Vancouver 2010 Olympics Opening Ceremony
The Opening Ceremony for the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics made me feel quite proud yesterday. I thought it was a nice representation of the diversity in the landscape and peoples of our beautiful country.
It's time for Canada to shine!
(Photo courtesy of: NYDailyNews.com)
Some highlights for me:
- Nelly Furtado (Bryan Adams was cool too, but my eyes were mostly on Nelly. No offense, Bryan)
- Awesome digital effects (especially the breaking-ice-giving-way-to-orca-whales segment)
- Clever set design (loved the simple use of canvas and projection to create a 3D effect)
- Sarah McLachlan (she is the personification of everything angelic – beauty, voice, and…well, everything)
- Creative Olympic Torch-lighting (yes yes, it was blemished by a mechanical failure…blah, blah, blah. Big frickin’ deal. It seems that people always like to latch on to the little things that only slightly mar a show’s perfection and ignore the fantastic elements that make up the bulk of the show. Another recent example of this annoying habit was, of course, evident in the Opening Ceremony for the Beijing 2008 Summer Olympics a couple years ago – don’t even get me started on that one. I understand that it is the Olympics and when a country is placed on the international stage, perfection is expected and all that jazz. But people seriously need to pull out the giant rods that are stuck up their asses and recognize that an entire nation is pouring all of its heart and soul into welcoming the whole world – a dedication that should, at the very least, be fervidly applauded. As Maximus in the movie, Gladiator, would say, “Are you not entertained? Are you not entertained?! Is this not why you are here?” Yes? But nothing! Don’t give me any buts! You came here to be entertained and just admitted that you were. So shut the hell up and stop being a douchebag, nitpicking on the tiny details that pale in comparison to the obvious fact of how awesomely epic the show is! Okay, I’m done with this rant now)
- Respect for Nodar Kumaritashvili and the country of Georgia (it is moments like this that give us all hope that the world is capable of empathy and can stand up together as one)
- k.d. lang’s rendition of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” (she gave such an amazing performance that I am sure every note she sang resonated within all of us and kept vibrating our every heartstring for a long time afterward)
I was so moved by patriotic pride and k.d. lang’s singing of “Hallelujah” that I was inspired to write a little twist to the lyrics as a tribute to our national flag:
I’ve seen your flag on the marble arch
It’s not just crimson and starch
It’s a bold and it’s a spoken O Canada…
We are Canadian!
(Photo courtesy of: CTVOlympics.ca)
And now, let the Games begin!
