At 8pm on the 8th August 2008 the Beijing Olympic
Games opening ceremony began. The organisers hoped the lucky number 8 would
grant their Games with fortune and make it a success. If tonight's show was
anything to go by than they have little to worry about.
A fantastic spectacle was played out to 91,000 people inside
the Olympic stadium including top leaders from around the world. George Bush
and Hu Jintao were in attendance in the sweltering capital, the temperature
above 30°C despite it being night time. A reported TV audience of over 1 billion
tuned in to witness a truly historic event.
Directed by the same Zhang Yimou responsible for classics
such as House of Flying Daggers and To Live the quality excelled
from the outset. The ceremony exploded
into life as the dark stadium floor was suddenly bathed in light to reveal
thousands of drummers dressed traditionally in Confucian style garments
chanting Confucian wisdom. The
precision, unison and energy of the performance were astounding and continued
throughout. A particularly pertinent line meant "friends come from afar, how
happy we are."
Fireworks followed lighting up the Beijing night sky the
whole 6 miles from Tiananmen Square to the Bird's Nest, symbolising the
footprint theme of the ceremony. Over 20,000 fireworks were lit by 600 staff. When the path arrived at the stadium an
impressive feature of the stadium was showcased. Inside the ring of the roof a continuous
plasma screen spans the whole circumference, 14m in width. This was used to
great affect in parts and added to the mesmerising effect of the show.
Dancing, music, singing and performance art was used to
convey China's 5,000 years of rich history, each stage of the ceremony
representing a different period in history. Notable exclusions were the very
difficult times for the country during the 20th century; however
Yang Yimou recently explained the decision quite euphemistically. He said that
China's history is like a bucket and the ceremony could only represent a couple
of drops. Perhaps representing these difficult times would have taken away some
of the enthusiasm and optimism from the performance.
The stage for the performances was introduced by the roof
plasma screen as it showed a scroll being made. Then attention turned to the
floor as a gigantic scroll was rolled out across the floor of the Bird's nest.
Each performance was played out mainly on this scroll with the clouds of
promise' being painted on by artists while dancing in one striking stage of the
ceremony. Great Chinese inventions were also heavily involved in each stage,
the tribute to the moveable type being particularly impressive.
The message of unity was noticeable as the 56 nationalities
of China were represented at various stages throughout; stars from all
backgrounds were involved from everything to singing to flag carrying. The now
customary athlete's parade involved a massive 204 countries this year big
cheers for Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong and Iraq could be heard. Of course the
biggest roar was reserved for the entrance of the Chinese team led by Flag
bearer, Yao Ming. The 639 person strong team will be China's biggest contingent
at any games as they aim to finish top of the medal table.
The largest surprise of the night was left until the end
after all the athletes were in place and Hu Jintao had declared the games open.
The Olympic torch finished its 137,000km journey in spellbinding fashion. The
mystery of who was to do the final leg was revealed as the spotlight shone on 3
time Olympic gold medal winner LiNing in the centre of the Bird's Nest. In a
truly breathtaking moment the former gymnast was whisked up into the air so he
could run' along the circumference of the roof's massive plasma screens. As
they displayed the clouds of promise' once more the scale became visible. A
captivated audience watched as the destination of the flame was also finally
revealed. Covered until now, a colossal torch is attached to the roof of the
Bird's nest. The flames then shot up the fuse as Lining lit it and the torch
burst to life. The flames jumped high into the Beijing night sky as a whole
other barrage of fireworks went off.
16 more days that flame is set to burn for and if tonight
was anything to go by, then we may be set for the best ever Olympic games.
The opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics on 08.08.08 must be the 'greatest show' on planet earth. It was indeed a spectacular opening ceremony, and my congratulations to Zhang Yimou for directing this memorable and fantastic spectacle.
Hope the Olympics Games will be a peaceful and safe one.
I think ex-mayor Ken livingstone funnily summed it up by saying that the 2012 London Olympics can not compete with that! London 2012 may first time in global danger of being represented as a laughing stock and demising global power of the world. Some may say its Karma or just simply history changes and econ power shifts in cycles.
Yes the world is changing in uncertain ways, most of us all want a more peaceful safe world.
It's a shame that a lot of the spectacular fireworks were actually cgi, and that the little girl who sang was actually miming to another little girl's voice (the real singer having been deemed not pretty enough to be on view herself)...
Ruth, it seems that you are as brainwashed as the ethnic Brits and Americans are when it comes to views on China. What's the point of mentioning your point of shame? A lot of BBC's suffer from an inferiority complex whereby they see western and japanese culture as being superior.
Honestly, so what? It was a hell of a show, and 20 years from now I'll bet both girls involved will be proud of the role they played. I'm in the US and am so tired of the media trying to hype something that is really not even worth mentioning.
She's just a small kid. Which dimwit organiser of big events would let a small little girl sing live to a global audience?
And no one on the Chinese side says the 'real singer' is not pretty enough. No one says anything to that effect. Check out the radio interview - the one used by the media - of the musical designer on Youtube and hear him say (if you understand Chinese).
And what is wrong with 'selection'? You mean Chinese organisers should just simply pick any kid in the street without going through selection process?
At 8pm on the 8th August 2008 the Beijing Olympic
Games opening ceremony began. The organisers hoped the lucky number 8 would
grant their Games with fortune and make it a success. If tonight's show was
anything to go by than they have little to worry about.