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Most memorable moment from all Opening Ceremonies (opinion)


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There are so many memorable moments for me in the opening ceremonies I've watched (either live on TV or afterwards on Youtube), so I'd rather name the most emotional moments for me:

1) The WTC flag brought into that dead silent stadium in Salt Lake City. It still brings tears to my eyes to this day, after seeing it for maybe two dozens times.

2) Two moments from Munich 1972: The huge cheer Team Germany got when it entered the stadium and (also quite a tearjerker moment for me) when the Olympic Flag went up the flagpole under the applause of the audience.

3) The "Both Sides Now" performance with the boy flying above the "wheat fields" in Vancouver. So beautiful in its simplicity and humaneness.

4) The cauldron lighting in Sydney, especially the image of an aborigine like Cathy Freeman holding the torch proudly in front of that stunning waterfall. What a strong symbol that was!

5) Two moments from Barcelona 1992: The entry of the Spanish team with that outburst of truly Spanish joy, and the corresponding outburst of joy when the cauldron lit up.

6) The moment when they projected those faces, hands etc. on the pieces of the Cycladic head in Athens. That was the moment when my friends fell dead silent while we watched the OC live.

7) When Li Ning ran around the rim of the Birds Nest's roof, accompanied by that beautiful "You and Me" theme song. It was contemplative, silent, emotional, impressive and exciting (because one kept guessing which lighting method Beijing would use) at the same time.

8) The "Reach Out And Touch" performance by Vicki McClure in the LA 1984 OC, when the whole audience, including the athletes, joined hands.

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  • 5 years later...

1. Barcelona's flaming arrow 

2. Athens allegory 

3. Beijing's Fou Drums 

4. James Bond and the Queen in London 

5. Pandemonium Industrial Revolution London 

6. Sir Simon Rattle and Rowan Atkinson (Mr. Bean) in Chariots of Fire London

7. Cathy Freeman's ring of fire Sydney

8. Pavarotti's Nessun Dorma Torino 

9. 9/11 WTC Flag SLC 

10. Missing Olympic ring Sochi 

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Aright, this perennial topic:

- the Catalan arrow (I was there) ; the Mediterranean sea 

- the Greeks give good Head

- the streaker in Montreal

- when I appeared in the Atlanta 1996 Opening moments as part of the Blue tribe!!

- the Temple of Zeus sequence in Atlanta 

- the court scene with the concubines in Beijing ; the printing blocks sequence; the Starmen

- the ice show in Salt Lake;  the Prairie sequence

- Vancouver 2010 - the early snow scenes; the "Who Can Hear the Wind" aerial ballet over the prairies;  the whale effect. 

- Sochi - the whole concept: the inverted floating islands; the inflatable domes (oh the colors); the  Ball Scene; the Proletariat Ballet, 

- the forest sequence in Rio with the ropes; and the Lace number with the old weavers in the Closing (I just loved that.)  

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  • 1 month later...

My top ten Olympic opening ceremony moments (subject to change every two years):

10. Ode to Joy from Barcelona 1992. One child's voice out of the darkness, joined by opera legends, then the pyro, all scored by Beethoven. I'm a sucker for classical music and dramatics and this is it in spades. Barcelona closed the night on a high with this one.

9. The Entrance of the Flag and Olympic Hymn from Lillehammer 1994. I'm not sure why, but this rendition of the Hymn set the standard early and in terms of simple purity, I haven't seen it equaled. The lead vocalist would go on to do background vocals for Titanic, but her hear with a choir of children is so... I hate to use the word innocent, but it is. What we wish the Games could always be - something for the young, the pure, the beauty, to inspire a future as well as celebrate the moment.

8. Movable Type from Beijing 2008.  Beijing never topped this. I'm serious, of all the moments over the entire games, this was the high water mark for me. The rythem of the moment, the characters changing as the Chines culture advanced and the final reveal of it being completely done by PEOPLE and not a machine? Take a bow, Beijing, the medal is yours.

7. Athens to Athens from Athens 2004. That's what I've unofficially christened the moment, but I've always been an advocate that the roll call of cities from Athens to the present city should be a part of any opening ceremony, same with Chamonix to the present. It's important to show the chain that goes back and that the city, good or ill, is a part of something larger now. But this one was special, covering a 104 year wait, complete with the stumbles for World War I and II. Again, the audience reaction for the last tape break and the call "2004... ATHENS" as the pyro goes off is fantastic.

6. Cauldron lighting from Barcelona 1992. Even knowing well in advance about the arrow, it's still amazing to see and you still hold your breath to see if Robello can pull it off. The roar in the stadium as the gas ignights still makes me pump my fist.

5. Cauldron lighting from Sydney 2000. The ultimate hidden cauldron trick and it nearly bit them. Still, the image of Freeman setting the water alight, then the cauldron rising around her is just breathtaking to this day. Technically, I argue it's never been equaled.

4. The Temple of Zeus from Atlanta 1996. Sometimes simple stuff just works magnificently. The shadow lantern/Grecian urn is just an amazing trick and I'm actually surprised not to have seen it attempted again as time has gone on. Guess LCD screens and other visual effects have stolen the thunder.

3. Heroes Live Forver from Sydney 2000. I'm a sucker for the song honestly and watching the long screen roll down from the South stand with the atheletes projected on to it, then becoming the peace dove and finally the Rings as it came over the atheletes is still a epic image in my mind.

2. Cauldron lighting in SLC 2002. The United States really honestly needed that moment, for sports to transcend politics and the pain of 9/11 that lingered. The 1980 US hockey team did nicely one last time.

1. Ali in Atlanta 1996. Honestly, if you stretched, the whole long haul between the tribute to Dr. King out to Celine Dion singing Power of the Dream is just amazing, but that one single moment with Ali stepping from the shadows and holding the flame... tears.

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On 04/08/2017 at 9:11 AM, baron-pierreIV said:

Aright, this perennial topic:

- the Catalan arrow (I was there) ; the Mediterranean sea 

- the Greeks give good Head

- the streaker in Montreal

- when I appeared in the Atlanta 1996 Opening moments as part of the Blue tribe!!

- the Temple of Zeus sequence in Atlanta 

- the court scene with the concubines in Beijing ; the printing blocks sequence; the Starmen

- the ice show in Salt Lake;  the Prairie sequence

- Vancouver 2010 - the early snow scenes; the "Who Can Hear the Wind" aerial ballet over the prairies;  the whale effect. 

- Sochi - the whole concept: the inverted floating islands; the inflatable domes (oh the colors); the  Ball Scene; the Proletariat Ballet, 

- the forest sequence in Rio with the ropes; and the Lace number with the old weavers in the Closing (I just loved that.)  

The Baron has correctly chosen to list "most memorable" moments rather than "favourite" moments. As the fourth in the list is rather an odd-one-out, I'll take the opportunity to substitute ten minutes of the London 2012 ceremony, beginning with foundry workers and ending with the arrival of the Head of State ( https://youtu.be/4As0e4de-rI?t=1786 )

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Too many to mention - however if you asked me for a few images from Olympic ceremonies that just pop straight in my mind I have some to share - all quite recent.

Athens 2004 Opening - there are really two moments.  The formation of the DNA strand was magnificent.  The whole ceremony up to this point was stellar - but this brought a real wow moment.

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The other moment was at the first start - the drummer in the stadium playing along with the pre-recorded(?) drummer at Olympia.  Simple.  Iconic.  When the stadium drummer jumps into the central pool and the stadium explodes with cheers and camera flashes indicated we were in for something very human and real.olympic-games-athens-2004-0010.jpg

 

London 2012 Opening - Pandemonium.  The moment of reflective silence for those lost in the wars followed by the frankly jaw-dropping smelting and formation of the rings.  Truly a moment that just floored me and silenced the stadium.  When those rings lit up and flew along their tracks over the field and the pyrotechnics kicked in - I was in tears.  Pure, pure theatre. It was easy to overlook the less entertaining latter sections after that.

 _61864925_jex_1479553_de27-1.jpg

The other highlight - Emeli Sande's 'Abide With Me'.  A study in how to make an enormous stadium feel intimate and almost airless... claustrophobic...  It was a moment that had a real power behind it and it demanded your silence and attention. Akram Khan's choreography was equal parts complex and simple - but entirely thrilling and impossible to look away from.  Classily done and a truly moving and appropriate tribute to the 7/7 victims.

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There were other great moments in other ceremonies - but those are the ones that stand out and come to mind immediately.

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