Relive the entire Calgary 1988 Opening Ceremony on YouTube

[mr.x]

The entire ABC broadcast of the 15th Olympic Winter Games in Calgary 1988...I just watched the whole thing, and I've gotta say it was pretty moving (even though it does scream of the '80s and the whole thing was a Alberta ho-down). It's really worth watching.

The ceremonies in 2010 will only be 10x better...


Hosted appropriately by the late Peter Jennings, a Canadian, and Jim Mckay. Mind the commercials.


I thought it was interesting that the British anthem God Save The Queen was played as the Vice Regal Salute for the entrance of the late Governor General Sauve. The first six bars of God Save The Queen are played immediately followed by the first four bars of O Canada.

As well, the national anthem was sung in First Nations first and then in English and French.



Part 1: ABC pre-show
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Part 2: ABC pre-show
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Part 3: ABC pre-show
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Part 4: ABC pre-show (Coca Cola "Can You Feel It?" theme song and David Foster interview), interview with Prime Minister Mulroney
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Part 5: ABC pre-show (coverage preview)
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Part 6: ABC pre-show (coverage preview), Opening Ceremony begins
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Part 7: Opening Ceremony begins, First Nations Welcome
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Part 8: Opening Ceremony - welcome song, Dinosaurs, balloon release
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Part 9: Opening Ceremony - Entrance of Governor General Sauve with RCMP horseback escort
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Part 10: Opening Ceremony - Entrance of Governor General Sauve with RCMP horseback escort, IOC President Juan Antonio Sammaranch, Vice Regal Salute, RCMP Musical Ride
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Part 11: Opening Ceremony - Parade of Nations
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Part 12: Opening Ceremony - Parade of Nations
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Part 13: Opening Ceremony - Parade of Nations (Jamaican bobsled team enters!)
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Part 14: Opening Ceremony - Parade of Nations
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Part 15: Opening Ceremony - Parade of Nations
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Part 16: Opening Ceremony - Parade of Nations (CANADA ENTERS!)
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Part 17: Opening Ceremony - Parade of Nations, Colloqual Dancers
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Part 18: Opening Ceremony - Colloqual Dancers, Alberta Bound, Gordon Lightfoot
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Part 19: Opening Ceremony - Official Speeches by Calgary Olympic Organizing Committee President and the IOC President
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Part 20: Opening Ceremony - Official Speech by IOC President Juan Antonio Sammaranch, Governor General Sauve declares the Calgary Games open, 1056 children forming shapes
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Part 21: Opening Ceremony - 1,056 children forming shapes and symbols
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Part 22: Opening Ceremony - 1,056 children forming shapes and symbols, ENTRANCE of the Olympic Flag and the Olympic Hymn
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Part 23: Opening Ceremony - Olympic Hymn, Winter Guard
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Part 24: Opening Ceremony - Winter Guard, Oslo flag and the passing of the flag from the Mayor of Sarajevo (1984) to the Mayor of Calgary Ralph Klein
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Part 25: Opening Ceremony - Passing of the Oslo flag to Calgary, TORCH RELAY
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Part 26: Opening Ceremony - TORCH RELAY, LIGHTING OF THE CAULDRON, Snowbirds flyover
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Part 27: Opening Ceremony - Cirque du Soleil, Alberta Ballet
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Part 28: Opening Ceremony - Cirque du Soleil, Alberta Ballet, Official Oaths
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Part 29: Opening Ceremony - Official Oaths, NATIONAL ANTHEM IN FIRST NATIONS TONGUE immediately followed by the NATIONAL ANTHEM IN ENGLISH AND FRENCH
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Part 30: Opening Ceremony - NATIONAL ANTHEM IN ENGLISH AND FRENCH
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Part 31: Opening Ceremony - Square Dancing
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Part 32: Opening Ceremony - Can You Feel It? Conclusion.
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[SpongeG]

you only ever just saw it on youtube?

I remember it on TV

my old neightbour was in the opening ceremony or was it the closing she was a figure skater I remember seeing her on TV

[raggedy13]

Thanks for posting that mr.x. I had never seen the whole thing before, or maybe I have but I would've been too young to remember or care about it. Gets me excited for our opening ceremonies. The two should be very different. I found it weird how they had the opening ceremonies while there were already events going on (at the end they mention the score in a hockey game). Makes a whole lot more sense to have it as a big celebration before any events take place so that all the athletes can take part in it. I also prefer the concept of having it during the night so you can use cool lighting effects. But with all that said I think Calgary did great. I found it interesting how heavily "western" it was with the horses and cowboys and square dancing etc. I can't help but feel that ours will be more representational of Canada as a whole, for better or for worse.

[SpongeG]

all games have events before the opening ceremony

i think in beijing they had events two days before the ceremonies

[NetMapel]

Wow Calgary certainly played up the whole cowboy/wild wild west thing. To be honest, I'm a little bit surprised by that. I didn't think Calgary is THAT into that kind of "life style" ? Nice opening though, I like how they gave everybody colour-ed poncho so the seats will make up the Olympic ring symbol.

[Yume-sama]

Originally Posted by NetMapel

Wow Calgary certainly played up the whole cowboy/wild wild west thing. To be honest, I'm a little bit surprised by that. I didn't think Calgary is THAT into that kind of "life style" ? Nice opening though, I like how they gave everybody colour-ed poncho so the seats will make up the Olympic ring symbol.

It may have been more relevant 22 years ago when there actually were some farms around the city. Not so much, now. Short of the cowboys who are at the rodeo during the Calgary Stampede I think it's probably safe to say that 99.8% of the people in attendance have never even been to a farm. The whole faux cowboy thing has annoyed me for awhile, to be honest.

But then again, I'm sure Vancouver will overdo the Native aspect of it. And how many of us actually find that relevant to our lives in Vancouver.

[ue]

Why is this here? Shouldn't this be in SSP Local: Calgary? I would think so! This has little reference to Vancouver.

If you don't mind, could you at least repost in Calgary.

[raggedy13]

It is relevant because Vancouver will soon be holding its own Olympic opening ceremonies in 9 months. This is a good way to see how a Canadian city has approached theirs in the past as well as get us excited for our own. It is an interesting thing to watch and discuss at this point in our civic history as you might imagine.

If you would like this reposted in SSP: Local Calgary you are quite welcome to do so yourself if you see fit. You can just quote mr.x's original post and make a new thread with it for Calgary. Just make sure you credit mr.x's efforts. If mr.x is feeling generous perhaps he will do it for you.

This thread topic is entirely relevant to the subforum it was posted in so this particular thread will not be moved or altered in any way.

[ue]

^Yeah, there is some relevance, I said there was little. Despite you guys getting the 2010 olympics, it has little to do with Van. It's like posting articles on Beijing, Athens, Turin, Sydney, etc. If you have enough interest you can go to it in a Calgary forum.

This is much more of a Calgary thing and therefore is very off topic here. There was another thread on the NHL about Hamilton and Phoenix - seriously, why was that here? I'm sorry. It's understandable if there's one in the proper forum and one here (liek there was witth the NHL thing) but this is the only thread.

The only reason why I aksed mr.x was because i dont know how to embed but I guess I could quote it.