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The Olympic Cauldron


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What are the possibilities?

Well, it's likely there will be two cauldrons. One inside BC Place and the other somewhere right outside for the public to see....there were rumours that the cauldron would be water cooled, like the one at Salt Lake.

One thing I absolutely don't want to see is an electronic lighting like what Torino did. It was very dissapointing. The torch relay went all around Italy and then the cauldron wasn't even lit directly by the final torch bearer?

And the question is, would the cauldron resemble anything like the 2010 Olympic torch? (like Beijing) ...or will it be completely different like what Sydney did? (even with its technical hiccup, it's still the best lighting in my books).

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Yeah, I expect that it will fit in with the torch and portable cauldron design. White, wavy, and very sleek.

I wonder if we'll see it before hand like Salt Lake and Torino or if it will be a concealed mystery like Calgary and Sydney.

I hope the flame lighting moment is cool, but not over the top. Something exciting, but elegant. More like Sydney and Nagano. I found Torino and Beijing a bit too techno-wizardry. Barcelona and Lillehammer were exciting moments, too, but you can't have flames flying around inside a packed dome.

I wonder what the entry music will be like? I always found it somewhat ironic that Atlanta used Beethoven's 9th Symphony (the anthem of the European Union) and that Salt Lake used the finale of Shostakovich's 5th Symphony (a piece heavily associated with the Soviet Union) - that's what they should have used in 1980.

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Yeah, I expect that it will fit in with the torch and portable cauldron design. White, wavy, and very sleek.

I wonder if we'll see it before hand like Salt Lake and Torino or if it will be a concealed mystery like Calgary and Sydney.

I hope the flame lighting moment is cool, but not over the top. Something exciting, but elegant. More like Sydney and Nagano. I found Torino and Beijing a bit too techno-wizardry. Barcelona and Lillehammer were exciting moments, too, but you can't have flames flying around inside a packed dome.

I wonder what the entry music will be like? I always found it somewhat ironic that Atlanta used Beethoven's 9th Symphony (the anthem of the European Union) and that Salt Lake used the finale of Shostakovich's 5th Symphony (a piece heavily associated with the Soviet Union) - that's what they should have used in 1980.

As long as they don't repeat what Torino did as that was a fake lighting.

Things to avoid:

- Atlanta's McDonald's french fry box and the slow process to get the flame across the wire and into the cauldron

- SLC's cauldron was gorgeous but the process to get the flame up to the top was too tedious and Atlanta-like

- and as said above, avoid Torino at all costs. I remember anticipating to see how the cauldron would be lit while watching the stadium torch relay during the opening ceremony. The lighting was definitely a huge WTF moment for me.

My favourite lightings:

1) Sydney

2) Beijing

3) Barcelona

4) Athens

5) Lillehammer (not necessarily the lighting itself, but the ski jumper flying off with the torch was pretty cool and memorable)

6) Nagano

As for music, the music for Beijing and Athens was great. They sounded great, were original, and had a certain forte to it. And the music for the fireworks right after the Beijing and Athens lightings were incredible. Please, no classical music from people that died centuries ago.

The Pan American 2007 cauldron at Rio was pretty cool in how the globe-shaped cauldron sheltered the flame....i think the Vancouver cauldron would be of similar size:

uol-cauldron-image.jpg

rio_cauld.png

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and as said above, avoid Torino at all costs. I remember anticipating to see how the cauldron would be lit while watching the stadium torch relay during the opening ceremony. The lighting was definitely a huge WTF moment for me.

I know. I was really getting anxious during the stadium relay, "Now how do they get that flame out of that stadium and on top of that huge cauldron?" And the anticipation even grew when Stefania Belmondo was ready to "light" the flame and the German TV commentator momentously said, "Now see how the Olympic cauldron is lit in the year 2006...". At first, when all those fireworks raced around the stadium and up the tower, I was like "Wow!!!". But when it started to sink in a few moments later, I realised that the original Olympic Flame hadn't gotten even close to the cauldron -- and then I was very disappointed as well.

However, I also think that it's very probable that they'll have two cauldrons: One inside BC Place and a big tower outside. I also think that, like in Beijing's remote host cities, there'll be an additional smaller cauldron in Whistler.

If that is really the case, I think that they might try to connect the lighting of at least the two Vancouver cauldrons somehow. Hopefully not by artificial means as in Torino, but they'll somehow transmit the original flame from inside BC place to the cauldron outside. Or (before Yellow Vest gets a heart attack again, thinking of this scenario) they'll simply have two final torch bearers -- one inside BC Place, one outside on top of the cauldron tower. Or they'll have one final torch bearer inside BC Place and one standing on the roof of BC Place. While the one torch bearer lights the cauldron inside BC Place, the other one lights a fuse or wire (a "quick" one as in Beijing, not a slow one as in Atlanta) leading up from BC Place's roof to the cauldron tower.

Or they'll have a completely new method which has never been done before. But I think it's getting more and more difficult to find new technical gimmicks for the lighting of the cauldron. We already had burning fuses or wires (LA 1984, Albertville 1992, Atlanta 1996, Beijing 2008), flames crawling up the stem of the cauldron (Moscow 1980, Salt Lake 2002), rising or soaring cauldrons (Lake Placid 1980, Calgary 1988, Sydney 2000), "nodding" cauldrons (Athens 2004), rising platforms (Seoul 1988, Nagano 1998), burning arrows (Barcelona 1992) and fireworks (Torino 2006). What next?

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Or they'll have a completely new method which has never been done before. But I think it's getting more and more difficult to find new technical gimmicks for the lighting of the cauldron. We already had burning fuses or wires (LA 1984, Albertville 1992, Atlanta 1996, Beijing 2008), flames crawling up the stem of the cauldron (Moscow 1980, Salt Lake 2002), rising or soaring cauldrons (Lake Placid 1980, Calgary 1988, Sydney 2000), "nodding" cauldrons (Athens 2004), rising platforms (Seoul 1988, Nagano 1998), burning arrows (Barcelona 1992) and fireworks (Torino 2006). What next?

Or "do-nothing" cauldrons, i.e., Lillehammer. What's interesting is your omission of Lillehammer which really had another underwhelming cauldron. Funny that for Lillehammer, its high point of the "lighting" was the ski-jump moment. And I think Lillehammer didn't even invest in secondary or tertiary cauldrons in other venues.

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Or "do-nothing" cauldrons, i.e., Lillehammer. What's interesting is your omission of Lillehammer which really had another underwhelming cauldron. Funny that for Lillehammer, its high point of the "lighting" was the ski-jump moment. And I think Lillehammer didn't even invest in secondary or tertiary cauldrons in other venues.

How many cauldrons will there be for the Vancouver Olympics during games-time?

One in Whistler for the victory ceremonies and one in BC place stadium?

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And I think Lillehammer didn't even invest in secondary or tertiary cauldrons in other venues

That's not that unusual though is it? I mean it was all in the Lillehammer valley wasn't it - so they didn't really need other cauldrons in the way that Vancouver will need them. Out of interest did Lillehammer hold nightly medal ceremonies - if so then where?

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That's not that unusual though is it? I mean it was all in the Lillehammer valley wasn't it - so they didn't really need other cauldrons in the way that Vancouver will need them. Out of interest did Lillehammer hold nightly medal ceremonies - if so then where?

No; it's not...but I would've thought that with far-flung venues, it's something that would tie the whole network so to speak. And Lillehammer did have a 'national torch relay' with the flame from Morgedahl...which did NOT mix with the Olympic flame...so I would've thought keeping the Morgedahl flame (vs. the pure Olympic flame) alive in some separate caudlron would've been cool...or Hot depending on how you viewed it. :)

Also, if you will look at the Greek Olympic Committee's website, for first Torchbearer for 1994...NO ONE is what it says. :blink::blink:

BTW, all this is covered in Chapter 7 of SECRETS OF THE OLYMPIC CEREMONIES, "Lighting the Torch, errr...Calduron."

Edited by baron-pierreIV
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That's not that unusual though is it? I mean it was all in the Lillehammer valley wasn't it - so they didn't really need other cauldrons in the way that Vancouver will need them. Out of interest did Lillehammer hold nightly medal ceremonies - if so then where?

Yes, in Lillehammer there were nightly medal ceremonies in the Lillehammer olympiapark. Every night between 19:00-20:00 and the last day from 17:00 to 18:00.

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Yes, in Lillehammer there were nightly medal ceremonies in the Lillehammer olympiapark. Every night between 19:00-20:00 and the last day from 17:00 to 18:00.

I searched in the official report of Lillehammer: Stampesletta in the Lillehammer Olympiapark was the place where the medal ceremonies were held. There were no medal ceremonies for ice hockey, speed skating, figure skating and short track at Stampesletta but at the venues.

Here's the text from the official report:

___________________________________________________

Stampesletta was chosen as the main arena for the Awards Ceremonies because of its capacity and distance to downtown Lillehammer.

All Awards Ceremonies except for Ice hockey, Figure skating, Short track and Speed skating were held here. The other ceremonies were held in Håkon Hall, Hamar Olympic Amphitheatre and the Olympic Hall. The arena was designed with conscious attention to the landscape’s horizontal axis –

between the light sculptures in the north and the earth mounds in the south. In addition to paying attention to television angles etc., the arenas were designed so that the ceremonies would be a memorable event for both the medal winners and the spectators.

Norwegian tradition determined the choice of backdrop and awards podiums made of ice and snow, with light, natural pine floors as a contrasting element. An ice podium made of glacier ice from the Jostedals glacier attracted international attention. Up to 25 000 to 30 000 spectators attended each ceremony. Attendance at these ceremonies was free of charge.

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Hmmm...I wonder if they could light something inside that pipes up to the cauldron, assuming it's outside the stadium?

But there's no drama in that. The lighting (or part of it) had to be played for the present Opening Ceremony crowd (the athletes and the IOC leadership included) and for the TV cameras to pick up that palpable excitement. I am sure they will figure something out that satisfies all the parameters.

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My bad on starting a new topic for this....still getting used to the child boards....anyways:

There is an interesting video up on CTVOlympics.ca that seems to hint at a Caldron under construction at Canada Place. Judging by the smile on that construction worker's face, he's not a great liar.....

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Well, the behaviour of that construction worker is suspicious indeed -- but I can hardly imagine a cauldron in that scaffold. It is so wide -- it rather looks as if they were constructing a wall there or something like that.

Or the width of the scaffold is only a red herring and the cauldron within/beneath it is much slimmer and/or smaller.

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Wide scaffolding could still be for a cauldron. You have to remember there needs to be room for people to go up there somehow for maintenance, and there will likely be a built up observation area/pavilion for it. That and the north side of downtown can get pretty windy because of air pressure changes coming from the north shore mountains and having a large, complex base would absolutely be necessary.

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I'm just baffled as to how the cauldron is going to work out with the ceremony being indoors, but I guess that's a good reason to tune in on Feb. 12.

Also, as many others have mentioned on this thread, how the cauldron was "lit" in Torino was very disappointing. I remember watching it, I just thought "Oh my gosh, you gotta be kidding me."

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  • 3 weeks later...

I work at bc place admin and I've heard some rumors about replacing a panel of the teflon roof on bc place with a "glass"/transparent panel. They would then construct a cauldron that extends from the inside of bc place, through the "glass" extending outside, with the flame continuing. I assume the goal is to have a flame that is visible inside and outside; makes most sense in that the bigger portion of the flame can't be inside bc place. they have started some construction at the centre of bc place...digging through the concrete.

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