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Ceremonies on UTube, Pt 2


baron-pierreIV

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Anyway, those are truly high-quality videos of a fascinating closing ceremony. It had an avantgardistic approach similar to that of Albertville's ceremonies a few months earlier, but nevertheless wasn't as quirky and bizarre as Albertville's hot mess. I wonder where all those athletes came from for the final party segment, though. They weren't seated in the stadium during the earlier parts of the ceremony, were they? Because I can't spot empty seats during that segment.

In that regard, Barcelona breached the Olympic protocol actually, doing without the usual solemn joint parade of the athletes of all nations.

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The athletes were seated prior to their opportunity to come down on the field. I remember an interview with US volley-balder Bob Samuelson (for those who remember that controversy during the Games) being done among the athletes in the seats.

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The athletes were seated prior to their opportunity to come down on the field. I remember an interview with US volley-balder Bob Samuelson (for those who remember that controversy during the Games) being done among the athletes in the seats.

Actually I remember NBC just showing him with a quick zoom shot of him at the stands surrounded by his volleyball teammates, all cheering their lungs out--yeah, I remember the controversy too when they all shaved their heads in protest surrounding Samuelson. In fact, the US volleyball teams had a Japan syndrome during Barcelona with both ultimately getting bronze while the teams that defeated them won gold after the US lost their first groups to Japan, setting them on their courses--NBC showed neither gold medal volleyball games, by the way. NBC had a quick shot of one of the hometown heroes in swimmer Martin Lopez Zubero, who holds dual Spain-US citizenship, about to watch the Olympic flag lowered. Sometime later during the CC artistic presentation, Janet Evans was interviewed in the stands with, I think, Andrea Joyce. Need to see the video again, when I have a chance.

Seeing the athletes already there in the Montjuic stands to begin with did seemed different from what conducted in the past and even now. It was just a little bump. Maybe the IOC really enforced that aspect with future would-be Summer Olympic organizers.

Blue sperm. LOL! :lol: That was the final time we saw a mascot of the next Olympics unvieled at the CC. But the first time some type of covering was utilized for the Closing Ceremony so as not to upset the grass from the track and field competitions. This was how NBC Sports shown the Atlanta 1996 presentation. The interesting thing here to me, even back then, was NBC somehow allowing the official Barcelona Olympic graphics used in ID'ing Maynard Jackson after its own at 1:41-1:45.

Olympic flag lowered and Placido Domingo singing the hymn with flame immediately gets extinguished to music by Vitoria De Los Angeles, L.A. Garcia Navarro, and Luis Claret. Plus a segment NBC didn't show much of back with a solar system and the numerous artistic moons and suns just before handing it to the demons that kicked off the Barcelona 1992 Closing Ceremony artistic portion.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dt-rK9Z-fjk

More on the Comediants

http://comediants.com/?p=947〈=en

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The demons and gypsy fire take over Montjuic Stadium in Part 6 in Fuego Gitano with the carnaval getting started. Don't cry for Cobi--he went off for more adventures! I think in Spanish and Catalan culture the aforementioned two have a slightly different significance than in the English world and are more sympathetic, perhaps. Balloons and large dragons galore! NBC didn't really employ the soundtrack music to this segment and just recorded the sounds of fire. So we didn't really get to hear the music for this. Also, Sara Brightman and Josep Carreras sing the theme song and its slogan, "Friends For Life (Amigos Para Siempre)" followed the appearance of the spaceship sending Cobi away from the stadium into space, signifying that his time at Barcelona is over with Carles Santos' band serenading him--Great score! Just like Misha being sent up, up, and away in Moscow. NBC cut much of that out too after the "Friends For Life" song...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OT9C-1nbvxc

The sendoff, then more fireworks, and it's party time and the athletes' bum rush to the field with the Peret, Los Amaya (Caramelos) and Los Manolos performing. Liked how some of the athletes were causing chaos and packing the stage like it was a ska concert in the 2-Tone era ala sardines, especially the Dutch, British, and Brazilian Olympians. The performers kinda like that too until the PA told them to get off the stage. I find interesting the placard horders were also wearing the colors of the flags, haven't seen that in subsequent Olympics.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g8osGuGjZsg

For a full list of the CC soundtrack, look here: http://olympicceremonies.wordpress.com/1992-barcelona-closing-ceremony-music-list/

Perhaps NBC cut lots of this off was due to as Baron-Pierre puts it on YouTube from Televisa's (Mexico) broadcast clip of the first segment here in this thread of the Barcelona 1992 CC as "The camera angles chosen are just too crazy. They do not give a good grounding for the viewer to see how it all plays out and how one element relates to the other. It's just a mishmash of close-ups on the balloons, long shots, etc., etc. It's like a badly edited music video".

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I think you're right Durban, there may have only been a shot of Samuelson.

All these clips bring back great memories as the CC in 1992 was six days before my wife and I were married. She let me pick out the music and of course every piece had an Olympic connection. Too bad It was too close to include some of the Barcelona pieces in the ceremony.

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The closing ceremony of the 2002 Commonwealth Games is now on my YouTube account. Sadly it's not complete. The video tape runs out before the end of the ceremony. But it's still interesting to see. It includes the entrance of the Flags, official speeches, and the handover section by Melbourne 2006. As you can tell it was very wet that night to say the least.......

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m_cVs77TjV0

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Final part of Barcelona's Closing Ceremonies back from 1992. All the athletes are shooed away from hogging the stage from Peret, Los Amayas, and Los Carmelos so they can get their facetime for the TV cameras and broadcasters around the world in their medley--the PA announcer was telling the athletes to get off the stage. But a few of them still kept coming. Even Spain's TVE's commentators and crew at Montjuic Olympic Stadium are getting into this from the media section! Some US Olympians managed to put a NBC sign reminding the world, not just US viewers, it will broadcast the Atlanta Olympics in the US in four years time. Just like one big concert at a summer festival. Everybody wanted to be on the ground it seems. Too bad this doesn't go to the exact end--the musical acts are still playing when the video gets cut.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LbUB7haCxq4

You'll notice when the BBC was going for the extended footage of Team GB marching in Sydney to get better shots of Sir Steven Redgrave, James Cracknell, Audley Harrison, women's field hockey team, Julian Halls, Ed Coode, Greg Searle, tennis team coach Roger Taylor (no, not the Duran Duran or Queen drummers), and Tim Foster, and it intentionally skipped Grenada, Guam, Guatemala, and Guinea before going back with Guinea-Bissau.

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  • 3 weeks later...

And, yes, some of you may recall back then that both ceremonies were shown live on the daily 24-hour Olympic channel Canal Olimpico, a collaboration between TVE and TV3 Catalunya.

It's a little unusual for me to do this. But I would like to show you the Opening Ceremony from the just-completed 7th Francophonie Games in Nice, France that was shown live on TV5 in France. It's not taking place in a stadium as you would expect. More like a large city square and sit on bleachers. What's unusual is nation that we don't regard as significantly French-speaking like Romania (perhaps due to its relation to French as a Romance language), Armenia, and Albania (full-fledged member). Several are actually observor associate members. Canada is in it, but its provinces Quebec and New Brunswick (latter officially recognized as the only bilingual one with its Acadian population while Quebec technically has a significant amount English speakers there) are too separate teams and both march directly behind Canada proper. Belguim is restricted to only to the French-speaking portion athletes. No Flemish ones! In the Parade of Nations, the previous host, in this case Lebanon, marches first ala Greece in the Olympics and then goes alphabetical in French. Later it's more becomes more like a concert and less of the artistic pagentry like we expect from the Olympics and Commonwealth Games.

2013 Games of the Small States of Europe Opening Ceremony in Luxembourg earlier this year, presented on Malta's TVM 2 with Maltese commentary. Too bad the sound doesn't come on until just into 24 minutes. If I can find a full with all audio, I'll get it!

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^^ What's with France always doing their ceremonies in non-sportive venues (with the exception of France '98, and these also had somekind of an opening ceremony in the streets of Paris).

In Albertville they built a stadium specially made for the ceremonies, while they did an acuatic show in the Beach of Agde for the 1993 Mediterranean Games (installing some temporary stands besides the seashore). And now Nice...seems like an habit of them :P

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^^ What's with France always doing their ceremonies in non-sportive venues (with the exception of France '98, and these also had somekind of an opening ceremony in the streets of Paris).

In Albertville they built a stadium specially made for the ceremonies, while they did an acuatic show in the Beach of Agde for the 1993 Mediterranean Games (installing some temporary stands besides the seashore). And now Nice...seems like an habit of them :P

They're French. That's why I guess they can't win another Summer Games. :lol:

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What did you think of Albertville & France 98, baron? That's their major ceremonial experience.

Really bizarre and tres outre. But I don't really see how that Boschian phantasmagoria relates to a Winter Games. A very self-indulgent show for the director (i.e., in that it's only an expression of his imagination...but totally unrelated to French culture); not for the event.

Edited by baron-pierreIV
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