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Beijing 2008 Opening Ceremony


kevzz

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Hey all,

With some of the world's most reowned movie directors (Zhang Yimou, Steven Spielberg and Ang Lee) collaborating to create the 2008 opening ceremony, I just had this immense excitement and anticipation of how it will turn out to be in real.

I just cant help but having this preconception images of it will be like the martial arts movies by Zhang and Lee (Hero, Crouching Tigers), where a grand and metaphorical use of one color in one scene, with human flying in the air effortlessly.

The whole ceremony will be grand and artful for sure. And it's gonna transport us to the mythical and magical world of ancient China. Thats what I reckon.

I really think this is gonna be one of the ceremony that's gonna match Athen's in term of the interpretation of their culture in the most surprising, never-seen-before and aesthetically overwhelming way.

I can see that London 2012's ceremony will be more on the modern and future aspect of UK and human civilization at large (There's no point in UK showcasing their 'culture' and 'history' again). So it will probably all be very high-tech, modern, futuristic, fun and lively.

Maybe London's ceremony will be different as it will not be a cultural display as what most ceremonies are. But I just cant wait to see what Beijing has to show the world. Im sure it will never be what we thought it is. Just like how Athens surprised the whole world with their masterful display of simplicity and beauty which is so different from all other ceremonies in the past.

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This reminds me of one of the performances that were showcased in the annual CCTV Chinese New Year Show. Attached is the video link to the most spectacular performance by the Chinese Deaf Mute dance troop. Yes! All the ladies performing are mute and deaf!!!

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=14...=thousand+hands

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I felt that well known and such established cities like London and New York dont need to showcase their glorious past anymore.

London is a world city. What they need to show is what modern Britain is and the future of humanity. I just dont think it fits the whole concept of the London game to re-enact out their Roman, Victorian etc historical periods again. All these are already so overdone and quite well-informed to the world through movies etc.

So what the world needs to see then is a ceremony that focuses on how far the world has evolved as a whole, by using London as catalyst for displaying the future of Britain as a country, and in a more general sense, how humanity is in 2012 and in the future..

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I felt that well known and such established cities like London and New York dont need to showcase their glorious past anymore.

London is a world city. What they need to show is what modern Britain is and the future of humanity. I just dont think it fits the whole concept of the London game to re-enact out their Roman, Victorian etc historical periods again. All these are already so overdone and quite well-informed to the world through movies etc.

So what the world needs to see then is a ceremony that focuses on how far the world has evolved as a whole, by using London as catalyst for displaying the future of Britain as a country, and in a more general sense, how humanity is in 2012 and in the future..

Then you should send in your ideas to London 2012 and see if you are on the same wavelength or not. Let me tell you though, that for legal reasons, your submission will probably be returned 'Unsolicited.' So don't be suprised if it is.

If they want outsiders' ideas, they will say so. Otherwise, the various Organizing Committees' set-ups are so sophisticated now that they will call upon the professionals who have shaped past Ceremonies.

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Please dont get all too defensive bout this. This is just my personal opinion and what I would like to see in London. And yes I do believe that the London commitee will be on the same wavelength too. Cos I believe they have the vision in doing things differently. They are the British for crying out loud!

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Well, the Chinese have announced another recruit to the OC team:

BEIJING, Oct 23 DPA - Veteran US singer-songwriter Quincy Jones has been named as the latest cultural adviser for the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2008 Olympics, the Beijing Organising Committee (BOCOG) said.

Multi-Grammy winner Jones, now 73, offered in May to compose a theme song for the Beijing games.

Wearing a purple Chinese-style shirt at the ceremony to announce his appointment, Jones said he ``really admires the breadth and depth of Chinese culture''.

He has promised to reflect his interest in China in his musical composition for BOCOG and has praised Beijing's Olympic slogan, ``One world, one dream'', as the ``best ever''.

But a BOCOG spokeswoman today said the naming of Jones as a cultural adviser does not necessarily mean one of his songs will be chosen.

BOCOG says it will not announce the theme song until 2008 and it plans to solicit more entries next year, after receiving more than 500 musical scores and 5,000 sets of lyrics this year.

Acclaimed Taiwanese movie director Ang Lee was among several more cultural advisers added last week to the large creative team preparing spectacular opening and closing ceremonies for the Beijing games.

Steven Spielberg is another leading film-maker acting as an adviser to Chinese director Zhang Yimou on the two ceremonies.

DPA

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  • 4 weeks later...

Latest news about Beijing Ceremonies...

A little birdie just told me what the overriding Theme of (at least) the Opening Ceremony will be. The number 5 will play a significant number in the OC.

- The 5 Olympic rings

- the 5 Elements (In traditional Chinese philosophy, natural phenomena can be classified into the Five Elements (Chinese: 五行; pinyin: wǔxíng): wood, fire, earth, metal, and water (木, 火, 土, 金, 水; mù, huǒ, tǔ, jīn, shǔi). These elements were used for describing interactions and relationships between phenomena.); and

- the 5 friendlies

The 5 elements even have their traditional colors....

Element - Direction - Color

Wood - east - green or blue

Fire - south - red

Earth - center - yellow

Metal - west - white

Water - north - black

...which with a little tweaking, can be made to match the 5 Olympic colors.

So with subthemes of glorious Chinese history; China's contributions to the world; and a modern vigorous China; this is how Opening Ceremony will be created.

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Latest news about Beijing Ceremonies...

A little birdie just told me what the overriding Theme of (at least) the Opening Ceremony will be. The number 5 will play a significant number in the OC.

- The 5 Olympic rings

- the 5 Elements (In traditional Chinese philosophy, natural phenomena can be classified into the Five Elements (Chinese: 五行; pinyin: wǔxíng): wood, fire, earth, metal, and water (木, 火, 土, 金, 水; mù, huǒ, tǔ, jīn, shǔi). These elements were used for describing interactions and relationships between phenomena.); and

- the 5 friendlies

The 5 elements even have their traditional colors....

Element - Direction - Color

Wood - east - green or blue

Fire - south - red

Earth - center - yellow

Metal - west - white

Water - north - black

...which with a little tweaking, can be made to match the 5 Olympic colors.

So with subthemes of glorious Chinese history; China's contributions to the world; and a modern vigorous China; this is how Opening Ceremony will be created.

Hmm, very interesting. The five elements theme have also something to do with the Feng Shui (damn, this chinese people are doing anything to make the ceremony the best, hope they dont screw it).

Speaking about London 2012 OC, i agree that they should better show the future instead of their history, that the people know enough. However they must be careful on this theme (or it will result in some awful dancing punk man like on Torino OC).

- the 5 friendlies

Uh oh, when you say Friendlies i'm fearing something a la Moscow 80

>

C-opening1.jpg

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Speaking about London 2012 OC, i agree that they should better show the future instead of their history, that the people know enough. However they must be careful on this theme (or it will result in some awful dancing punk man like on Torino OC).

I still think London should focus on their hisory. You need that rich British Influence in the OC as well as the future.

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Uh oh, when you say Friendlies i'm fearing something a la Moscow 80

Well, I wasn't given all the details, but suffice it to say that they're kinda working on a 'quintuple'-faceted theme if you will.

Here's another news story on this 'quintuple' theme which might feature in the Opening Ceremonies.

Dress rehearsal for feature of Beijing Opening Ceremony

Edited by baron-pierreIV
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  • 2 weeks later...

I think London 2012 will showcase both its past and the future it will all link in together along with the principles of the Olympic movements, and i hope that the lighting of the cauldren will be spectacular, would be cool to have the flame travel along the water of the river thames to the stadium.

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oh god..........what will Vancouver come up with?

I don't know... But a reoccuring theme with Vancouver was "Come play with us" Maybe the ceremony will try to show Canadians as fun-loving people with a passion for sport... That, or maybe it'll show off Canada's culture and history... so cliche... :)

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