scielle Posted February 15, 2010 Report Posted February 15, 2010 Where was Celine Dion? Perhaps in the Closing we may see her IVF treatments, apparently. Because we all need to know...
Mainad Posted February 15, 2010 Report Posted February 15, 2010 (edited) Never mind that lot.... WHERE'S SHANIA??? Edited February 15, 2010 by Mainad
Scotguy Posted February 15, 2010 Report Posted February 15, 2010 Perhaps Shania and Avril will be performers at the closing concert segment along with Nelly
baron-pierreIV Posted February 15, 2010 Report Posted February 15, 2010 No Canadian Idiot...errr, I meant Idol wannabees in these Ceremonies? Is Canada now a nuclear power?
olympian Posted March 13, 2010 Report Posted March 13, 2010 what do you call again the stuff toys the russian delegation were waving during the opening ceremony? its the blue one.
mr.x Posted July 9, 2010 Report Posted July 9, 2010 Five months after the fact, just read all the comments in this topic. Nothing to do on a hot, summer night.
stir.ts Posted July 9, 2010 Report Posted July 9, 2010 Five months after the fact, just read all the comments in this topic. Nothing to do on a hot, summer night. Should be mogul camp time up on the Blackcomb glacier, conditions are probably better than Cypress was during the games.
mr.x Posted July 9, 2010 Report Posted July 9, 2010 ^ probably. LOL @ the comments made by the Brazilians in this topic and their constant references of "boring, not enough dancing".
Ruling Czar Posted July 31, 2010 Report Posted July 31, 2010 Okay..this might appear surreal but here goes (gulp) Two weeks ago I watched the opening ceremony of the Vancouver winter Olympics for the First time on You Tube! Imagine that! I just could not believe that this was the same ceremony that I saw being torn apart on these boards and was left questioning the appreciative artistic capabilities of some of the people who generated these comments. This ceremony was incredibly magnificent. Yes! They were a few faux pas which were indeed downpoints when I juxtaposed them with the high points. The segment with autumn was the poorest! And the malfunctioned culdron piece was tragic.But there was such arresting beauty encapsulated in the ceremony.
Ruling Czar Posted July 31, 2010 Report Posted July 31, 2010 Firstly, the opening winter scene of the cultural segment was convincing and executed very well. The emergence of the giant bear muppet from the stadium floor glittering against the lights the audience held was magical and breathtaking! The whales were out of this world and I believe they could have employed "Fantasia" music during this segment but nonetheless, it was remarkably vivid! Was there anything as humbly stunning as the climax of the Sarah Mclachlan segment? Only the arresting beauty of this guy flying over wheatfields! I think this segment captured the stupendous vastness of the canadian prairies wonderfully well. But one of the best parts in my opinion, which spoke to the orchestration of the audience participation was actually the transistion segment from the the wheatfield segment to the mountain segment. That indoor storm was so thoroughly convincing and the music was .....WOW! I wondered how the audience members were able to move their lights so that it looked like lightening! Incredible!
mr.x Posted August 1, 2010 Report Posted August 1, 2010 While projections should be an important part of the ceremony, and they definitely the projections, I thought there was too much of that - it was far too projection dependent. It certainly was a beautiful ceremony, it was most certainly intimate. But it was far too much of that, there should've been an epic part to it...like a massive fireworks display at the end or something. Who cares if Beijing already did a big fireworks splash, or if it's an indoor stadium. It's not like the spectators at Stadium Australia in Sydney could see the Closing Ceremony fireworks all the way at the Harbour Bridge nor could the spectators at the MCG at the Melbourne 2006 Commonwealth Games see fireworks going off at the downtown buildings and the boat parade in the Yarra River. Th It was too much of an artistic test of a show, many may not be able to interpret that, there should have been something for everyone...everyone loves the epic element of a show. Countdown/Fire on the Mountain And while the opening countdown video with the lone snowboarder going down the mountain looked great on tv, it was an awful experience for the spectator in the stadium. The snowboarder jumping through the rings wasn't that impressive....great concept, but there should've been more to that to the countdown segment right after he jumps through the rings. O Canada A total f@ck up on our national anthem. It sounded like something out of High School Musical. First Nations Welcome The welcoming of the local four host First Nations was good, but the whole welcoming all of Canada's First Nations dragged on way too long. It was beautiful and appropriate, but WAY too long. I would've liked to have that sped up to have an actual First Nations artistic performance just before the athletes start walking in. Athletes Parade Great music. A lot better than Beijing's pipes or Torino's ghastly 70's pop tunes. Bang the Drum/Nelly and Bryan The song created a great celebratory mood in the stadium (though I thought the lyrics are pretty sh!tty), but why were there only First Nations "welcoming" the world? This was a perfect segment to have brought in Canada's multiculturalism, have people from all corners of the world banging different drums instead with the First Nations. Huge oversight in not having a multiculturalism segment... Hymn to the North Definitely beautiful with the whole ice breaking, the northern lights, and the whales. Sacred Grove Far too dependent on projections. Ordinary Miracle and Fantasy Ballet/Sarah Mclachlan Beautiful, but perhaps it was a little too long. Rhythms of the Fall I loved this segment. The pace and the celebratory feel to it, and the hundreds of dancers. People power. Both Sides Now/Joni Mitchell - Canadian Prairies Very beautiful, and had actually been one of my favourite songs for quite awhile. I was a bit surprised that it was part of the ceremonies. It most certainly did showcase what the Canadian prairies were like: Storm Loved it, thank god the audience knew what they were suppose to do. Peaks of Endeavour It was great, well done. We Are More/Slam Poet WTF WAS THIS??? It was embarrassing. Nationalism forced right into your throat. Sure, every Olympic ceremony has a nationalism element to it but it's always done in a tasteful and artistic way rather than a literal one. And it certainly wouldn't be easily understandable by the worldwide audience, there were things an international audience would not get whether it be culturally or with the whole speech being an English language rant. Many foreign broadcasters didn't bother translating because it was too difficult to translate. Sure, involve English Canadian poetry into the Ceremonies...that's what the whole Donald Sutherland narration did at the start of each segment, that was beautiful but the slam poet at the end was not. And this slam poetry ended the Vancouver cultural segment with a HUGE anti-climax. Instead it should have ended in a big splashy way, something that would be artistically and theatrically epic. This epic finale should also have solely showcased urban Canada, its cities. Olympic Anthem I didn't like Misha's operatic version of it, prefer a choir. Hallelujah/Song of Peace Performed by KD Lang right after opening declaration, Hallelujah was not a song about "peace". Sure, it was beautiful and the doves towards the end were really top notch but it had nothing to do with peace...too much of a religious overtone too. Lighting of the Cauldron WTF??? First in Sydney, then the same mishap in Vancouver? (not only that but the mishap was even more obvious than Sydney!) Fireworks Could use a lot more fireworks.
Olympian2004 Posted August 1, 2010 Report Posted August 1, 2010 Naturally you as Canadian are particularly critical of "your" opening ceremony -- but as an international viewer, I love that ceremony more and more in retrospective. And even the cauldron glitch had something positive about it -- namely that they could create that hilarious and brilliant segment with Catriona LeMay-Doan at the beginning of the closing ceremony. That "happy end" was so good that it couldn't have been written better by a Hollywood scriptwriter. What was the most important of that ceremony: It had (partially involuntarily -- namely when the Georgian team marched in only hours after Nodar Kumaritashvili's death) many highly emotional moments. There were the breathtaking projections of the whales (even more impressive than the whales projected on the Birds Nest's rim in Beijing's OC). Then the segment with Sarah McLachlan, which was one of the best musical and dance segments I've ever seen at any Olympic ceremony -- and during a very cold and snowy winter here in Europe, it gave me such a joyous and optimistic impression of spring. Then there was the Prairies segment, of course -- even after the fifth or sixth viewing, I'm still very moved especially by the use of "Both Sides Now". It still reminds me of one of the happiest moments of my school days, namely when we sang in our music lesson, for example exactly this song by Joni Mitchell. And then another favourite song of mine, "Hallelujah" with an outstanding performance by k.d. lang. All in all, it was a very human, warm and cosy ceremony -- just like the whole Vancouver Games. Because so many parts were well done and tasteful, I didn't even bother that maybe slightly over-the-top Canada poem. Therefore, I don't think you should be too critical, X.
mr.x Posted August 1, 2010 Report Posted August 1, 2010 Don't get me started with the Closing Ceremony. But whatever, the Vancouver 2010 Games are over. It's a thing of the past. Moving on.
wingspread Posted August 2, 2010 Report Posted August 2, 2010 Don't get me started with the Closing Ceremony. The mime part at the beginning was the only good part of the closing ceremony for me.
mr.x Posted August 2, 2010 Report Posted August 2, 2010 The mime part at the beginning was the only good part of the closing ceremony for me. The Vancouver Closing Ceremony was a huge failure all around. Even the best part about that ceremony (Le May Doan's cauldron lighting) was based on a failure. The Closing Ceremonies are usually an afterthought for the ceremonies team, but it was even more so for Vancouver. And it did seem like they may have ran out of money for it loll. They couldn't even have come up with original music for the Closing? I'm not sure why an American theme was played.
walei Posted August 3, 2010 Report Posted August 3, 2010 The Vancouver Closing Ceremony was a huge failure all around. Even the best part about that ceremony (Le May Doan's cauldron lighting) was based on a failure. The Closing Ceremonies are usually an afterthought for the ceremonies team, but it was even more so for Vancouver. And it did seem like they may have ran out of money for it loll. They couldn't even have come up with original music for the Closing? I'm not sure why an American theme was played. Am I the only Canadian that loved the closing ceremony? Maybe it was in the afterglow of the gold medal winning hockey game, I watched the closing ceremony in a very good mood. You know how you had a long week of work, and Friday night you just want to sit down, grab a cold beer, and chill? Vancouver2010's closing ceremony was totally in that mood. Lighthearted, relaxing (because it's not taking itself seriously), and cozy. Raising the last cauldron leg was hilarious and sets the tone of the night very well. Enjoyed the opening act with "Strong and Free". The youthfulness was very "Vancouver" to me. Not too fond of the O Canada (I actually LOVED Nikki's rendition in the opening) because it felt amateurish... Entrance of each nation's flag, I too wish it could had original music. However they did have original music for entrance of the athletes, using a rocked out version of the "Fire on the Mountain". It was a very fun contrast to the original orchestral version of the OC. Loved Furlong's speech, actually one of the highlights of the evening. When was a speech ever been a highlight?? Long may you run, was what I referred to earlier as cozy. A great great fond reminder or the days when we would go camping during the summer and the last night everyone just sat around the bonfire singing songs under the stars. It was bittersweet because next day we have to go home, and bittersweet during the ceremony because it really signals the end of the games with the flame extinguishing. Comedic roasts, I also enjoyed it! At first when I read that there will be "comedians" doing acts for the ceremony I was afraid... but it actually once again made the ceremony felt more friendly and personable with the performers actually chatting up with the audience. Too bad Martin Short couldn't make it he would've been awesome. As for Maple Leaf forever? Remember before the OC we would all discuss what we DO NOT want to see? Stereotypical dancing mounties, beavers and moose running a mock? Then David Atkins mix it all up in a bowl and churn it out in one huge vomit. It was BRILLIANT BRILLIANT BRILLIANT! At first when Michael Buble started singing in mounties outfit I said to myself.."oh no..." Then the mounties marching in half-assed into the center of the stadium turning back and forth out of sync and looked lost, YOU KNEW IT WAS A ONE HUGE SATIRE OF WHAT WE ARE ALL AFRAID OF. Hilarious and totally unexpected. To top it all off they just threw in pretty much every stereotypes there are about Canadians except maybe snow shoes and igloos as way to laugh at it. It was very well done IMO. The concert series though I dont't have much high opinions and probably won't ever re-watch again but I understand that is really for the athletes. From what I've saw the athletes were totally having fun during that. I even caught an impromptu conga line with athletes from many different countries. As Roggue said, it was a very friendly games and CC was a very friendly reminder of that for me. 1
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