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2010 Asian Games opening ceremony live chat


olympics08

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Don't u all think that the cauldron was a War of the World's creature look-alike?? :unsure:

There was one scene where 2 performers danced & hugged to each other.... this was totally a rip-off of Athens 2004! :angry:

To you, everything is a rip-off of Athens 2004, and Athens 2004 is the most original Olympics with copyright over every aspect of it.

So henceforth, no other opening ceremony shall have two dancers hugging each other.

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Have only watched Parts 1 and 2 so far...but it is soooooooo over-the-top!! I mean literally every second has "THIS IS THE MOST AMBITIOUS OPENING CEREMONY EVER" written over it!! Two large screens AREN'T good enough! It has to be EIGHT!! Fireworks and fountains -- all already used in LA 1984 (to a more modest degree) and nearly every night at the Bellagio in Las Vegas!! All for a tiny audience of only about 7,000 people (without the athletes yet)!!

The water-pouring ceremony in Part 9 is a direct rip-off of the same ritual in the Mediterranean Games Opening; as are the drums...directly from Beijing '08.

Lighting of the cauldron...well, the 1st water-walking torch-bearer = Melbourne 2006; the raising of the cauldron ...were they recreating LAX...no, wait...it was actually the St. Louis Archway x 2!! OK, the Lighting was cute...but again...such a great set-up. Not quite as contrived as Beijing's but still.

Haven't the Chinese heard, Less is more? Overall, it was a bright, lavish ceremony. Very gaudy and over-the-top, but in the best Las Vegas tradition!!

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To you, everything is a rip-off of Athens 2004, and Athens 2004 is the most original Olympics with copyright over every aspect of it.

So henceforth, no other opening ceremony shall have two dancers hugging each other.

thanks for your conclusion, but plez dun simply modified my opinions... To me, Athens 2004 of course was the most original and creative opening on certain aspects(performances)... BUT i never said everything is a rip-off of Athens 2004 :)

Judging on that scene, that performance seems a copycat to me... the atmosphere was too similar to the Athens one... well, anyone could have different opinion. :rolleyes:

For an example, both athens 2004 and beijing 2008 were using drums in their percussion performance. but i wont said beijing copied athens, becoz they performed the instruments in different way. Unless London 2012 again plays their percussion instruments with the LED lights during countdown moment... then i would said, "oh.. thats a rip-off bla bla bla.." then somebody will come up with "So henceforth, no other opening ceremony shall have percussion play. Full stop." :o

so, can u now differentiate on how ppl judging the copycat issue based on the situation??

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thanks for your conclusion, but plez dun simply modified my opinions... To me, Athens 2004 of course was the most original and creative opening on certain aspects(performances)... BUT i never said everything is a rip-off of Athens 2004 :)

Judging on that scene, that performance seems a copycat to me... the atmosphere was too similar to the Athens one... well, anyone could have different opinion. :rolleyes:

For an example, both athens 2004 and beijing 2008 were using drums in their percussion performance. but i wont said beijing copied athens, becoz they performed the instruments in different way. Unless London 2012 again plays their percussion instruments with the LED lights during countdown moment... then i would said, "oh.. thats a rip-off bla bla bla.." then somebody will come up with "So henceforth, no other opening ceremony shall have percussion play. Full stop." :o

so, can u now differentiate on how ppl judging the copycat issue based on the situation??

If you're all talking about the chinese boat sequence, well, that was a bit similar, but it wasnt exactly like Athens 2004, i mean, they didnt looked like they were having a good time, but mostly like he was saying farewell to her beloved because he was going to a long journey, and she seemed sad at parts (on the Athens one, they were all happy-go-lucky and they dropped on the water, like contemplating the stars).

What i find very similar to Athens is that the stage was flooded with water. However even Athens wasnt the first ceremony which a water stage (i can recall the very forgotten ceremony of the 1993 mediterranean games was done in the Agde beach, on an special stage, although they didnt had the same technology of today).

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If you're all talking about the chinese boat sequence, well, that was a bit similar, but it wasnt exactly like Athens 2004, i mean, they didnt looked like they were having a good time, but mostly like he was saying farewell to her beloved because he was going to a long journey, and she seemed sad at parts (on the Athens one, they were all happy-go-lucky and they dropped on the water, like contemplating the stars).

What i find very similar to Athens is that the stage was flooded with water. However even Athens wasnt the first ceremony which a water stage (i can recall the very forgotten ceremony of the 1993 mediterranean games was done in the Agde beach, on an special stage, although they didnt had the same technology of today).

The Guangzhou "galleon" was more a rip-off of the Barcelona "barca" which carried the survivors of the Trojan war to found Barcelona.

THe use of water definitely recalls Athens!

Yeah, Guangzhou is a re-tread of everything else previously done!!

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The Guangzhou "galleon" was more a rip-off of the Barcelona "barca" which carried the survivors of the Trojan war to found Barcelona.

THe use of water definitely recalls Athens!

Yeah, Guangzhou is a re-tread of everything else previously done!!

Which is esentially what happens now in stadium theatre events, there are very few original ideas these days - especially when it comes to the Olympics.

Everyones story is pretty much the same really, and there are only so many ways you can tell it without looking like uber conceptual boofheads (Albertville anyone?).

As Myles summarised in his book, the Barcelona sea segment was very reminicent of segments performed in ceremonies from Auckland 1990 and the med Games, heliospheres have been used in Barcelona, Salt Lake and Manchester etc etc - it just goes on and on.

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Which is esentially what happens now in stadium theatre events, there are very few original ideas these days - especially when it comes to the Olympics.

Everyones story is pretty much the same really, and there are only so many ways you can tell it without looking like uber conceptual boofheads (Albertville anyone?).

As Myles summarised in his book, the Barcelona sea segment was very reminicent of segments performed in ceremonies from Auckland 1990 and the med Games, heliospheres have been used in Barcelona, Salt Lake and Manchester etc etc - it just goes on and on.

Maybe the lighting of the cauldron...nobody's quite done it from the bottom.

But except for mental telepathy and a direct mouth-to-cauldron blast, cauldrons have likewise been lit every which way!!

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Maybe the lighting of the cauldron...nobody's quite done it from the bottom.

But except for mental telepathy and a direct mouth-to-cauldron blast, cauldrons have likewise been lit every which way!!

And even now we're starting to see repeats. The Athens Paralympic/Torino Winter fireworks, and the Albertville/Atlanta wire.

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Here's an interesting take on the political aspects of the OC:

Oceanic display leaves neighbours queasy

Date: November 20 2010

John Garnaut IN GUANGZHOU

The Asian Games sent a mixed message.

China could have used this week's Asian Games in Guangzhou to reassure countries like Japan, South Korea and Vietnam of its benign strategic intentions, after a series of raging territorial disputes associated with China's maritime muscle-flexing in disputed seas.

Instead, Asian emissaries at the opening ceremony found themselves awkwardly applauding a display of nationalistic shock-and-awe that rivalled the Beijing Olympics opening, with added overtones of naval expansion.

The vast arena had been converted into a mini-ocean, and four of the world's largest LCD screens displayed an approaching armada of traditional Chinese ships, their billowing red sails growing larger and more numerous until the ocean was painted red.

''Let's go hand-in-hand in harmonious Asia,'' said the text on a small screen off to one side.

At the centre was a Chinese fishing boat, battling a raging storm until it was guided to safety by hundreds of muscular men dressed as waves. It was visually stunning but symbolically resonant of recent events in the East China Sea that have seriously damaged relations between China and Japan.

Later the Liberation Daily revealed that some of the fishermen were People's Liberation Army naval officers and the ''wave'' men who protected them were members of the People's Armed Police.

Through all of this, dignitaries from across Asia were urged to join the Chinese crowd in waving red and yellow scarves which, seen from afar, looked like a sea of red.

''The opening ceremony reminds one of China's imperial ceremonies that were designed to awe - rather than entertain - its neighbours when they came to Beijing to present tribute and submit to imperial authority,'' said William Callahan, professor of international politics at the University of Manchester and the author of China: the Pessoptimist Nation.

''China showed its Asian neighbours how they need the Chinese navy to protect them from the stormy seas of life,'' he said.

Beyond the arena Guangzhou has been upended, just like Shanghai for this year's World Expo, and Beijing for the 2008 Olympics.

Political activists were sent out of town for enforced ''holidays''; residents within sniper range were evicted for the evening and no one was permitted to watch from the streets.

''The best way to experience the opening ceremony is to watch it on TV,'' a senior official explained.

Small business owners complained that visitor numbers had fallen because the public security bureau had restricted business and tourism visas. ''The Asian Games means no people, and that's not good,'' said one shopkeeper, ''but I'm looking forward to watching it.''

This southern city of 15 million people has been transformed for the games, with dazzling buildings, sparkling streets and a new, efficient subway network. ''They made Guangzhou beautiful and that's a good thing,'' said Wang Xiuling, a grandmother who lives in an old part of the city.

But there is one striking difference between Guangzhou's coming-out party and those before it in Shanghai and Beijing. In Guangzhou if you don't like these Asian Games you don't have to pretend otherwise.

''Actually, many people in Guangzhou have negative feelings for these games, including me,'' said a young accountant, Zhang Yiyuan. ''They've spent a lot of money and inflicted a lot of inconvenience.''

He Weifang, a leading liberal legal scholar, lauded Guangzhou's courage on his blog. ''The Guangzhou media heaped abuse on their government on a daily basis,'' he wrote.

''First, the problem was traffic, then the problem was with road quality. Then it was with noise pollution, and finally it was with expenditures … The party secretary of Guangzhou, and the mayor, stepped out constantly to explain the situation.''

Most recently, residents have been pillorying the government's instructions to turn on all the city's lights while other parts of the country are plunged into darkness by centrally directed energy-saving controls.

Professor He contrasted Guangzhou's feisty citizens and journalists and its relatively responsive politicians with Shanghai's stifling atmosphere of oppression - and his enthusiasm is catching on.

Last weekend, as Asian VIPs watched the opening ceremony's demonstration of Chinese might, Guangzhou's Southern Weekend published a lengthy front-page commentary on why these Asian Games mattered for the city, and for China.

It did not mention how Asia was supplicating itself at Guangzhou's feet, or how the city was a maritime gateway to China's blue-water naval dreams, or how the citizens of Guangzhou were praising the government for their city's transformation.

Instead it detailed a litany of legitimate criticism that had been thrown at the government, and how officials had changed policies and even apologised, and how Guangzhou could now hold itself out as a model for democratic participation compared with its bigger city rivals.

''When the Beijing Olympics were just about to open, which Beijing journalist could dare to ask that kind of question?'' asked the top Asian Games organising official, in response to a reporter's question about where 20 billion yuan in security spending had gone.

The story, ''Guangzhou welcomes your criticism'', quoted a provincial party boss, Wang Yang, answering an internet chatroom question about whether his display of transparency was not itself a form of propaganda.

''You say this is putting on a 'show'. I wouldn't deny it,'' said Wang, who is a close ally of the President, Hu Jintao. ''But the significance lies in dragging leaders to take promoting democratic forms … more seriously.''

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