Tonight (February 12th, 2010) marked the opening of the 2010 Olympic Winter Games. I was with friends watching the opening ceremonies and I thought I’d jot some notes down while the experience is still fresh in my mind.
First off, I was deeply moved by the tragic death of Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili. Nodar died this morning during a training run at the Whistler Sliding Centre where he lost control in the final turn of the course and left the track, striking a support beam. I felt that VANOC and the IOC handled the situation appropriately. They didn’t turn it into something over-produced or sappy or tried to get any ‘mileage’ out of it. The flags at half-staff and the moment of silence as well as the standing ovation for the Georgian team made me get a little teary-eyed.
While I understood the reasons for the welcome by the First Nations, it wasn’t really my “thing”. The costumes were phenomenal and the sentiment was heartfelt. 6.5 out of 10
The rendition of the national anthem was, in a word, brutal. Unlike the American national anthem, the Canadian anthem is very difficult to alter and still keep it singable. The R&B/Christmasy/whaever version performed was impossible to sing along with. While I thought Nikki Yanofsky had a beautiful voice, it wasn’t enough to help the performance. 2 out of 10
I liked the Bryan Adams & Nelly Furtado performance. It had some energy and sounded good. 7 out of 10
I thought the inclusion of four the aboriginal first-nations and the sequences were interesting but not thrilling, and I’m not sure I fully ‘got’ a lot of the sequences. When the announcer said “use your imagination”, my immediate retort was “in other words, we couldn’t come up with anything decent so you’re on your own to fill in the blanks”. Sorry, but that’s what I felt. Some great visuals, though and Donald Sutherland narrating. 4.5 out of 10
Sarah McLachlan did a wonderful rendition of “Ordinary Miracle”, but I must admit, I adore her music so I am biased. 9.5 out of 10
The “Rhythms of the Fall” section had great visuals and great music, but I could definitely see where non-Canadians would wonder what the hell it was all about. I think it was a little bit too esoteric-Canadian and maybe not as accessible as other parts of the show. 6 out of 10
The most interesting thing I thought was the poem, We Are More (by Shane Koyczan) was fantastic. Call me strange, but I think it could replace the I Am Canadian rant. 9 out of 10
Most people who know me will find this hard to believe, but I actually liked John Furlong’s opening remarks. While the delivery was a little stiff (and the French atrocious) I thought the speech was well thought out, heartfelt, and inspiring to a good degree. While it was a little long, it didn’t feel long-winded. 7 out of 10
K.D. Lang’s rendition of Leonard Cohen‘s “Halleluja” absolutely blew me away. I am not a K.D. Lang fan, but I have always respected her as an artist. Her performance was so powerful and honest that I sat there stunned after it ended. 10 out of 10
With the entry of the Olympic flag, I thought the choice of flag-bearers was good, although I was disappointed that Betty Fox was not involved in the cauldron-lighting ceremony.
Finally, I thought VANOC chickened out with the cauldron-lighting. While all of the individuals involved were probably worthy, I think having all five light it (despite the hydraulic failures) was taking the easy way out trying not to offend anyone. I was a little surprised to see Gretzky light the outdoor cauldron by himself, however. I’m not going to debate the pros and cons of the cauldron lighting in this post, however.
Overall, I’d give the ceremony a 5 out of 10. Now that its out of the way, time to see how the athletes do.