *goodbye* moment. Yeah, it can be corny, but done well, it can be a moment which will stick in the minds of people. Granted its not the 1980s, but Goodbye Misha everybody. I also think that these magical awesome Games deserved alot more than a pack of tryhard dancers and a ceedy hip hop artist being Vancouver's last gasp. It really just fizzled and fell flat. All in all, as I say, a mixed effort. Followed too much in the footsteps of Sydney. They needed to find their own special and unique plan for Vancouver. Still a pretty decent show though, one focused very much for the athletes.

Well, I watched the opening ceremony on Sky tv here in New Zealand, nice to have the event absolutely commercial free for the first time in ages - really does help keep the continuity of the ceremony going. Some decent commentators in Steven McIvor and Australia's Steve Robilliard (used to hearing him do netball and gymnastics commentary, not sure he was on the NZ broadcast team), they didnt say too much, which was a plus. Welcome: I actually liked the stadium announcers, it was an enthusiastic and appropriate welcome. Not the warmth of Athens, but still good. Im sure they could have run the video and live snowboarder better, but that's just me being picky. It was an energy packed start and set the scene pretty well. Host 4 Nations: Better than I thought it would be. I am always one who prefers the more artistic side of the indiginous cultures being used than a straight out performance of traditional dance etc. There was a danger where it seemed to be heading towards the lows of the *see my coin* moment of Torino's closing. Parade of Nations: Plackards kept in the theme of the ceremony and staging construction, the music was decent, didnt drag on too much. And now the campfest that was Bryan and Nelly's song. It really did appear that the closing ceremony of Beijing and the opening of Vancouver had cosmically alligned. Seemed abit like that *Beijing Beijing.. we love Beijing* song from 2008. They both looked good, and it was great to see Nelly try to inject something into the performance. Grabbing Bryan Adams' hand to make him wake up. Obviously the poor sound quality detracted from the performance. Im sure they could have given the uber interesting voice of Nelly Furtado a better sounding track than this. Something tormented and windswept ala Try or All Good Things. Cultural Performance: By and large, I loved this. While perhaps we don't have any absolute mindblowing images as such that the regular Joe will remember in years to come, no cycladic head for instance, we had a number of visual effects that in the moment, were amazing. Had to love the Spirit Bear, was somewhat disappointed that they didnt take that abit further, perhaps using some of the other constellations they had projected, but still. a good piece. The Orca, the salmon, probably the highlight of the evening for me. I couldn't have but go back to Land of Enchantment from Salt Lake though. That mystical wintery kind of segment with the animals coming out to place, the use of mood lighting etc etc. A nice change to have the more clasically styled dancing during the *spring* segment. I like Sarah McLachlan, she had the voice to background this etherial section, but the song? I dunno, most certainly a nice song, but maybe just abit too sugary nicey nice this time round? Loved the golden projection near the end while the Adagio was playing, along with some of the members rising up into the sky. The fiddling segment left me a tad disappointed. A nice start, one that kind of reminded me of the Barcelona closing ceremony with the shadows of the drummers ontop of the staging construction. Just seems to me that this kind of *out of control* section was always going to be in the ceremony at some stage. Maybe just a tad too folky for me. Yes, we know you have a background in tap David, but it doesnt have to be everwhere. I mean, surely the image of this dude tapping up high, and back to 2000 with Adam Garcia doing the same thing was quite obvious? The *who has seen the winds* segment was a nice one, but I think more background was needed to completely understand the simplicity of it. Despite that, I do think they could have gone a little bit further. I can see how this may have lost alot of the populus worldwide, maybe those who aren't into the art of stadium theatre as some of us here are. The Peaks of Endevour segment, abit so so for me, but loved the fast movement chaotic lighting near the end. As for the poem, meh, it didnt do anything for me. Now, the poem itself is a good one I am sure, but this was definetely not the place for it. It was far too in your face patriotic. Nothing wrong with patriotism, but you would kind of left with the feeling of *hmmm, so Canada is the only one that got it right*. I hate to say it, but I can imagine the script writers of South Park having a field day with that. I liked the idea of poetry as a focal point and here, as a climax point to the performance, but maybe they should have made their poetic pick a bit better. This was really ment for a Canada Games or something like that, not a very worldly event. As for the rest, a good performance of the Olympic hymn, tho I am one of those who would personally like the Greek version to be the common one used in these events. Gotta say tho, the LA/Atlanta version is extremely dramatic and projects well. She just took her time doing it, and I dont really like the way it switched from English to French. Agnes Baltsa from Barcelona has certainly given away her title as the biggest here in Olympic ceremonies though. Loved the effects during KD Lang's performance, was a nice way to do the traditional peace sweep. The cauldron lighting was obviously a disappointment. I actually like the concept, but I really don't think it came ax all that well to be honest. I am assuming that it is supposed to be a bonfire, but that concept didnt really fit in with anything else in the ceremony. I mean, the scroll cauldron in Beijing fitted perfectly, it was logical, but where in the opening did we have anything reflecting a campfire. The music was very weak. It lacked the drama of Chong Lim's finale to the Doha 2006 ceremony or Badalamenti's Barcelona composition, or the grandness of some of the great classical pieces that have been used to acompany previous cauldron lightings - the berlioz te deum, pirogov or ode to zeus. A flat ending to the night, they didnt have that big exclamation point, or that dramatic last gasp ala Salt lake's burning rings. Nor did it have the tenderness of the Athens PA announcer with her *from the Olympic Stadium of Athens... Good Night*, as if she was putting the worlds viewers to bed. Despite all of this, it is a ceremony I have already watched twice. It was a good one, one that was generally well done, but a few surprising things I wouldnt have picked the David Atkins of this world to have given us. A few points... * Believe it or not, some of the music reminded me that of Calgary 88, where you get the feeling a casio keyboard was used to provide the instrumentals - the Furtado/Adams song a prime example. Where were the rich orchestral or event cool modern soundtracks of Sydney and Doha? Did like the Hymnes of the North music though. * The ceremony was just a tad too random. In Sydney there was a definite historical pathway that was the basis of the evening, but what exactly does a magical grove of trees have to do with anything? Maybe David should have stuck to a constant character to provide a thread, wolfman perhaps??? I think a historical course would have been boring, but even an idea or concept of thought. Something to bind everything together. * David Atkins put his calling card on this abit too much. It needed a twist, but came out too much like Sydney and Doha. Still, it is not unusual. Don Mischer made it quite obvious in many ways that the Atlanta and SL ceremonies were both his, right down to the re-use of music and event some of the staging. Ric Birch is the same. Only the unique ceremonies seem to be the ones where people from outside the major events business are brought in to come up with some new ideas. Overall though, Canada should be proud of this effort, they have put together a great piece of stadium *theatre*, and that is the key. It is a nice paradigm shift that we have seen in these events since Athens. Where you dont need 15,000 people to create a memorable image. This is the way to go I think. Well done DAE and Vancouver, I am excited at the prospect of what is in store for the closing ceremony. I'd give this one, a solid 8/10