A Beautiful Opening Ceremony

[olympian]

I know that, but as i said it had too much. I thought they would go beyond that.

have you been to canada during autumn? i have and those maple leaves we saw at the opening were just a fraction of the real thing.

[wingspread]

the guys carrying the country names are cute

YES!

Also, this was the best part of the OC for me:

WOOF!

But seriously, it was visually stunning. I loved how they added 'real' elements to add dimension to the 2-D projections. The story was a bit disjointed (e.g. tap dancing, ALL song performances), but it was endearing nonetheless. It had that warmth that was lacking in the Torino OC. It's also interesting to note that the local live broadcast had no commentary at all, but I was able to understand everything.

I almost died during the cauldron lighting part. I detected that something was wrong because they were idle for a long time. And Bryan Adams's lip syncing fail? Eep.

It was okay. C+/B.

[olympian]

YES!

Also, this was the best part of the OC for me:

WOOF!

But seriously, it was visually stunning. I loved how they added 'real' elements to add dimension to the 2-D projections. The story was a bit disjointed (e.g. tap dancing, ALL song performances), but it was endearing nonetheless. It had that warmth that was lacking in the Torino OC. It's also interesting to note that the local live broadcast had no commentary at all, but I was able to understand everything.

I almost died during the cauldron lighting part. I detected that something was wrong because they were idle for a long time. And Bryan Adams's lip syncing fail? Eep.

It was okay. C+/B.

thanks for posting the pic of wolfman. aside from wolfman there's another looker who spoke during the welcome by the natives.

[mr.x]

Okay, I'm a bit calmer now...putting the cauldron fail aside, it was really a beautiful ceremony. Well done Vancouver, so proud!

[Rafa]

Thought the inflated roof could have been used more to create different moods.

It was a ceremony inside a theatre inside a stadium rather than a ceremony making use of the stadium as theatre.

[nykfan845]

Slam poetry is a love it or hate it thing, . In the US, it's more associated with hip hop culture and rap, with its aggression and intensity.

[MonctonFella]

i loved the ceremony

the only thing that i hated was the anthem. to my ear it had an "r & b" sound to it, our national anthem is not an r,b tune. i was wishing for celine.

[OneTimeOnly]

YES!

Also, this was the best part of the OC for me:

Yo, that guy was hot! When I saw him I was like, yum! what indian tribe is that!

[millertime1851]

I agree with those that thought that the Ceremony was fantastic.

The big difference with the Sydney cauldron flub and this one is that given what happened (the cauldron finally got going at the change of music), it was harder to tell that there had been an issue. After a couple of minutes last night, it became painfully obvious that there was a big problem, and it wasn't getting fixed.

While watching the proceedings last night, my mom kept harping on "I bet that no one in that stadium can hear or see anything." I know acoustics in the Metrodome (BC Place's ugly red-headed cousin) are beyond hideous, but since there were several GBers who went, can anyone report otherwise?

Also, where is the outdoor cauldron located? It looked like it was on top of the cruise ship dock.

[blueview]

have you been to canada during autumn? i have and those maple leaves we saw at the opening were just a fraction of the real thing.

No I haven't but as a recurring element, the maple leaf was used a bit too much.

[Fox334]

Apart from the cauldron fail (and the fact that I'm disappointed Marc Gagnon and Sylvin Boucher got sunbed, although I'm happy they included Rick Hansen), my main problem whit the OC was just how anglo-centric it was. I don't think I've ever seen an OC where there was so much that was spoken. Found the poem was a bit much for an international show, and the "God bless Canada" part felt way too American... Also, everything they had a random french word in a speech it just felt forced and out of place, and the pronunciation was always SO bad (Bienver-nouse!)...

Still, overall it was o.k., just found that it dragged too much. Still, it felt so surreal in light of what happened earlier in the day...

[Citius Altius Fortius]

I don't think I've ever seen an OC where there was so much that was spoken. Found the poem was a bit much for an international show

I agree - I do like poems, but this segment reminded my too much on a motivation seminar

Let's wait and see if we will hear a russian poem in four years about how great and proud Russia is and that there is no reason at all not to be proud and how wonderful it is that so many smaller nations are part of the great Russian federation...

I wonder how we would have reacted if we had heard a chinese poem, in the style of a CPC-meeting, two years ago, about how great and excellent the PR of China is?

Edited February 13, 2010 by Citius Altius Fortius

[taichi]

I really liked the opening ceremonies. I like the dancing part wuith the jigs.

[Ikarus360]

Very well then, although i still need to watch it on high quality (Terra.tv quality sucked for me but at least i could watch the ceremonies live..not like in Torino) i think i can fully give my detailed criticism and prase to this ceremony. Of course my opinions can differ a lot from yours:

1) The countdown was very well made, with the audience getting involved on it (}i'm glad the countdown didnt take so much minutes like in Beijing). The introduction video with Vancouver and the snowboarder passing through a human-made maple leaf was very well made and stunning, as well for his entrance through the rings (they remind me a bit of Torino anyway...) I didnt liked much how he started to talk |D it remind me of a circus show host

2) The entrance of officials was simple and neat (the Vice-Regal Salute was more rushed than i tought). As for the canadian anthem, well, not my favorite version of the anthem but Nikki put a very nice rendition.

3) I agree with some Gamebidders XD, the ice totems looked so much like Zombies , the First Nations segment got repetitive after a while but overall it was OK (i loled with the wolfguy from some pics earlier). My praises over the projections are something which i think the majority of us share.

4) Excelent parade of nations, even better than the ones from Beijing and Torino, i totally loved the arrangements used here (no Disco Music, thank god ._. ) and the placards were neat and had the winter feeling. I almost shed a tear when the Georgian team came inside, with their black ribbons, after youknowwhathappened...I dont know if the acoustics were involved (i wasnt there of course, but much comments i've been reading are criticizing bad acoustics inside BC Place) but i dont think the spectators were very cheerful here, only at some moments with teams like Georgia (mentioned before), Jamaica (probably because of what happened in Calgary 88 ) and USA. Not mentioning Canada of course.

5)Sorry but no. I hated that ''so the whole world can hear'' cheesy music. One of the parts i disliked most of this ceremony (not mentioning the lyp sync epic failure of Bryan Adams and Nelly Furtado)

6)This is where the most breathaking part took place..the beggining of the culture performances. That snow falling over the stage, it gave me back the pleasant memories of Lillehammer back in 1994. I liked how the giant roll of paper (lol) on the top was transformed onto so many things, like the Northen Lights, a giant tree, and the mountains. The appearance of the giant polar bear + the ice cracking part remind me a lot from the handover in 2006, except that there was no silly fishmen here XD. Sarah McLahan Ordinary Miracle. For me, the most beautiful song in the OC (did someone heard Adagio for Strings at the end of this segment as well?)

7) And now, the celtic part of the ceremony, with the fiddlers and tap dancers (who said tap dancers arent awesome?) was pretty neat. Also, when that fiddler on the canoe started to perform in front of the moon, and his shadow moving like it had life of its own (kinda reminds me of some certain character from a recent Disney movie in New Orleans ). The segment started to get a little longer than expected, maybe because of the reprise, which i think it should have been shorter.

8) Altough i liked the Both Sides Now song, i'm not a big fan of the choreography at this part (only liked the beggining when the kid started to run through the fields). Probably my least favorite segment of the cultural performances

9) Truly spectacular how they formed a giant mountain and started to project winter sports on the audience and over the mountain as well (didnt liked much the fact that the slalom guys were not doing much, only like, rolling endlesly on the space ) The projections over the skaters gave the impression that they were going on fast speed.

10) The poem...well, i feelt awkward to be honest when i saw that ^^; i tought it was too overly patriotic for an olympic ceremony (or maybe because i'm not canadian). The maple leaf never looked so beautiful before, and this scene was reminiscing from the giant Qatar flag made by flares on Doha 2006 asiad OC (David Atkins left his mark on this ceremonies for sure)

11) The tribute to the georgian athlete was very well done, without a bit of hypocresy. Jacques Roggee clearly looked devastated by this tragedy, and he sounded older than usual (btw when the crowd started to beat the drums they were give, that sounded a lot like booes, damn acoustics XD). Liked how Michele Jean opened the games in both french and english, much like the GG in Calgary 88 (Jeanne Sauve) did.

12) Didnt liked the Hallelujah part that much, but at least it wasnt cheesy like Bryan and Nelly song. The candle lights made it look like it was some funeral anyway..creepy.

13) I'm kinda amused they used the LA'84 lyrics of the Olympic anthem for this version (well, fused with a bit of french), but the performance was powerful. But maybe there was a lot of static on the stage because the singer's hair..well you know what i mean )

14) The french song before the arrival of the torch was beautiful yet kinda sad. Not amused that Wayne Gretzky was one of the final torchbearers (after it was denied so many times ). The cauldron...i facepalmed so hard, even before the poles came. I knew something was wrong with that huge delay (even the music stopped by a sec). And there you go, malfunction ala Sydney 2000 with a missing pole, but at least they managed to light the cauldron and it still looked good. I wonder how are they going to do on the Medal ceremonies, as well for the Closing.

Overall, with some flops and awkward moments, the majority of this Opening Ceremony was breathaking and awesome. To being a bit more harsh, i think they did a projection overdose on this one (at least Beijing did a good balance of projections and performers) Without doubt, it beats Torino, and i'll put it with Salt Lake and Lillehammer on my Top 3 WOG ceremonies. Sadly, i'm afraid the small cauldron malfunction will be remembered a lot on the future as a huge flop.

[Massi]

Nelly Furtado was the best part of the ceremony, how hot she was...

[LuigiVercotti]

Nelly Furtado was the best part of the ceremony, how hot she was...

Oh come now...surely seeing Ann Murray carry le drapeau olympique got the testosterone levels shooting upwards

[NY20??]

My thoughts.

The announcers weren't my favorites. The woman in French was reminiscent of Torino's and the man in English projected very big-tent-circus sometimes.

Countdown was nice. I thought they were pulling a Beijing and had individual members of the audience light up whatever, but then I quickly realized the numbers were being projected. It was odd that they started the 10 sec. countdown after the announcers proclaimed "Welcome to the Opening Ceremony of the..." But anyway...

I thought the snowboard deal felt very forced, very "watch-me-do-this!" And I'm used to such dramatic images of any host region (but with better music) from NBC's coverage.

Mounties were awesome. "Oh Canada" was unexpected in execution and well-done I thought. The stage at the end thought was weird. Too cold. I expected that ice women Raven from Ru-Pauls' Drag Race to come out and own us all.

Same with the totems. Why weren't they colorful and thus welcoming? The projections here were great though. The welcome from the four Host Nations and the entrance of the other Aboriginal peoples was handled good. Loved the huge thumping drum!

On to the Parade - I wasn't there, but Kendegra's theory about the crowd in BC Place not being excited enough yet so early in the ceremony makes perfect sense to me. That, and non-perfect acoustics inside BC Place can explain the seemingly unenthused crowd on television. The music to the parade was decent. Not a fan of the dancing greeters on the side though - but I guess that's become a no-brainer in the sense these things are suppose to be inviting and whatnot.

Loved, loved, loved, Team USA's outfit. I'm looking for that hat.

Nelly Furtado - OH GAWD. Didn’t think it worked.

AT ALL.

On to the artistic / cultural portion - Really enjoyed the opening segment. Everything about it was spectacular - the narration, the snow, the aurora, the constellations, the breaking, ice, the whales, the ascending salmon, the totem poles, the tress. It was all very well done. Again, spectacular.

MacLauchlan was tolerable.. I'm rarely a fan of filler-music at ceremonies but whatever.

The celebration of the fall and fiddler music, while not my kind of thing in execution, was quite enlightening. Depending on broadcaster's commendation, I'm sure many outside of Canada would agree.

The prairie segment felt unimportant - and I blame my reaction on NBC. I can't remember, but I don't think Matt Laurer and Bob Costas commented on the significance and weight this segment would have on Canadians. Would love to learn more.

The formation of the Canadian Rockies was outstanding.

OK - the poem. Last night, I didn't enjoy it. I felt like I was being preached to. Show me how freakin' great Canada is, don't tell me. In hindsight, I think it is very powerful in its directness. I'm glad they didn't try to go for some abstract representation of things that say modern Canada. Those things are great in their no-brainer goodness, they can be expressed so easily in words. If the Vancouver Games will be looked upon as Canada breaking out of its shell per se, that poet will embody that.

... Skip to fiercest Olympic Hymn EVER. First time I really paid attention to it. Amazing performance!

And the cauldron - first of all, leave it to Canada to get the final four torchbearers to also be the lighters. The definitely stuck with the theme of community and inclusion. But I was really disappointed with the cauldron. In it's horribly obvious malfunction. I shuttered when the music reached its highest point as if the flame was lit, but nothing has happened, and then the music stopped... quiet for a second... and started again. Surprised they didn't have a back-up or something. And the design is really mehhhhhhhhh. The bonfire is there, if you want it to be - but that was clearly not the intention in design. Just a bunch of big icicles...

Really liked the effect with the snow though. And I actually enjoyed watching Gretzky making his way to the convention center. Great to see the atmosphere on the streets so raw like that. Classic.

So overall, the highlights:

-Use of projections. Beautiful.

-The progression from the Northern Artic regions, to Quebec and the East, to the prairies, to the Rockies, and then to metro Vancouver and Modern Canada. This literal geographic and cultural progression made sense for Canada. It's a nation amazingly diverse in environment and people. If NBC didn't cut to commercials after every segment, I'm sure I would have thought the progression was even smoother and more apt.

The lows:

-I thought it was too cold at times when it didn't need to be. The icy totem poles, the icy stage, the icy cauldron.

-Shame about the cauldron. And shame on Atkins.

-Other things I thought were sub-par like the announcers or sound can be overlooked.

I haven't seen nor do I remember much Winter Ceremonies, so I can't compare. But I can say that Vancouver did a wonderful job with theirs. Most of the visuals were beautiful and the content enlightening. Managed to bring the poetic, and at times, almost solemn nature of Athens to the rah-rah visuals of Beijing.

And BTW, screw the Wolfman! During the Oaths, there was a cut to a HOT young French athlete. Oh mon diue!

[baron-pierreIV]

yeah - exactly like a condom (when you look onto the ground you can just see four squares where the joints of the poles are..) - I doubt that there is space for another four beams...

CAF, this scene...the rising of the totems was cut from the broadcast in the Bay Area...which is why I could NOT equate the 4 spokes of the cauldron being the same. But u r probably right: it's the same 4 cylinders...probably decommissioned nuke launchers from the USA or Russia!! The 4th one that didn't work was probably Russian-made!!

In the 2012 edition of THE BOOK, I will just say that "...the 4th spoke got too big because of the Wolfman and the condoom got stuck for its fiery finish!"

Yo, that guy was hot! When I saw him I was like, yum! what indian tribe is that!

2 of the ladies in my group APPROVED!!

Altho nobody cried: Wardrobe malfunction!!

Edited February 13, 2010 by baron-pierreIV

[Citius Altius Fortius]

CAF, this scene...the rising of the totems was cut from the broadcast in the Bay Area...which is why I could NOT equate the 4 spokes of the cauldron being the same. But u r probably right: it's the same 4 cylinders...

I am glad that there are no commercials during the Olympic Games (including the ceremonies) shown in Germany, due it is shown by the public TV-channels (there is some sponsering in the TV-coverage, but not during the events or ceremonies)

I think you can even see the shape of the cylinders (when you look closely) in the totem poles...

I think there are two ways how the cauldron cylinders were raised (I have to admit that I didn't remember how the cylinders came out of the floor (maybe mr. x or kendegra can help)

The same way like the totem poles:

or this way:

maybe the two different techniques hindered each others...

[Citius Altius Fortius]

In the 2012 edition of THE BOOK, I will just say that "...the 4th spoke got too big because of the Wolfman and the condoom got stuck for its fiery finish!"

Altho nobody cried: Wardrobe malfunction!!

baron - LOL I just got your pun - wardrobe malfunction and plastic tubulars for totem poles...

:D :D

[OneTimeOnly]

Found the poem was a bit much for an international show, and

I totally hated the "slam" poetry. That and the fiddling/tap dancing mohawk punk guys and girls. Those were the worst parts of the OC for me (aside from the cauldron malfunction of course - despite my alternate way of looking at it, I of course would have preferred it worked correctly).

[scielle]

The Bryan Adams/ Nelly song was truly embarrassing. That was my low point of the evening. As was the national anthem.

Other than that, a nice ceremony. Would prefer a live Joni and Leonard or Rufus Wainwright doing Hallelujah instead of k.d. - though she was great,too. As was Garou and Measha. Michael Buble and Diana Krall should have been there - they live just down the road and are BC's finest, so that was disappointing and a glaring omission.

Aboriginal segments were just right, I think. Loved the fiddler piece and the poetry. Visually beautiful, except the cauldron is darn ugly.

Bottom line: whoever wrote that O Canada arrangement should be lynched! I feel sorry for Nikki, because she's a truly mega-talented kid, but they gave her a dud to work with, and she's taking all the blame for it.

[NY20??]

Reposting my review here.

The announcers weren't my favorites. The woman in French was reminiscent of Torino's and the man in English projected very big-tent-circus sometimes.

Countdown was nice. I thought they were pulling a Beijing and had individual members of the audience light up whatever, but then I quickly realized the numbers were being projected. It was odd that they started the 10 sec. countdown after the announcers proclaimed "Welcome to the Opening Ceremony of the..." But anyway...

I thought the snowboard deal felt very forced, very "watch-me-do-this!" And I'm used to such dramatic images of any host region (but with better music) from NBC's coverage.

Mounties were awesome. "Oh Canada" was unexpected in execution and well-done I thought. The stage at the end thought was weird. Too cold. I expected that ice women Raven from Ru-Pauls' Drag Race to come out and own us all.

Same with the totems. Why weren't they colorful and thus welcoming? The projections here were great though. The welcome from the four Host Nations and the entrance of the other Aboriginal peoples was handled good. Loved the huge thumping drum!

On to the Parade - I wasn't there, but Kendegra's theory about the crowd in BC Place not being excited enough yet so early in the ceremony makes perfect sense to me. That, and non-perfect acoustics inside BC Place can explain the seemingly unenthused crowd on television. The music to the parade was decent. Not a fan of the dancing greeters on the side though - but I guess that's become a no-brainer in the sense these things are suppose to be inviting and whatnot.

Loved, loved, loved, Team USA's outfit. I'm looking for that hat.

Nelly Furtado - OH GAWD. Didn’t think it worked.

AT ALL.

On to the artistic / cultural portion - Really enjoyed the opening segment. Everything about it was spectacular - the narration, the snow, the aurora, the constellations, the breaking, ice, the whales, the ascending salmon, the totem poles, the tress. It was all very well done. Again, spectacular.

MacLauchlan was tolerable.. I'm rarely a fan of filler-music at ceremonies but whatever.

The celebration of the fall and fiddler music, while not my kind of thing in execution, was quite enlightening. Depending on broadcaster's commendation, I'm sure many outside of Canada would agree.

The prairie segment felt unimportant - and I blame my reaction on NBC. I can't remember, but I don't think Matt Laurer and Bob Costas commented on the significance and weight this segment would have on Canadians. Would love to learn more.

The formation of the Canadian Rockies was outstanding.

OK - the poem. Last night, I didn't enjoy it. I felt like I was being preached to. Show me how freakin' great Canada is, don't tell me. In hindsight, I think it is very powerful in its directness. I'm glad they didn't try to go for some abstract representation of things that say modern Canada. Those things are great in their no-brainer goodness, they can be expressed so easily in words. If the Vancouver Games will be looked upon as Canada breaking out of its shell per se, that poet will embody that.

... Skip to fiercest Olympic Hymn EVER. First time I really paid attention to it. Amazing performance!

And the cauldron - first of all, leave it to Canada to get the final four torchbearers to also be the lighters. The definitely stuck with the theme of community and inclusion. But I was really disappointed with the cauldron. In it's horribly obvious malfunction. I shuttered when the music reached its highest point as if the flame was lit, but nothing has happened, and then the music stopped... quiet for a second... and started again. Surprised they didn't have a back-up or something. And the design is really mehhhhhhhhh. The bonfire is there, if you want it to be - but that was clearly not the intention in design. Just a bunch of big icicles...

Really liked the effect with the snow though. And I actually enjoyed watching Gretzky making his way to the convention center. Great to see the atmosphere on the streets so raw like that. Classic.

So overall, the highlights:

-Use of projections. Beautiful.

-The progression from the Northern Artic regions, to Quebec and the East, to the prairies, to the Rockies, and then to metro Vancouver and Modern Canada. This literal geographic and cultural progression made sense for Canada. It's a nation amazingly diverse in environment and people. If NBC didn't cut to commercials after every segment, I'm sure I would have thought the progression was even smoother and more apt.

The lows:

-I thought it was too cold at times when it didn't need to be. The icy totem poles, the icy stage, the icy cauldron.

-Shame about the cauldron. And shame on Atkins.

-Other things I thought were sub-par like the announcers or sound can be overlooked.

I haven't seen nor do I remember much Winter Ceremonies, so I can't compare. But I can say that Vancouver did a wonderful job with theirs. Most of the visuals were beautiful and the content enlightening. Managed to bring the poetic, and at times, almost solemn nature of Athens to the rah-rah visuals of Beijing.

And BTW, screw the Wolfman! During the Oaths, there was a cut to a HOT young French athlete. Oh mon diue!

[canuckfan]

Best Opening Ceremony For Non-U.S. Winter Games Since '94

The 2010 Vancouver Olympics got off to an impressive start for NBC.

The Opening Ceremony of the Winter Olympics drew a 17.3/30 final rating and 32.6 million viewers on NBC Friday night, up 35% in ratings and 47% in viewership from Turin in 2006 (12.8/21, 22.2 mil), but down 32% and 29%, respectively, from Salt Lake City in 2002 (25.5/42, 45.6 mil).

This marks the highest rated, most-viewed non-U.S. Opening Ceremony of the Winter Olympics since Lillehammer in '94 (20.9/34, 33.8 mil, CBS).

[stir.ts]

I never listened to "Both sides now" before, I found the arrangement very moving, and the segment had power at times, and the "gold" color was refreshing given the predominence of blue-green at other times.

I didn't much care for the pub/punk/plaid/studs/leather/fiddle part. It was neither hip or cool for me. I imagined the main fiddler had a bad odor. NBC told an odd story that Mr. Atkins and team were on a research tour in Canada, and happened into this "pub" scene (somewhere) and were so tickled that it became "that segment". It all seamed very self-indulgent.

Edited February 13, 2010 by stirthesoul