Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony on NBC

By Ally Matteodo

The 21^st games of the Winter Olympiad began on Friday, February 12^th in Vancouver as the Opening Ceremony kicked things off.  Airing at 9:00 p.m. ET on NBC, this opening sequence earns the title Best TV Show of the Week.  Set at BC Place, one of the many venues at the Vancouver games, the ceremony was dedicated to Georgian Olympic athlete Nodar Kumaritashvili who died in a luge accident that same day.  Production director David Atkins began the event with shots of sweeping vistas and majestic mountains, which gave way to a snowboarder flying down the slopes as former Winter Olympics venues were named.  Following a rousing performance of “Oh Canada” by jazz phenomenon Nikki Yanofsky, the four First Nation’s chiefs from the surrounding Vancouver area entered the arena and gathered around four totem poles.  The arms of the poles levitated in welcome, and the aboriginals danced to usher in the athletes for the Parade of Nations.  The ceremony placed a strong emphasis on recognition of indigenous Canadian people.  After the entrance of the athletes, Canadians Nelly Furtado and Bryan Adams performed the tribute song “Bang the Drum,” written by Adams and producer Jim Vallance.  This cultural part of the opening ceremony was named “The Landscape of a Dream,” and its main aim was to pay homage to the eclectic Canadian geography and people.  “Hymns of the North” focused on the northern provinces of Canada close to the Arctic circle and featured a giant polar bear puppet towering above the performers on a simulated ice floe.  Sarah McLachlan performed her song “Ordinary Miracle” during the section devoted to Spring.  Next came “Rhythms of the Fall,” a nod to the fiddling customs of the Maritime Provinces and Quebec.  A fiddler dueled with his own shadow in the moon as red maple leaves shrouded the stage and the fiddling gave way to tap dancing.  “Who Has Seen the Wind” paid tribute to the vast Canadian prairies as a young man wheeled and whirled on fly wire.  Finally, the “Peaks of Endeavor” section focused upon the Canadian Rockies and western Canada as aerialists replicated going down an artificial mountain while hung from wires.  After opening remarks, entry of the Olympic flag, and the Olympic Oaths, Rick Hansen, a paraplegic athlete, brought the flame into BC Place and lit the torch of speed skater Catriona Le May Doan, who then lit the torch of basketball All-Star Steve Nash, who then lit up skier Nancy Greene’s torch, who finally lit hockey player Wayne Gretzky’s torch.  A cauldron rose from the floor, but due to a malfunction of the Olympic cauldron’s hydraulic system, only three of the four arms surfaced before they were lit.  Le May Doan’s assigned arm had malfunctioned, so she stood by as the other three athletes lit their respective cauldrons.  Following the illumination, red fireworks exploded outside of the stadium, and Gretzky left to light a second, outdoor cauldron near the Vancouver Convention Centre. 

A magical opening ceremony, this celebration of Canada’s rich geography and people were the perfect way to initiate the Olympic Games.  Indeed, the prevalence of totem poles and the different welcome greetings of the aboriginals at the outset of the spectacle worked to reflect the well-known friendliness and openness of the Canadian people.  Even though the Canadians did not hide their ambition for these games, they also enthusiastically welcomed all nations of the world in a warm, sportsmanlike manner.  This spirit of camaraderie and competition pervades all true Olympians; it is clear that true athletes feel they are competing against those they admire and respect as friends rather then seeking to defeat them as enemies.  The Winter Games are also much smaller then the Summer Olympic games, and David Atkins’ opening ceremony displayed this, as the performances reflected a more personal, solitary quest.  In the quiet moments of a young man running across the prairie or a skier plummeting down the slopes, we realize that the athlete’s journey really begins and ends within themselves.                          

Best TV Show of the Week

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