Kenadian Posted February 24, 2009 Report Share Posted February 24, 2009 (edited) Yes, immigrants came to Canada. And they came to build and embrace a new nation. But don't forget that most of Canada is comprised of Canadians...people born in this country or who came to this country and people who know, live, love, and celebrate this nation. Their parents or grand parents may have come from another nation, but we are Canadians. And with these Olympics, we should celebrate the culture of Canada. Not those of India, China, Ukraine, Italy, and Britain or any other culture that came here...because how could you fairly represent them all? So celebrate the whole, not the individual parts. There is enough of a Canadian story out there to fill a 2 hour ceremony without it looking like "here's a bunch of immigrant stories, but nothing about what happened once they became Canadian". I see no insult in what I said and I stand by my ideas. Edited February 24, 2009 by Kendegra Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ruling Czar Posted February 24, 2009 Report Share Posted February 24, 2009 OK.........in all honesty? i hope the directors of the ceremonies are not reading forum. You don't have to depict bollywood dancers from India or Warrior dandcers from kenya or Scottish kilts from scotland to present a true image of Canada. When you do that, the focus turns into a celebration of individual indentity rather than what it is about Canada that unites all of those cultures. When i think of your country.....I think first of vastness..... then snow.......then forsest....... thenorthern lights...........hospitality. It should be a focus on the land and a depictionof the things that makes the LAND unique. At salt lake we didn't have kilts and warriors and bollywood dancers and the US is one of the most multicultural places on the planet. Look at the natural wonders of your country and celebrate em. Didn't Athens teach you anything about the utter profoundity of celebrating the environment that gives rise to the culture? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kenadian Posted February 24, 2009 Report Share Posted February 24, 2009 ^ I fully applaud that idea. Canada's vastness has long defined who we are as a people. Canada is not a 5000 year old nation like China or Greece. But there is great beauty in the 5000 mile journey from Atlantic to Pacific shores. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faster Posted February 24, 2009 Report Share Posted February 24, 2009 I agree, there is enough Canadian history and culture to fill 2 hours without the need to become a multi-ethnic orgy. The US is also very multicultural and in both Atlanta and Salt Lake it was American culture on display, not the multi-culturalism of the uS> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nobase2010 Posted February 25, 2009 Report Share Posted February 25, 2009 Have you seen Doha's opening ceremony? Which was directed by David Atkin. He had a small segments depicting different cultures coming together as part of Doha's history. I believe he will do the same thing for Vancouver. David Atkin will combine all of this cultures in one dance instead having each culture dance individually. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kenadian Posted February 25, 2009 Report Share Posted February 25, 2009 (edited) Sydney also had that. Imagine 2010 even had that after they unveiled the logo. A multi-cultural, let's all get together and live in peace in Canada segment is perfectly acceptable and very much expected. But if the ceremony becomes nothing more than Beijing 2008 meets Delhi 2010 meets London 2012, it would be a major opportunity lost for Canada to present its story as a nation, a society and a culture. Something where the multitude of cultures are blended, fine. Something where a foreign culture takes the stage over the others and over Canadian culture, unacceptable! Edited February 25, 2009 by Kendegra Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sir Rols Posted February 25, 2009 Report Share Posted February 25, 2009 Well, it's part and parcel of the games isn't it? - some segment about bringing the world together, cultures all coming together to celebrate, the youth of the world together as one in harmony, yadda yadda. And I suppose those particularly multiucultural melting pot countries like Oz and Canada have it as a particular card to play anyway. I can see something like that being some segment of the ceremony - But I don't see any need for the whole OC to be structured around something like that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faster Posted February 25, 2009 Report Share Posted February 25, 2009 Agreed And as for the cultures that should be represented, only Irish, Scottish, French, English and German culture have any place in producing the collective culture of Canada. Who I am as a Canada has not been shaped by Chinese, Indian, Punjubi, Pakistani, Korean or whoever else's culture because they don't blend themselves into Canadian culture but remain distinct and that has no place in a ceremony that's mission should be to present a collective, unifying Canadian culture to the world. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rafa Posted February 25, 2009 Report Share Posted February 25, 2009 I wish South Africa hired somebody decent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kenadian Posted February 25, 2009 Report Share Posted February 25, 2009 ^ Who is organizing the OC of WC 2010? WC ceremonies aren't as creative as Olympic ceremonies, though the France 98 ceremony was memorable for being in the streets of Paris and those colourful giant boys. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thatsnotmypuppy Posted February 25, 2009 Report Share Posted February 25, 2009 I just want a two hour Barenaked Ladies concert. Forget everything else. Maybe throw in Fefe Dobson, Avril and Sarah McLachlan. No Celine - though we all know it is inevitable she'll be warbling away at the opening or closing. So yeah - let the athletes march in quickly, do a speech, fly the flag, light the flame, deflate the roof and have the BNL play us into the sweet night! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rafa Posted February 25, 2009 Report Share Posted February 25, 2009 The problem is not who we get but the budget. We had Doug Jack and Penny Jones(lovely lady) for the CWC 2003 opening but the budget was so low and SABC(our national broadcaster) provided such terrible camera work, the entire thing looked budget. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kenadian Posted February 25, 2009 Report Share Posted February 25, 2009 I'm afraid you may not get your wish. Steven Page Leaves BNL Who was his Yoko Ono? Oh yeah...the coca leaf. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mr.x Posted February 25, 2009 Report Share Posted February 25, 2009 The problem is not who we get but the budget. We had Doug Jack and Penny Jones(lovely lady) for the CWC 2003 opening but the budget was so low and SABC(our national broadcaster) provided such terrible camera work, the entire thing looked budget. Well, in any case the 2010 Olympic Opening/Closing has a budget of $40-million while the medal ceremonies are at $13-million. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baron-pierreIV Posted February 25, 2009 Report Share Posted February 25, 2009 (edited) Have you seen Doha's opening ceremony? Which was directed by David Atkin. He had a small segments depicting different cultures coming together as part of Doha's history. I believe he will do the same thing for Vancouver. David Atkin will combine all of this cultures in one dance instead having each culture dance individually. Vancouver ain't Doha. What's with this different cultrues thing? Have you forgotten these are WINTER GAMES? I believe that will be the focus. ANd after thinking more about it, I think Salt Lake City will be the pattern. That was the gold standard for Winter Ceremonies so far IMHO. So. 1. A totally surrealistic, Winter Wonderland opening 2. The entrance of the athletes 3. Then telling Canada AND BC/Vancouver's story -- maybe that Spirit Bear, Spirit Salmon, the Children of Darkness thingies... - some frozen underwater spermatazoa meeting with fairies or spirits of the skye (the ceiling has to play a big part, courtesty of YellowVest) ...ya know...the Sea to Sky themey... That multi-cultural slant ...which has NO BEARING whatsover on Winter sport...is so cliche already.. Edited February 25, 2009 by baron-pierreIV Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baron-pierreIV Posted February 25, 2009 Report Share Posted February 25, 2009 Well, in any case the 2010 Olympic Opening/Closing has a budget of $40-million while the medal ceremonies are at $13-million. X, what's your source on these figs? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mr.x Posted February 25, 2009 Report Share Posted February 25, 2009 Vancouver ain't Doha. What's with this different cultrues thing? Have you forgotten these are WINTER GAMES? I believe that will be the focus. ANd after thinking more about it, I think Salt Lake City will be the pattern. That was the gold standard for Winter Ceremonies so far IMHO. So.1. A totally surrealistic, Winter Wonderland opening 2. The entrance of the athletes 3. Then telling Canada AND BC/Vancouver's story -- maybe that Spirit Bear, Spirit Salmon, the Children of Darkness thingies... - some frozen underwater spermatazoa meeting with fairies or spirits of the skye (the ceiling has to play a big part, courtesty of YellowVest) ...ya know...the Sea to Sky themey... That multi-cultural slant ...which has NO BEARING whatsover on Winter sport...is so cliche already.. Hmm...I'd still go for a Doha/Sydney concept, with a dash of snow and ice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mr.x Posted February 25, 2009 Report Share Posted February 25, 2009 X, what's your source on these figs? Jeff Lee, Vancouver Sun Published: Friday, February 22, 2008 VANCOUVER - The federal government announced it will pay for half of the $40 million cost of the Opening and Closing Ceremonies for the 2010 Winter Games. There was no hint that the government was considering boosting the amount of tax dollars it is putting into the Games until Friday, when David Emerson, the minister responsible for the Olympics, announced that an another $20 million - in addition to the $552 million it has already committed to the Games - would be handed over for ceremonies. Emerson said the money doesn't come with strings attached, but will help ensure Canada is represented from coast to coast. Canada's linguistic duality and aboriginal communities will also be fairly represented, he said. Emerson, who has been Olympics minister for two years, made the announcement during his first-ever tour of the headquarters of the Vancouver Organizing Committee. All totalled, Vanoc has budgeted $58 million for ceremonies, including the nightly medal presentations. But of that, $40 million is for the opening and closing extravaganzas that are the hallmark of every Olympic Games. Emerson said the new money is in addition to the government's previous committments for the construction of venues, and he didn't rule out Ottawa handing over more to Vanoc for other specific operational projects from time to time. He said the money for the ceremonies had already been allocated in the current budget and didn't require further approval. Vanoc CEO John Furlong welcomed the gift, saying it will help the organizing committee's bottom line. Asked if the ceremonies were facing financial difficulty without the infusion of more taxpayers' money, Furlong said no. Vanoc is still raising funds for operations, and would have found the money elsewhere, he said. The annnouncement comes days before the International Olympic Committee begins its' semi-annual inspection of its franchise. The Vancouver Coordination Commission's visit will also include the second visit to Vancouver by IOC President Jacques Rogge. But it is also expected to attract at least two groups of disparate protesters as well; the usual small band of anti-Olympics and anti-poverty protesters who have become a minor irritant at Vanoc events, and a group of women ski jumpers who are trying to overturn an IOC decision to not include the event in the 2010 Games. The nightly medal ceremonies were previously announced to cost $18-million, but a few weeks ago the Whistler medal ceremonies were axed to save $5-million.....meaning, $13-million for the Vancouver nightly medal ceremonies at BC Place. Going back through old articles, I also found this: Snow could fall at Olympic ceremonies Organizer wants to bring outdoors inside Clare Ogilvie, The Province Published: Wednesday, February 20, 2008 WHISTLER -- Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow -- in B.C. Place Stadium. Organizers of the opening and closing ceremonies for Vancouver and Whistler's 2010 Games are looking at ways to make it snow inside the dome. "There are a number of ways that we are going to have to bring the outdoors inside into the stadium," said David Atkins, executive producer of the ceremonies yesterday. "I think there are some extraordinary opportunities -- audio-visually and in terms of sheer physical effects. I think to make it snow in that stadium is going to be not only unique but incredibly exciting for the audience," said Atkins at a Whistler Chamber of Commerce luncheon. Atkins said the stadium and resort will be linked during all ceremonies, including the medal presentations. "There have been incredibly inventive and innovative ideas about how we can connect the two places in the course of the ceremony, but I can't tell you what they are, of course," he said. Atkins said organizers will not try to out-dazzle Beijing's lavish ceremonies at the Summer Olympics. "We can create a little pearl here, a gem, that will be more about spirit and the humanity of the Games than it will be about the spectacle of them." "I think to a certain extent, scale has overcome the content, the form has overcome the content. The budgets for Athens and Beijing . . . are just staggering budgets and you have to question whether the final result was value for money." VANOC's budget for the opening and closing ceremonies is $40 million. Athens, host of the 2004 Summer Games, spent $105 million. Beijing is expected to spend the same. clareogilvie@telus.net Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baron-pierreIV Posted February 25, 2009 Report Share Posted February 25, 2009 Jeff Lee, Vancouver SunPublished: Friday, February 22, 2008 VANCOUVER - The federal government announced it will pay for half of the $40 million cost of the Opening and Closing Ceremonies for the 2010 Winter Games. There was no hint that the government was considering boosting the amount of tax dollars it is putting into the Games until Friday, when David Emerson, the minister responsible for the Olympics, announced that an another $20 million - in addition to the $552 million it has already committed to the Games - would be handed over for ceremonies. Emerson said the money doesn't come with strings attached, but will help ensure Canada is represented from coast to coast. Canada's linguistic duality and aboriginal communities will also be fairly represented, he said. Emerson, who has been Olympics minister for two years, made the announcement during his first-ever tour of the headquarters of the Vancouver Organizing Committee. All totalled, Vanoc has budgeted $58 million for ceremonies, including the nightly medal presentations. But of that, $40 million is for the opening and closing extravaganzas that are the hallmark of every Olympic Games. Emerson said the new money is in addition to the government's previous committments for the construction of venues, and he didn't rule out Ottawa handing over more to Vanoc for other specific operational projects from time to time. He said the money for the ceremonies had already been allocated in the current budget and didn't require further approval. Vanoc CEO John Furlong welcomed the gift, saying it will help the organizing committee's bottom line. Asked if the ceremonies were facing financial difficulty without the infusion of more taxpayers' money, Furlong said no. Vanoc is still raising funds for operations, and would have found the money elsewhere, he said. The annnouncement comes days before the International Olympic Committee begins its' semi-annual inspection of its franchise. The Vancouver Coordination Commission's visit will also include the second visit to Vancouver by IOC President Jacques Rogge. But it is also expected to attract at least two groups of disparate protesters as well; the usual small band of anti-Olympics and anti-poverty protesters who have become a minor irritant at Vanoc events, and a group of women ski jumpers who are trying to overturn an IOC decision to not include the event in the 2010 Games. The nightly medal ceremonies were previously announced to cost $18-million, but a few weeks ago the Whistler medal ceremonies were axed to save $5-million.....meaning, $13-million for the Vancouver nightly medal ceremonies at BC Place. Going back through old articles, I also found this: Snow could fall at Olympic ceremonies Organizer wants to bring outdoors inside Clare Ogilvie, The Province Published: Wednesday, February 20, 2008 WHISTLER -- Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow -- in B.C. Place Stadium. Organizers of the opening and closing ceremonies for Vancouver and Whistler's 2010 Games are looking at ways to make it snow inside the dome. "There are a number of ways that we are going to have to bring the outdoors inside into the stadium," said David Atkins, executive producer of the ceremonies yesterday. "I think there are some extraordinary opportunities -- audio-visually and in terms of sheer physical effects. I think to make it snow in that stadium is going to be not only unique but incredibly exciting for the audience," said Atkins at a Whistler Chamber of Commerce luncheon. Atkins said the stadium and resort will be linked during all ceremonies, including the medal presentations. "There have been incredibly inventive and innovative ideas about how we can connect the two places in the course of the ceremony, but I can't tell you what they are, of course," he said. Atkins said organizers will not try to out-dazzle Beijing's lavish ceremonies at the Summer Olympics. "We can create a little pearl here, a gem, that will be more about spirit and the humanity of the Games than it will be about the spectacle of them." "I think to a certain extent, scale has overcome the content, the form has overcome the content. The budgets for Athens and Beijing . . . are just staggering budgets and you have to question whether the final result was value for money." VANOC's budget for the opening and closing ceremonies is $40 million. Athens, host of the 2004 Summer Games, spent $105 million. Beijing is expected to spend the same. clareogilvie@telus.net Thanks, X. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rafa Posted February 25, 2009 Report Share Posted February 25, 2009 Well, in any case the 2010 Olympic Opening/Closing has a budget of $40-million while the medal ceremonies are at $13-million. South Africa will budget $5 million USD and expect something amazing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ruling Czar Posted February 25, 2009 Report Share Posted February 25, 2009 At sydney 2000, there was the depiction of the great Barrier reef in deep sea dreaming, then the flora of the wild outback. Are you trying to tell me that with some of the most spectacular scenery on the planet, Canada can find no natural wonders to celebrate in its opening ceremony? What about the staggering opulence of the Rockies? The thunder of Niagra falls.........the vast sheets of ice that crown its head at the top of the world? can you Imagine Bc place stadium depicting a flushed white winter wonderland of nature? Imagine the sea segment of Barcelona 92 in white depicting a great ice sheet or something. Don't make it a ppl story like the handover ceremony inTorino. What about the story of Vancouver.........which is a ppl story but can be worked very well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kenadian Posted February 25, 2009 Report Share Posted February 25, 2009 ^ Wow, we are in total agreement! The they should draw inspiration from the works of the Group of Seven artists. They told the story of Canada through their expressive and dramatic landscape works. Lawren Harris and Emily Carr are two to especially admire. Arctic ice sheets breaking into North Atlantic icebergs, the coves and harbours of the Maritimes, the Saint Lawrence Valley and the Canadian Shield, the expansive Prairies and Boreal forest, the Rocky Mountains and Pacific rain forests. Those can be more awe inspiring interpretations than some kilted dragon in a turban playing a harp and singing "Alouette". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ruling Czar Posted February 25, 2009 Report Share Posted February 25, 2009 Kendegra.............I am completely in agreement with you .....your imagery is so stunning! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ruling Czar Posted February 25, 2009 Report Share Posted February 25, 2009 I totally LOVE that group of Seven Idea! Superlatively magnificent! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baron-pierreIV Posted February 25, 2009 Report Share Posted February 25, 2009 (edited) At sydney 2000, there was the depiction of the great Barrier reef in deep sea dreaming, then the flora of the wild outback. Are you trying to tell me that with some of the most spectacular scenery on the planet, Canada can find no natural wonders to celebrate in its opening ceremony? What about the staggering opulence of the Rockies? The thunder of Niagra falls.........the vast sheets of ice that crown its head at the top of the world? can you Imagine Bc place stadium depicting a flushed white winter wonderland of nature? Imagine the sea segment of Barcelona 92 in white depicting a great ice sheet or something. Don't make it a ppl story like the handover ceremony inTorino. What about the story of Vancouver.........which is a ppl story but can be worked very well. uhmmmm..."The hills are alive with the..."? Breathtaking scenery is one thing... I mean you can get that on any IMAX screen or like the Canadian, French and CHinese Pavilions at EPCOT. But for a ceremony...and one that's broadcast 'live' to high-paying spectators and to most of the world -- has to be MORE than just projected scenery. Did anyone notice how tepidly the projections in Beijing worked? Some aided the presentation of the moment -- but they were merely an adjunct -- NOT the main action. Edited February 26, 2009 by baron-pierreIV Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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