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Opening Ceremony Details


anno

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I'm not sure if this has been discussed yet, but for the torch lighting, why not have like a hybrid of Seoul and Athens? Lifting the final lighter or lantern or giant flaming object into the air while the main cauldron "appears" through the hole in the roof? It doesn't have to extend far enough to endanger anyone, just enough to get it lit. Then it retracts to where it can be seen by all.

Then again, seeing the pictures of previous ceremonies, the Chinese have something up their sleeves to surprise us all and wow us. I will admit, I'm interested to see.

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According to BOCOG, the artistic portion of the ceremony will be the longest in the history of the Olympic Games, at an hour and a half.

Compare that with Atlanta which was about 30 minutes, Sydney's which was about 50 minutes, and Athens which was about 40 minutes.

http://en.beijing2008.cn/culture/ceremonies/n214169156.shtml

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According to BOCOG, the artistic portion of the ceremony will be the longest in the history of the Olympic Games, at an hour and a half.

Compare that with Atlanta which was about 30 minutes, Sydney's which was about 50 minutes, and Athens which was about 40 minutes.

http://en.beijing2008.cn/culture/ceremonies/n214169156.shtml

1.5 hrs + 2.5 for the March of the Athletes = 4 hrs, so it will end past midnight. Atlanta was more like 45 minutes before the Parade of Nations, and then probably another 20 minutes w/ all the Protocol stuff after the home team's marched in. I think Beijing will be like that: about an hour front end; Parade of Nations; and then a 1/2 hour to close off the show.

I wish that damned Cosport & BOCOG get their act together in terms of confirming tix orders!! :angry:

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1.5 hrs + 2.5 for the March of the Athletes = 4 hrs, so it will end past midnight.

The parade of nations doesn't take two-and-a-half hours -- I believe, Athens' parade took about two hours or even less.

In another article, BOCOG talks about a duration of three-and-a-half hours for the whole opening ceremony: The opening and closing ceremonies: every minute counts

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The parade of nations doesn't take two-and-a-half hours -- I believe, Athens' parade took about two hours or even less.

Uhmmm, it's like the Oscars. They always run overtime. As for Parade of the Athletes, unless you have all the bodies at Dress Rehearsal, you can never estimate how 9,000 or so bodies will take to the field -- unless the field marshalls really rush them.

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Uhmmm, it's like the Oscars. They always run overtime. As for Parade of the Athletes, unless you have all the bodies at Dress Rehearsal, you can never estimate how 9,000 or so bodies will take to the field -- unless the field marshalls really rush them.

But we have Athens as indication for the real duration of the parade! And Beijing won't have significantly more athletes than Athens, so that we can expect about the same duration.

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With all of that for the Opening Ceremony, I'm going to be curious that NBC, unless it eventually makes the Opening Ceremony commercial-free in its broadcast or do so for its NBCOlympics on-demand website, will butcher a lot of it like the network did with Athens since it will be tape-delayed in its premiere on primetime. 90 minutes for the artistic stuff, an Olympic record. Expect dragons, lanterns, a good luck ceremony, lots of kids, and that "big bang boom" that are fireworks.

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With all of that for the Opening Ceremony, I'm going to be curious that NBC, unless it eventually makes the Opening Ceremony commercial-free in its broadcast or do so for its NBCOlympics on-demand website, will butcher a lot of it like the network did with Athens since it will be tape-delayed in its premiere on primetime. 90 minutes for the artistic stuff, an Olympic record. Expect dragons, lanterns, a good luck ceremony, lots of kids, and that "big bang boom" that are fireworks.

Well, NBC does know this is no ordinary Olympics. This really is a historic event, it's the coming out party for China to become a superpower. So I would guess NBC could do non commercial interruptions through the cultural portions....then do small commercial breaks through the protocols.

Similar to what NBC did with Atlanta..no commercials during the artistic portion (Welcome to the World,Georgia..,Summertime), then no commercials after the parade of nations.

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Uhmmm, it's like the Oscars. They always run overtime. As for Parade of the Athletes, unless you have all the bodies at Dress Rehearsal, you can never estimate how 9,000 or so bodies will take to the field -- unless the field marshalls really rush them.

They've been practicing how to rush them through for years:

PP0893.jpg

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Well, NBC does know this is no ordinary Olympics. This really is a historic event, it's the coming out party for China to become a superpower. So I would guess NBC could do non commercial interruptions through the cultural portions....then do small commercial breaks through the protocols.

Thanks for reminding me on all that. Since back then the OC was live inside the US, it could not afford to head into commercials during that.

Similar to what NBC did with Atlanta..no commercials during the artistic portion (Welcome to the World,Georgia..,Summertime), then no commercials after the parade of nations.

True, though I wish some nations weren't omitted due to the commercials in the Parade of Nations.

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Well, NBC does know this is no ordinary Olympics. This really is a historic event, it's the coming out party for China to become a superpower. So I would guess NBC could do non commercial interruptions through the cultural portions....then do small commercial breaks through the protocols.

But wouldn't the same logic apply to Athens? I mean, Athens 2004 was no ordinary Olympics (the games finally coming back home), and that didn't stop them from bringing in the advertisers. I just can't see Beijing's ceremony being any different, especially when it's suppose to be the longest in history.

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Exactly. The US will see a cut-up version. NBC isn't showing the Olympics for free. Remember, it bought them for over a billion bucks (w/ I think Vancouver thrown in the mix), and it has to pay for them (via the advertisers). So, all those ads will be there. Can't avoid them. I just wish they'd edit the stupid Parade of Athletes!

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Exactly. The US will see a cut-up version. NBC isn't showing the Olympics for free. Remember, it bought them for over a billion bucks (w/ I think Vancouver thrown in the mix), and it has to pay for them (via the advertisers). So, all those ads will be there. Can't avoid them. I just wish they'd edit the stupid Parade of Athletes!

NBC spent US$820 million on Vancouver and $1.18 billion on London. Very much like Salt Lake City, there will be a lot more live-events on NBC during the 2010 Games.....there wouldn't be a cut-up version of the opening/closing ceremonies, instead just a lot of commercials - especially during the parade of nations. I'm really looking forward to NBC's coverage in 2010.

With the cut-up versions in Athens and Torino, why couldn't they do less cutting and simply have more commercials? The ceremonies were about 3 hours long....stretch it out to 4 hours long with ads.

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