runningrings Posted August 13, 2013 Report Share Posted August 13, 2013 Looks like it was raining that night, very unusual if that's the case. I was one of the tens of thousands of people watching in live screens in the parklands by the MCG, and it certainly wasn't raining! It was a beautiful balmy Melbourne night. Melbourne 2006 certainly nailed it as much as any other ceremony (Olympic or not)in terms of integrating the host city into the actual Ceremony. I can't think of any major ceremony before or since that has engaged the downtown area of the host city in such a way on the opening night. The atmosphere was electric, and certainly gave you a slight feeling of melancholy in thinking about how amazing Melbourne 1996 could have been - it would have maintained that momentum given by Barcelona. (although I wouldn't swap Sydney 2000 for anything!). Interestingly, given the 1996 aspirations, retrospectively Melbourne's 2006 Ceremony somewhat reminds me of a more modern, contemporary version of Atlanta 1996 - in terms of its staging. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yoshi Posted August 13, 2013 Report Share Posted August 13, 2013 I don't think the OC of Melbourne 96 would have been as good, because the city wouldn't have needed to "beat" Sydney. Outdoing 2000 was a main reason why the 06 shows were so big. Does anyone have the bid book/s for Melbourne 96? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord David Posted August 13, 2013 Report Share Posted August 13, 2013 The Melbourne 2006 ceremonies for me didn't beat Sydney's. Had Melbourne hosted 1996, it would have been special on account of the fact that it was the Centennial as well as the 40th anniversary of the 1956 Games. I would have expected a clear homage to the ancient Greek Olympics, Melbourne 1956, the Modern Olympics and the growth of Modern Melbourne. All this alongside the historical side of Melbourne, it's founding, gold rush, late 19th century, Federation and Australia's first capital and so forth. The tram would have been present, but perhaps not "flown" in the stadium as opposed to just entering at ground level. The closing ceremony would have been more laid back and emphasized Melbourne's culture. Ballet and concerts, Aussie Rules Football and popular culture. We would have seen Crocodile Dundee, Kylie Minogue and Elle Macpherson, alongside Malcolm (which would have definitely included that iconic yellow car splitting in half and causing antics in the stadium), Dame Edna and Hey Hey It's Saturday. With perhaps a children's TV show like Play School. And yes, I have the Melbourne 1996 bid books! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yoshi Posted August 13, 2013 Report Share Posted August 13, 2013 Are they uploadable? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord David Posted August 13, 2013 Report Share Posted August 13, 2013 No they are not. Not because of the obvious fact that I'd have to manually scan each page (or take a picture), but more importantly due to the fact they were done in something closer to A3 format as opposed to A4. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yoshi Posted August 13, 2013 Report Share Posted August 13, 2013 I've never seen a bid book like that before! Are you involved with the Bid Library website (as it was) David? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
savas Posted August 15, 2013 Report Share Posted August 15, 2013 a wonderful behind the scenes of ATHENS 2004 Opening Ceremony 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Durban Sandshark Posted August 15, 2013 Report Share Posted August 15, 2013 That was great Savvas! To that end, I'd like to upload a couple of Athens Opening Ceremony stuff. Actually, the first one comes from the Pre-Opening Ceremony show with Areti Ketime playing the traditional Greek folk song about the Aegean Sea called "Mes Stou Aigaiou" (Oh My Aegean) on her santouri. If you were watching on NBC's coverage right when Bob Costas and Katie Couric first appear as hosts, you would've heard Areti playing in the background if you had good ears. It's been said that this Athens Parade of Nations was the first time the BBC aired with no interruptions at all. That's news to me! Maybe a newsbreak but perhaps that's it. When you think commercial-free, the Beeb would come to mind with everything. Would like to see how they aired the OC in past Olympics up to then like from Montreal to Atlanta. In any case, here's the Parade of Nations with Barry Davies covering with the commentary with occasional ably assisted appearances from Sir Steven Redgrave and Michael Johnson Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Durban Sandshark Posted August 15, 2013 Report Share Posted August 15, 2013 BBC's Barry Davies returns again on this thread with his commentary of the Sydney 2000 Parade of Nations. Almost all of the scenes shown here, as with any Olympic scenes, were aired worldwide. In fact, you may have noticed a few differences with the Australian broadcast on 7 with a greater emphasis on the famous Aussies in the stands as Australia marched here from the BBC. So, there's no IDing of many Aussie athletes or even different close-up shots of them. There's an interesting shot of Cathy Freeman stepped aside from the team, likely soon to change clothes to light the flame (not shown on the Aussie broadcast). Craydee1975 believes this is the first the full BBC coverage of this is ever shown on YouTube. Contains an interesting Sir Matthew Pinsent interview early on about whether or not to march in the OC with rowing starting the following the next day. Steve Rider and Sue Barker introduce Olympic Grandstand live moments before the 2004 Athens Opening Ceremony with Michael Johnson and Sir Steven Redgrave, all overshadowed by the shocking Ekaterina Thanou and Konstantin Kenteris PED controversy on the eve of it, and both were planned to be involved in OC. Before sending it to Barry Davies, Johnson, and Redgrave. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craydee1975 Posted August 19, 2013 Report Share Posted August 19, 2013 The closing ceremony of Melbourne 2006 is now up and running on YouTube. Along the way Barry Davies gives his opinions http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5uBa-2ayt8M Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ikarus360 Posted August 21, 2013 Report Share Posted August 21, 2013 Guys I found on my old files that I saved some vids of Lillehammer 94 closing ceremony, more precisely the entrance of the athletes plus the anthems of Japan and Greece. I don't remember who was the original uploader of these so I'm wondering if I would have permission to upload them? ^^; Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ikarus360 Posted August 21, 2013 Report Share Posted August 21, 2013 Well, in the meanwhile enjoy some excerpts from the 1990 Commonwealth Games ceremonies in Auckland I'm kinda sad both these ceremonies and the 1994 and 1998 ones are not full online. i hope someone posts them in Youtube one day... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yoshi Posted August 21, 2013 Report Share Posted August 21, 2013 I have a question mainly for our Aussie members. I've read online that there were fairly large scale opening ceremonies held at each venue for the start of the soccer tournament at the Sydney 2000 Olympics. Does anyone know anything more about these, or have pics/videos? I've not heard of similar things at any other games. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ikarus360 Posted August 21, 2013 Report Share Posted August 21, 2013 I have a question mainly for our Aussie members. I've read online that there were fairly large scale opening ceremonies held at each venue for the start of the soccer tournament at the Sydney 2000 Olympics. Does anyone know anything more about these, or have pics/videos? I've not heard of similar things at any other games. Yeah, there was an opening ceremony held in the Melbourne Cricket Ground for the soccer tournament, before the opening match between India and Canada (which India won 2-1). Although I don't think it was much of a large scale ceremony. I only found this pic which was on the following article. Sorry ^^; Btw I uploaded a rare jewel from the 2001 WInter Universiade in Zakopane, Poland. It seems they attempted to use the same style from Lillehammer 1994. Also yes, that's my account. For some reason I can't access my other account (Ikarus361) so i'll be using this as a secondary account to upload my videos here (I might migrate my videos from Ikarus361 there in the future) I also found this performance by Edyta Gorniak although not sure if this is the opening or closing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattygs Posted August 22, 2013 Report Share Posted August 22, 2013 I just love how happy the Queen looks in that Auckland clip video In terms of the Sydney 2000 Football tournament opening in Melbourne, I remember seeing bits of it on the news at the time. Basically the unfurling of a giant banner I think, and it was set to (or at least part of it) *Get Set* by Aussie band Taxiride (cant remember if they played live though). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Durban Sandshark Posted August 23, 2013 Report Share Posted August 23, 2013 Although the titling is in Dutch, this is the Barcelona Closing Ceremony with no audio commentary other than that of Montjuic Stadium's under the RTO '92 world feed. NBC didn't show the actual beginning; it came on when the Parade of Flags started (remember it was taped delayed, so NBC could whatever it liked). Because of this, we missed Spanish comedy troupe El Tricicle posing as competitive walkers (pausing to pay respect Spain's royal family at times) and the return of that large brass ensemble up in the upper decks, among a good 30 minutes of stuff omitted. Video quality is very good here. Part 1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jpy7xLCagX8 Part 2 with guitarist Felliu Gasull, show horses, and flemenco dancers and the start of flagbearers http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=larXSRTSmTE Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BTHarner Posted August 23, 2013 Report Share Posted August 23, 2013 It's a shame I can't find a copy of Espana (the second song during the flag procession), it's one of the few big gaps in my Olympic music collection. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olympian2004 Posted August 23, 2013 Report Share Posted August 23, 2013 Guys I found on my old files that I saved some vids of Lillehammer 94 closing ceremony, more precisely the entrance of the athletes plus the anthems of Japan and Greece. I don't remember who was the original uploader of these so I'm wondering if I would have permission to upload them? ^^; If those are videos recorded from Canadian channel CTV, then those are probably the videos uploaded by our friend Guardian a couple of years ago (and taken down later). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Durban Sandshark Posted August 23, 2013 Report Share Posted August 23, 2013 Part 3 from Barcelona's Closing Ceremony resuming with the flags with Spain bringing up the rear led by Spain's gold medal winning women's field hockey team captain and the Olympic protocol http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dc7FS2Qur6s Part 4: Samaranch's speech, the Olympic flag transfer to the late Maynard Jackson, Atlanta's mayor, and the Atlanta portion with the mascot formerly known as Whatissit? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=do8Nz7RX1Vs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yoshi Posted August 23, 2013 Report Share Posted August 23, 2013 Good God, that thing is hideous: It makes Wenlock look like an artistic masterpiece Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baron-pierreIV Posted August 23, 2013 Author Report Share Posted August 23, 2013 Part 4: Samaranch's speech, the Olympic flag transfer to the late Maynard Jackson, Atlanta's mayor, and the Atlanta portion with the mascot formerly known as Whatissit? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=do8Nz7RX1Vs I don't remember JAS wearing such dark glasses that night!! Wow. Did he just have eye surgery then?? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Durban Sandshark Posted August 24, 2013 Report Share Posted August 24, 2013 Good God, that thing is hideous: It makes Wenlock look like an artistic masterpiece Looking at Wenlock in comparision, I would say yes. Whatissit? (later Izzy) had a lot of backlash and mocking since then. Hence the name change. I remember seeing one newspaper cartoon of it about to be exterminated with a can of Raid. It screams out, "RAID!" like in those classic TV commercials. Plus Izzy lacked history, nods, and significance like those two London mascots. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BTHarner Posted August 25, 2013 Report Share Posted August 25, 2013 Until Izzy, all mascots had been animals or Lillehammer's children and I think there was a natural disappointment when it was unveiled. I remember one article referring to it as a "blue sperm." 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
illustrado Posted August 25, 2013 Report Share Posted August 25, 2013 is there any accompanying video about izzy or a comic of some sort like wenlock and mandeville? i do love how they were tied in with OC via the industrial revolution Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olympian2004 Posted August 25, 2013 Report Share Posted August 25, 2013 I don't remember JAS wearing such dark glasses that night!! Wow. Did he just have eye surgery then?? What exactly was dark about those glasses? He had a shadow on his eyes at times, but the glasses themselves look clear. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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