Beijing 2022 Ceremonies

[baron-pierreIV]

If I am not mistaken, Zhang Yimou is also the only current Olympic ceremonies director to also have directed an opera at New York's Metropolitan Opera in 2006.  The Met's backstage machinery inspired the underground stage machinery at Birds Nest.  (I don't know if Finzi-Pasca has done operas in his native Italy.  I would assume so.)  

[AustralianFan]

3 hours ago, baron-pierreIV said:

If I am not mistaken, Zhang Yimou is also the only current Olympic ceremonies director to also have directed an opera at New York's Metropolitan Opera in 2006.  The Met's backstage machinery inspired the underground stage machinery at Birds Nest.  (I don't know if Finzi-Pasca has done operas in his native Italy.  I would assume so.)  

Yes, he seems to have a wealth of creative and theatrical technical experience. 

[AustralianFan]

From BOCOG, this twitter post about the Opening Ceremony …

 

 

[Ikarus360]

The word "Different" scares me a bit. I feel ever since a couple of years its a subtle way of saying "Lower your Expectations". But considering this is Zhang Yimou we're talking about, and not a literally who, I guess the "Different" buzzword is really going to have a meaning this time.

 

[munichfan]

8 minutes ago, Ikarus360 said:

The word "Different" scares me a bit. I feel ever since a couple of years its a subtle way of saying "Lower your Expectations". But considering this is Zhang Yimou we're talking about, and not a literally who, I guess the "Different" buzzword is really going to have a meaning this time.

 

Ever since that cheesy handover, I am no longer so sure of what to expect.

[Nacholympic]

17 hours ago, Bear said:

 

Any guesses on what this moment could be?

  A representation (in a lower scale this time) of Fou Drummers, one of the most rememebred highlights of that OC

[StefanMUC]

9 minutes ago, AustralianFan said:

Way out of line, yes. The way a totalitarian dictatorship that is enforcing ethnic cleansing is using the Olympics to try and make the world believe how wonderful they are and the IOC playing along to this is even more out of line though, to put it mildly.

[baron-pierreIV]

1 hour ago, AustralianFan said:

This post is way out of line “baron-pierreIV”.     Please remove it immediately.

And WHO appointed you "censor" and "moderator"?  You don't get the satire, do you?  And youare ACTING EXACTLY like a TOTALITARIAN government but impinging on my First Amendment rights!  Shush.  Stay in your Brisbane corner.  

[AustralianFan]

2 hours ago, baron-pierreIV said:

And WHO appointed you "censor" and "moderator"?  You don't get the satire, do you?  And youare ACTING EXACTLY like a TOTALITARIAN government but impinging on my First Amendment rights!  Shush.  Stay in your Brisbane corner.  

Your photo of a person burning to death in self immolation is totally inappropriate to be posted here, and you know it.   

Gamesbids.com is not the place for such images nor political protests anf your totally attention seeking lame attempt at politcal humour is and was way out of line.

The Gamesbids moderators agreed and immediately deleted your totally  outrageous post.

If you want to make a political protest, pack your bags and do it somewhere else.. Gamesbids.com is not the place for it.

 

2 hours ago, StefanMUC said:

Way out of line, yes. The way a totalitarian dictatorship that is enforcing ethnic cleansing is using the Olympics to try and make the world believe how wonderful they are and the IOC playing along to this is even more out of line though, to put it mildly.

“stefanmuc” ,  if you want to make a political protest, you can also pack your bags and do it somewhere else.. Gamesbids.com is not the place for it.

[Ikarus360]

22 hours ago, munichfan said:

Ever since that cheesy handover, I am no longer so sure of what to expect.

I want to believe Zhang was just very uninspired that day or didn't had enough time to plan something as I remember he was assigned to the job of leading the handover in a rushed way. He was assigned for the role ever since 2019 so I guess he made something more cohesive this time. Most of the things he has done (except for The Great Wall (2016) which was hot steaming garbage) are still pretty good (haven't watched Shadow yet but seems it was very well received by the critic)

On the other hand, he did Cliff Walkers (2021) which is set during WWII. While still generally liked, the reviews weren't as good. I guess Zhang's forte is in Wuxia/ancient China themes and not more contemporary/modern settings, so I hope there is a mix of both for the 2022 opening and it doesn't rely solely in modernism.

[BigVic]

PyeongChang's Opening Ceremony was just over 2 hours due to the cold weather and the Olympic Stadium was in the elements. 

[Nacholympic]

In this article, you can read that the PERFORMANCE will last around 100 minutes…

While others say that the CEREMONY will last around 100 minutes…

How could we clarify this?

According to Zhao Weidong, head of the 2022 Olympic organising committee’s media department, the three themes will be showcasing China’s yearning for and willingness to pursue world peace, the Olympic motto “faster, higher, stronger - together” and the Beijing Winter Games’ slogan of “together for a shared future”. The performance will last for about 100 minutes.

https://www.scmp.com/sport/china/article/3163068/beijing-2022-chinese-director-zhang-yimou-hopes-lift-spirits-pandemic

 

Another article about the OC:

http://www.ecns.cn/cns-wire/2022-01-12/detail-ihauqxpy8108252.shtml

[AustralianFan]

1 hour ago, Nacholympic said:

In this article, you can read that the PERFORMANCE will last around 100 minutes…

While others say that the CEREMONY will last around 100 minutes…

How could we clarify this?

According to Zhao Weidong, head of the 2022 Olympic organising committee’s media department, the three themes will be showcasing China’s yearning for and willingness to pursue world peace, the Olympic motto “faster, higher, stronger - together” and the Beijing Winter Games’ slogan of “together for a shared future”. The performance will last for about 100 minutes.

https://www.scmp.com/sport/china/article/3163068/beijing-2022-chinese-director-zhang-yimou-hopes-lift-spirits-pandemic

 

Another article about the OC:

http://www.ecns.cn/cns-wire/2022-01-12/detail-ihauqxpy8108252.shtml

 

It has already been clarified.

Due to the very cold conditions for spectators, the “Opening Ceremony of the Beijing Olympic Winter Games will last less than 100 minutes.”

The article you have posted is a newspaper based in Hong Kong, not mainland China or Beijing.   Media are notorious in getting basic facts wrong. 

Frim the Beijing 2022 organisers themselves, below is again the official confirmation tweet from the Beijing organiser stating the Ceremony will last less than 100 minutes.

 

 

Yimou himslef 

[AustralianFan]

SCMP = South China Morning Post - Hong Kong

[AustralianFan]

More anticipation as to what Zhang Yimou has in store for us at the Beijing 2022 Opening Ceremony while recalling the stunning 2008 OC ……

 

 

[synergy]

I think this will be the final OBS intro/closing OBB for Beijing 2022.

[baron-pierreIV]

/\/\ That's just a generic teaser trailer issued by the COJO to all the subscribing networks.  Nothing special about it.  

[jiejie]

One question I haven't yet seen addressed:  Is there going to be the normal march in of all the athletes?  Because that's what takes all the time even with the reduced complement of Winter Games participants vs. Summer.   Or are the Chinese going to limit the larger delegations (well, maybe not their own) to a few athlete representatives, in the interests of time and anti-COVID efforts?   

[munichfan]

Haven't heard any different. Many (especially Western) athletes will presumably skip, though, anyway, given it will be a Tokyo-like setup with no spectators and political differences in place. A full winter parade is usually doable in 45 minutes, might be even possible to reduce it further this time.

[Bear]

Beijing 2022 Olympic Ceremony can match "iconic" 2008 spectacle, says OBS chief (insidethegames.biz)

Quote

Exarchos claims the event, scheduled to take place on February 4, will be unmissable having witnessed dress rehearsals.

"Obviously I will not say what is in the Opening Ceremony because I don’t want to spoil the experience for any of you," said Exarchos at a Beijing 2022 technical briefing.

"What I can tell you is it is a ceremony which is probably equally impressive as the one in 2008 which we know is one of the most iconic Opening Ceremonies in the history of the Olympic Games.

"It’s equally impressive, equally moving but completely different and it reflects our times."

The "it reflects our times" phrase was also used for Tokyo's ceremony and we all saw how that turned out...

But at least there's this:

Quote

"The only thing I can say is that the preparations are very advanced, the ceremony is practically ready and it is a ceremony that nobody should miss for any reason."

 

[Nacholympic]

3 hours ago, Bear said:

 

The "it reflects our times" phrase was also used for Tokyo's ceremony and we all saw how that turned out...

But at least there's this:

 

His words may scare a bit, since in non-pandemic times, at this point, there ceremony would be READY… not “practically” ready.

Anyway, no comparison with Tokyo preparations, so far, we haven’t known anything about internal problems, quarrels or mass dismissals as it happened with the Tokyo Olympic Ceremony team, which was highly reflected in the poor organization of the ceremony.

Even, Tokyo Paralympics ceremonies were more organized and prepared.

This time, if no mass displays are to perform, technology will be a central issue that may cause the “wow” factor.

At least, in the handover segment at PyeongChang, those transparent screens were quite surprising!

[Ikarus360]

Sounds like Exarchos was totally not paid by the CCP to do that amount of butt kissing. Then again, everyone in the IOC is.

I will believe it when I see it.

[Bear]

I was on social media checking for any potential new updates, and apparently there's going to be a dress rehearsal on the 22nd that will include fireworks testing across the city, which I assume would be similar to the 2008 ceremony fireworks.

Hopefully if it does happen, some footage will make its way online

For now, it looks like light testing has continued at the stadium - https://www.instagram.com/p/CY1UjkXLs3y/

[AustralianFan]

On 1/20/2022 at 3:16 PM, Nacholympic said:

His words may scare a bit, since in non-pandemic times, at this point, there ceremony would be READY… not “practically” ready.

Anyway, no comparison with Tokyo preparations, so far, we haven’t known anything about internal problems, quarrels or mass dismissals as it happened with the Tokyo Olympic Ceremony team, which was highly reflected in the poor organization of the ceremony.

Even, Tokyo Paralympics ceremonies were more organized and prepared.

This time, if no mass displays are to perform, technology will be a central issue that may cause the “wow” factor.

At least, in the handover segment at PyeongChang, those transparent screens were quite surprising!

3,000 performers is a mass display.

Its been officially announced 3,000 are performing.

You can bet that those performers will be kept well inside an Olympic bubble in the closed loop if not inside already.  China’s military style capability in running these second Covid Games could easily pull that off.

Technology certainly will play a big part, but so will all those performers in this “short and sweet” Opening Ceremony.

I’ve still got money there being an ice rink on the stadium floor which would look incredible.

[Chris_Mex]

30 minutes ago, AustralianFan said:

3,000 performers is a mass display.

Its been officially announced 3,000 are performing.

You can bet that those performers will be kept well inside an Olympic bubble in the closed loop if not inside already.  China’s military style capability in running these second Covid Games could easily pull that off.

Technology certainly will play a big part, but so will all those performers in this “short and sweet” Opening Ceremony.

I’ve still got money there being an ice rink on the stadium floor which would look incredible.

Was that announcement before or after beijing got struck with a surge in omicron cases?