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Favourite Opening Ceremonies Poll 2022 Editon


GamesBids Favourite Olympic Ceremonies Poll - 2022 Edition   

33 members have voted

  1. 1. What’s your favourite Summer Olympics Opening Ceremony?

    • Moscow 1980
      0
    • Los Angeles 1984
      0
    • Seoul 1988
      0
    • Barcelona 1992
      3
    • Atlanta 1996
      0
    • Sydney 2000
      6
    • Athens 2004
      16
    • Beijing 2008
      3
    • London 2012
      2
    • Rio 2016
      3
    • Tokyo 2020
      0
  2. 2. What’s your favourite Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony?

    • Lake Placid 1980
      0
    • Sarajevo 1984
      0
    • Calgary 1988
      0
    • Albertville 1992
      3
    • Lilehammer 1994
      3
    • Nagano 1998
      0
    • Salt Lake City 2002
      7
    • Torino 2006
      2
    • Vancouver 2010
      8
    • Sochi 2014
      10
    • PyeongChang 2018
      0
    • Beijing 2022
      0
    • Other (post to specify)
      0


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For me, it's... whichever one I happen to be watching. :unsure:

I think one can make a strong argument for all of them except Tokyo, the only huge misfire.

Okay, you put a gun to my head and I'm forced to choose? 

Rio 2016 is my favorite, in that I've re-watched it by far more than any other ceremony. The tight-pacing, the music, the interesting cultural aspects and tone-of-voice seems to never lose its appeal for me.

But then, Beijing 2008 is my favorite, because of how it most feels like an important world event unfolding before my eyes. Thousands of years of history coming to a once-in-a-lifetime climax.

But really, Sydney 2000 is my favorite, because of its ambitious scope and giddy-fun atmosphere.

OK, seriously: Athens 2004 is my favorite. It's the one that gives me the most potent dose of awe and wonder. The same feeling I imagine astronauts speak of when they view the Earth from space and suddenly realize how beautiful and precious life on earth is. 

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On 3/26/2022 at 7:43 PM, Sir Rols said:

Okay, got a bit inspired to watch some of Sochi again (and, yes, I do feel a bit guilty about it. It’s like watching Olympia - am I watching dictator-porn, or am I viewing it as a student of ceremonies?).

 

 

Inserting videos is helpful in getting a point or opinion across. Why various users complain about posts that contain videos to perform that same purpose is puzzling to me.

Because of those videos, I'm able to understand (and see) what you're talking about.

I've never watched the Sochi games (I just recall seeing the segment where one of the five rings didn't open up) and I recall that segment of the 2004 games. But I don't recall it being that long.

I thought the 2004 opening had too many moments of what I'd describe as overdone. But that's true of most openings/closings for years. Each organizing committee feels a need to keep upping the ante.

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1 hour ago, SeriousPotato said:

Rio 2016 is my favorite, in that I've re-watched it by far more than any other ceremony.

 

Your POV makes me think of the phrase, "Beauty if altogether in the eye of the beholder."

2016 is my least favorite, placing behind only what I judge as 2012's Hollywood-ized spectacle, hokey to the 10th degree.

In turn, a lot of people at GB think 2022 was "bleeh," yet I feel it came a bit closer to fitting the theme and tone of "Olympics."

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On 3/27/2022 at 1:43 PM, Sir Rols said:

Okay, got a bit inspired to watch some of Sochi again (and, yes, I do feel a bit guilty about it. It’s like watching Olympia - am I watching dictator-porn, or am I viewing it as a student of ceremonies?).

Anyway, in particular the following segment - the part that deals with post-1917 Russia. So brilliantly done in the way it captures the aesthetics of early and mid Soviet Russia through its music and visuals. It could easily be a highlight of a summer ceremony. Hey, it’s even got a choir towards the end!

And, yes, it does deal with a problematic historic period. I can understand if some people take issue with it. But I do think it’s a masterpiece of stadium theatre.

Sochi 2014 is my favourite Winter ceremony too. Agree that if it were a Summer ceremony it still would be on Athens coattails as one of the best. Probably not far off what Moscow 2012 would been.

Runner up winter favourites for me are Salt Lake 2002 (silver) and Vancouver 2010 (bronze). Both were amazing. 

My favourite Summer ceremony is Athens 2004 without doubt. Runner up summer favourites for me are Atlanta 1996 and Sydney 2000 (both tied for silver) and Barcelona 1992 (bronze) --- 1992-2004 was a golden era. 

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18 hours ago, Olympics2028 said:

 

Your POV makes me think of the phrase, "Beauty if altogether in the eye of the beholder."

2016 is my least favorite, placing behind only what I judge as 2012's Hollywood-ized spectacle, hokey to the 10th degree.

In turn, a lot of people at GB think 2022 was "bleeh," yet I feel it came a bit closer to fitting the theme and tone of "Olympics."

Good phrase. It is very true.

How one receives each ceremony will also depend in how exposed one is to the host nation, and the context surrounding the particular time/place. Language barriers can make understanding especially hard. 

If you have visited or will ever visit Brazil, I think the Rio ceremony will make more sense and you will appreciate it more, because the references and the performers will have a new gravity. Perhaps that is why I like Rio's, I've visited Brazil almost annually since 2017, and so each viewing I feel I see new things I didn't see before. Names like Paulinho da Viola, and Elza Soares carry greater weight, and there is more emotional connection.

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Well, it’s difficult to say what is THE best… all of them have had their own aspects and it could be divided on how they captured our feelings and memories…

For Summer edition, all of them have that incredible touch of majestuosity. Seoul 1988 Evoque me those times were the Olympics paralyzed the country and got all the media attention. It was massive and quite impressive. But every time I watch Barcelona 1992, it tiggers me that feeling of proud and amazement. Take in consideration that it is the ceremony that changed the paradigm of making Olympic ceremonies. Even in the latest years, Barcelona style has been copied in some games, such the Summer EYOF 2019. Since then on, ceremonies had had an increasing style, reaching the top in Beijing 2008, which was one of the most lavish spectacles of all times, opening the “golden decade” of ceremonies where even regional games reached an incredible level such Delhi in 2010, Doha in 2006 and 2011, Guadalajara Pan Am in 2011, Ashgabat 2017 and all the editions of Universiade Games since 2010 to 2017. As the level increased, criticism on overrun also increased and it was not until 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, the games that were carried out in the middle of a huge economic crisis in the host country, that ceremonies became “beautiful but simple”. I remember the commentaries on BBC after the broadcast where one of the hosts stated “it proves you don’t need a huge amount of money to make it spectacular”. Since then, the “simple” ceremonies had been taking place until these days, where, due to covid restrictions have top the highest expression of it (or lowest maybe?)… As a matter of fact, what we could see in Tokyo was a mixture between the mourning atmosphere, overrun costs (again), a clear lack of organization (I talk about ceremonies) and extreme simplicity. In the meanwhile, ceremonies oriented to TV audiences had made their own: Gold Coast 2018 and Lima 2019 were the top expression of it. Fantastic ceremonies… but totally TV oriented. Buenos Aires 2018 opened a door that Paris 2024 will use in its major capacity: open street ceremonies, free attendance and completely TV oriented.

On the other side, for the winter Games... their increasing level have not had a pause as it happened in the case of Summer Games. Watching the almost amateur ceremony in 1980 in Lake Placid, it started to increased in Sarajevo, Calgary, the spectacular display in Albertville, the original stage of Lillehammer… going through the extreme Japanese ceremony in Nagano, taking a great leap to the unique (so far) ceremonies on ice rink in Salt lake… which is my favourite!! And continuing to the amazing level of Torino, Vancouver and Sochi were winter ceremonies matched the level with their summer counterpart. Sochi is pointed out as one of the best ever… but my criticism to all Russian ceremonies is their overrun cost but total lack of originality. So, Sochi was the Vancouver 2.0 version (being the Canadian ceremony the first one to be a totally projection-based ceremony which at that time was so awesome!), Kazan 2013 Universiade was also incredibly expensive, but it was a mixture between Athens 2004 and Vancouver 2010. For 2018 in PyeongChang we had already entered in the “simple style” era ceremonies and, despite having their own arena, ceremonies were much simple than the 4 years before games, the ones which were tainted with scandals of bribery and doping. Until we get 2022 in Beijing, the ceremony that all of us expected to be the return of massive displays. Nevertheless and, on the contrary, it was a ceremony with one of the lowest numbers of participants in history (a “pandemic ceremony”) but that were replaced for the use of full technology. Shortened in its maximum availability, 4 ceremonies in Beijing Winter Games left us the feeling of expecting something else… a lot more, indeed! Anyway, Beijing is framed into the era of not only “simple, oriented TV” ceremonies, but it was the second Pandemic ceremony. Under all of those restrictions, we must give the positive point to Beijing that they did it right! We can not say the same for Tokyo.

Since now on, I will repeat what I have said on other threads, we have in front of us the new era of ceremonies: public open, different, outside the box… we are expectant for the first open air Summer Olympic ceremony in history – the second, indeed… the very first was Buenos Aires 2018. So, since now on, we must think totally “outside the box” to enjoy them. The ceremonies at Barcelona or Beijing style are not a must anymore.

As you can see, it’s difficult to say what ceremony is “the best” without remembering their evolution.

Anyway, if I have to choose… for Summer: Barcelona and Beijing. For Winter: Salt Lake and Vancouver.

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On 3/29/2022 at 10:36 AM, SeriousPotato said:

If you have visited or will ever visit Brazil, I think the Rio ceremony will make more sense and you will appreciate it more, because the references and the performers will have a new gravity. Perhaps that is why I like Rio's, I've visited Brazil almost annually since 2017, and so each viewing I feel I see new things I didn't see before. Names like Paulinho da Viola, and Elza Soares carry greater weight, and there is more emotional connection.

 

If you've seen my various posts, particularly the ones in the "2028 Ceremonies" thread, you'll know my take on matter is very specific. And, yea, into Olympic tradition.

Whether I knew the performers in 2016 or didn't, I'd say they would have come off in an even more big-sound, hero-ized manner - fitting for an Olympic ceremony - with the back-up for a full choir.

I saw the segment where the son of the songwriter of "Girl From Inpanema" did a solo of his father's famous tune. Gisele Bundchen was shown strolling down the stadium's infield. Even that bit would have worked if both of them at least came with the aural accompaniment of a large choir.

 

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6 hours ago, Nacholympic said:

But every time I watch Barcelona 1992, it tiggers me that feeling of proud and amazement. Take in consideration that it is the ceremony that changed the paradigm of making Olympic ceremonies.

The segment where a huge Olympic flag was unfurled throughout the infield, above the heads of all the athletes (who held it up), with the ceremony's choir doing some back-up, was to me a very Olympic-fied moment.

1992 was also possibly when the Cirque-du-Soleil fomat was introduced to the Olympics opening/closing.

To me, the former was fitting, the latter was "huh?!"

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On 3/30/2022 at 4:36 AM, SeriousPotato said:

If you have visited or will ever visit Brazil, I think the Rio ceremony will make more sense and you will appreciate it more, because the references and the performers will have a new gravity. Perhaps that is why I like Rio's, I've visited Brazil almost annually since 2017, and so each viewing I feel I see new things I didn't see before. Names like Paulinho da Viola, and Elza Soares carry greater weight, and there is more emotional connection.

If I had any disappointment with Rio’s ceremonies, it’s that it didn’t lean into Latin music as much as I expected. With a Latin partner, I’ve become well schooled in the rich traditions of Latin music, dance and rhythms - I know my Bossa Novas from my Sambas and my Merengues from Mambos. So I was expecting a ceremony to pulse to a lively Latin beat. While we got a bit in the closing, I was disappointed we didn’t get more in the opening - it would have set a bigger stamp for me. One thing I think Sydney and London did well, especially in their closings, was to showcase their rock and pop heritages.

And, no, I don’t think choirs are suited to Latin beats and rhythms. Brass, percussion and lively vocals, but not choral. Choirs have their place, but only where appropriate and in moderation. Not every vocal music accompaniement in a ceremony needs to come from a choir. 

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My first complete watch through was Sydney. Still special, but it has a cheesy pre-bubble 90's vibe. 

Athens was beautiful and Greek. Also you cannot really compare the Russians going over their Soviet history to the Greeks not being comfortable with their Ottoman oppression. It would be weird, like it would be weird for any of the Baltic states to proudly display their Soviet occupation or Imperial Russian possession. Russians on the whole have a rather distorted view of their Soviet past, one of pride and admiration. 

The musical opening of London is probably the single greatest sequence I have seen to date. 

I don't remember Sochi well. I was well versed in my distain for Russia even then. The Georgian incursions, the Ukraine meddling. Baltic provocations, democratic backslide and more were already on full display. Oh and the anti-Gay ****.

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44 minutes ago, Olympics2028 said:

The segment where a huge Olympic flag was unfurled throughout the infield, above the heads of all the athletes (who held it up), with the ceremony's choir doing some back-up, was to me a very Olympic-fied moment.

1992 was also possibly when the Cirque-du-Soleil fomat was introduced to the Olympics opening/closing.

To me, the former was fitting, the latter was "huh?!"

Well... that segment, I can say, was highly inspired in a segment of the Chilean Gala for the inauguration of Patricio Aylwin's government, which was the first president after the Pinochet's discatorship, so, the gala was too symbolical and very moving. Of course, Spain was too involved in the process and that idea may have been taken by Fura del Baus to be replied on the Olympic Ceremony. The inauguration gala was in March 1990. Here is the moment:

 

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11 minutes ago, Nacholympic said:

that [flag across the infield] segment, I can say, was highly inspired in a segment of the Chilean Gala for the inauguration of Patricio Aylwin's government

Probably- but the same idea had been used in 1948 at the University of Mississippi homecoming football game.

They displayed a Confederate flag ...

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1 hour ago, Sir Rols said:

And, no, I don’t think choirs are suited to Latin beats and rhythms. Brass, percussion and lively vocals, but not choral. Choirs have their place, but only where appropriate and in moderation. Not every vocal music accompaniement in a ceremony needs to come from a choir. 

I don't believe 2016 had any segment where hundreds of voices sung in unison. However, I'm not totally sure.

I know the segments I watched had nothing but soloists doing their number. Such as this portion of 2016's opening.

I'd never have considered a model runway walk as fitting for an "Olympics ceremony." But if had to be done, if this scene had been orchestrated with the sound of the second version below, it would have been somewhat hero-ized:

 

 

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36 minutes ago, Olympics2028 said:

I don't believe 2016 had any segment where hundreds of voices sung in unison. However, I'm not totally sure.

I know the segments I watched had nothing but soloists doing their number. Such as this portion of 2016's opening.

I'd never have considered a model runway walk as fitting for an "Olympics ceremony." But if had to be done, if this scene had been orchestrated with the sound of the second version below, it would have been somewhat hero-ized:

 

 

definitely not.

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5 minutes ago, Sir Rols said:

Totally agree. That choir totally destroys the whole silky, Latin appeal of the song. Giselle walking to a choir??? THAT would be bizarre.

i think the only improvement that coulda been made there was some scenery of Ipanema.

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52 minutes ago, Olympics2028 said:

I don't believe 2016 had any segment where hundreds of voices sung in unison. However, I'm not totally sure.

I know the segments I watched had nothing but soloists doing their number. Such as this portion of 2016's opening.

I'd never have considered a model runway walk as fitting for an "Olympics ceremony." But if had to be done, if this scene had been orchestrated with the sound of the second version below, it would have been somewhat hero-ized:

 

 

Of course not! Brazil wanted to show what they are... and I didn't miss any choir, because the very idea was to be apart of all of those clichés... 

Nor Lima 2019 neither Guadalajara 2011 had big choirs in their ceremonies... may be part of the Latin American cutture which is more vivid, colorful, rthythmic and joyful...

Leave choirs for northertn cultures. Southern ones, specially latin americans, are plenty of music, color and dance to show... no choirs needed.

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6 minutes ago, Nacholympic said:

Leave choirs for northertn cultures. Southern ones, specially latin americans, are plenty of music, color and dance to show... no choirs needed.

Absolutely agreed

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You also could make a poll about ceremonies of regional games and Universiades.

Ceremonies have been always interesting and have follow the tendencies of the Olympics.

The latest ones, in Gold Coast in 2018 and Lima in 2019 were fantastic ceremonies!!!!! 

Also  Delhi 2010, Ashgabat 2017 and Asian Games have had wonderful ceremonies, too!!!

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20 minutes ago, Nacholympic said:

You also could make a poll about ceremonies of regional games and Universiades.

Nah.  This site is mainly about the OGs.  And if you have people here NOT watching Olympic ceremonies yet attempting to discuss them (cough . . . cough), what more about regional Games and universaides.  You really won't get diverse discussions on those.  

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15 hours ago, Olympics2028 said:

I don't believe 2016 had any segment where hundreds of voices sung in unison. However, I'm not totally sure.

I know the segments I watched had nothing but soloists doing their number. Such as this portion of 2016's opening.

I'd never have considered a model runway walk as fitting for an "Olympics ceremony." But if had to be done, if this scene had been orchestrated with the sound of the second version below, it would have been somewhat hero-ized:

 

 

Ill ignore the fact that once again, you're sharing your opinion on a ceremony that YOU HAVENT EVEN WATCHED YET, and say you're in brazil in rio de janeiro, the segment is an homag to the ipanema girl (the most iconic brazilian song in history), and the model runway (in the country with most of the best models in the world) with Giselle Bundchen (which herself is one of the wealthiest models in history) was retiring from modeling. The segment cinematography required an intimacy level to appreciate the catwalk detail and performance of bundchen, same that was going to be even more damaged if there was a choir singing the song (its the girl of ipanema, not the damn municipal choir kids of ipanema). Watch the ceremony you'll get why they did what they did

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