Opening/Closing Ceremonies Discussion

[ozonemania]

There was a significant multicultural segment to the Opening Ceremonies, you just might have not noticed.

The sequence with the people dressed in white with the LED Spirit Bear and before the orcas (WOW!) was a multicultural statement. From afar, they were all equally dressed in white, but each of their costumes were different, stylized ethnic garb from around the world, representing the diverse peoples of the world -- coming together.

Juxtaposed was Sutherland's narration... "I came to Canada as a refugee... 45 years later, for me, Canada is a refuge still... --Joe Schlesinger"

I thought it was a rather elegant way to talk about diversity in Canada without banging the audience over the head with it. Or without being so very literal about it, by bringing in visible minorities. There are other types of minorities besides skin colour.

[Brokenhead]

Quebec complains that they want to seperate from Canada.

Quebec complains that they weren't represented enough at the opening ceremony.

I thought Quebec doesn't want to be part of Canada. Those are Vancouvers/Canadas games, not Quebecs.

When the "Nation" of Quebec ever hosts a olympic games again, they can do whatever they want.


---of course this doesn't apply to all Quebecers.

[AdrianT]

Originally Posted by Zassk

I'm as pro-multiculturalism as anyone (my kids are half-Chinese), but in terms of Canada as a whole, a large visible minority was represented - that being First Nations who are 4% of the country's population. All other visible minorities are less than 3% of the population each, so I'm not sure which ones merited special inclusion in the ceremonies in your view. As a resident of Richmond which is 60% Asian by population, I would have loved to see a reference to the Chinese New Year slipped into the ceremony somewhere, but it wouldn't have been very relevant to the rest of the country.

I'm just playing devil's advocate here, these were supposed to be Canada's games,but specifically they're Vancouver's games. Montreal had their turn, Calgary had theirs and now it was supposed to Vancouver's opportunity and I just don't think the ceremonies conveyed what was Vancouver at all. When 1/6th of the country is a visible minority (2006 figures, probably 20% now) (statscan doesn't count aboriginals as a visible minority, go figure) and the visible minority population in metro vancouver is nearing a majority, I think VANOC failed in deliverying what people were expecting of the opening ceremonies.

Here's a quote from their news release a year ago about the OC:
http://www.vancouver2010.com/olympic-new...om-the-government-of-canada_36724rA.html

“After widely canvassing the opinions of practitioners from across so many fields, we now have solid, pan-Canadian input on how to proceed with capturing the essence of Vancouver, Whistler, B.C., and Canada,” added Jacques Lemay, Vancouver 2010 Ceremonies Team member and Canadian College of the Performing Arts founder. “Representing every region of the country, the participants brought forward fantastic ideas that will help us develop Ceremonies that will best reflect Canadian values, diversity, and creativity.”

Watching back the OC I don't think it captured the essence of Vancouver at all, and where is the so-called diversity when you're neglecting 20%+ of the population?

Originally Posted by ozonemania

There was a significant multicultural segment to the Opening Ceremonies, you just might have not noticed.

I think that might have been the problem. I didn't notice, and a lot of people watching didn't either. I don't know if it was CTVs coverage but the commentating was not good, and there were no close ups of these multicultural costumes-- it did not help that they were all dressed in white, it might have looked nice artistically, but I think it was just way too subtle for the general public to have caught on to what exactly they were trying to convey.

[officedweller]

You can't please all of the people all of the time.

I think if small snipets of other themes were added to the ceremony it would have been too jumbled and lacked focus.
I suppose they could have had the snowman guy from Quebec City but I suspect that he's trademarked.

WRT the lack of French - the complaints are probably because they want 50/50 representation - the way bilingualism is represented (half English, half French) and, well, I guess that they don't think that proportional representation (by geography - by each region) isn't good enough politically. It's a bit like a petulent child crying for attention.

Hmmm. Well, that doesn't play well on the coast.

[Stingray2004]

According to the Quebec subset of today's Angus Reid Strategies poll, only 52% of Quebecers felt that the amount of French language and culture at the opening ceremonies was "too little".

Nevertheless, in that same ARS opinion poll, 49% of Quebecers rated the opening ceremonies on the highest scale of 8 -10 and another 36% of Quebecers rated the opening ceremonies on a scale of 4 - 7, which is not too far off the Canadian average. Not too shabby.

[SpongeG]

how could you miss the immigrant section and the symbolism of it all - the ice breaking dispersing all the many nations of people all over the country

[big T]

Originally Posted by Brokenhead

Quebec complains that they want to seperate from Canada.

Quebec complains that they weren't represented enough at the opening ceremony.

I thought Quebec doesn't want to be part of Canada. Those are Vancouvers/Canadas games, not Quebecs.

When the "Nation" of Quebec ever hosts a olympic games again, they can do whatever they want.


---of course this doesn't apply to all Quebecers.

Had you been looking more closely, you may have noted that those Quebeckers who are "complaining" are mostly the (majority of) Quebeckers who do not have a strong desire to separate from Canada. Hard core separatists are rather "we told you so" about the whole thing.
As a somewhat outside observer, I find it interesting that they were sort of proved right.

[SpongeG]

oops wrong thread

[mr.x]

I thought it was pretty asinine of Betty Fox to say that her son, Terry, didn't receive enough representation at the Opening Ceremony and because of that he might be a forgotten memory. o_O

It's an opening ceremony, not a cancer rally. I believe she was the first Olympic flag carrier to be announced during the opening and they mentioned Terry when her name was announced...I thought that was quite appropriate.

I mean, I do have great respect for Terry but I think it's wrong to elevate him to a godly figure. And how the hell would he be forgotten? Perhaps she's the one that has forgotten about all the things we've named after her son.

[ozonemania]

Originally Posted by mr.x

I thought it was pretty asinine of Betty Fox to say that her son, Terry, didn't receive enough representation at the Opening Ceremony and because of that he might be a forgotten memory. o_O

It's an opening ceremony, not a cancer rally. I believe she was the first Olympic flag carrier to be announced during the opening and they mentioned Terry when her name was announced...I thought that was quite appropriate.

I mean, I do have great respect for Terry but I think it's wrong to elevate him to a godly figure. And how the hell would he be forgotten? Perhaps she's the one that has forgotten about all the things we've named after her son.

In my mind, Terry Fox is firmly entrenched in the Canadian identity, with no real fear of being lost to our collective memory. His life, his achievments and his legacy to not only cancer research but as an inspiration to the World is larger than any Olympic cauldron that could ever be constructed.

Have no fear Betty Fox, we all love your son, he is alive and well in all our hearts.

[SpongeG]

no one can forget alex p keaton

[jsbertram]

Originally Posted by SpongeG

no one can forget alex p keaton

Have you been watching too much NBC?
They too mixed up Mike Fox (actor - alex keaton - quite alive & battling parkinsons) with Terry Fox (marathon of hope - died when cancer recurred during the marathon)

[SpongeG]

it was a joke hence the winky smiley

[whatnext]

I can't believe there haven't been any bets here on what performers will be at the closing ceremonies? Michael Buble? Diana Krall? Is Celine Dion just faking everyone out by claiming she won't be able to be here?

[mr.x]

I've heard that there will be a comedy bit with three comedians...not too excited about that, I'd rather have the entire show be an artistic act.


As for artists:
- Celine Dion
- Michael Buble
- Avril Lavigne
- Anne Murray
- no Nickleback please

[Locked In]

I've heard rumours that Neil Young will be involved ("Heart of Gold"...)

------

Closing ceremonies spoiler alert (for the Russian portion anyways):

Olympics: Russia reveals portions of the Games' closing ceremonies

By Vancouver Sun, Canwest News ServiceFebruary 27, 2010 11:25 AM


The Vancouver 2010 Winter Games' closing ceremonies will feature giant "Zorbs" -- huge snowcone-like spheres, and Olympic champions and icons from sport and culture.

The Russian Olympic delegation revealed Saturday that the Olympic flag handover portion of the ceremonies will feature an eight-minute segment about Sochi, Russia, the site of the next Winter Games.

"For the first ever in an Olympic handover ceremony, simultaneous celebrations from two cities – Sochi and Russia’s capital, Moscow – will appear virtually onto a central feature in the stadium, allowing Russia to meet Vancouver through innovation," the Sochi delegation said in a news release.

The audience inside BC Place will be asked to hold up their own small "zorbs".

"Around the world, the crowd will appear as twinkling red, white and blue spheres, representing the Russian colours, and demonstrating Sochi 2014’s commitment to the involvement of people from all cultures and backgrounds," the news release said.

“We have the opportunity to showcase Sochi, modern Russia and our passion for the Olympic Movement to the world,” said Dmitry Chernyshenko, president and CEO of Sochi 2014. “We want to be truly innovative and inspire the world.”
© copyright (c) CNS Olympics

Source: Vancouver Sun

[mr.x]

^ sounds like Russia spent tons of money on their 8-minute handover segment....and it sounds like they might also be the best part of the entire evening. o_O

[SpongeG]

they've spend tons of money here with its dome and delegation and set up in the bay etc

[whatnext]

VANOC was talking about "humour". That's not going to work well in a venue the size of BC Place. Whaddya bet its Mike Myers?

[Yume-sama]

Canadian humor is usually lost upon the majority of Canadians, let alone everyone else in the World.

PLEASE don't try to be funny. You can't be. Considering how PC, and clean, and sterile the IOC requires everything to be.