Spectacular opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics that started Feb 12th 2010
Yesterday, at 6pm Pacific time, the Opening Ceremony started with the singing of the National Anthem of Canada in front of 60,000 people at the indoor stadium, and millions watching on t.v.
The opening ceremony for the 2010 Winter Olympics began on a somber note Friday night as members of the delegation from Georgia mourned the loss of one of their fellow athletes, who died earlier in the day, in an accident at the Luge site where he was practicing for his event.
The seven-athlete delegation, wearing black armbands for 21 year old Nodar Kumaritashvili, entered the stadium to a standing ovation.
"The whole Olympic family is struck by this tragedy, which clearly casts a shadow over these Games," International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge said.
The ceremony then went on to lively performances from Canada's indigenous people, who danced throughout the lengthy introductions of the delegations from the 82 competing nations.
A high-flying snowboarder opened the ceremonies by jumping through a giant set of Olympic rings, prompting roars from the crowd inside the domed stadium -- a first for a Winter Games.
The crowd erupted when Canadian speed skater Clara Hughes, carrying the Canadian flag, led her team into the arena. The Canadians hope to top the medal tally at these games, and count on winning gold in both men's and women's hockey, the country's favorite sport.
After a tribute to the athletes, sung by Canadians Bryan Adams and Nelly Furtado, the ceremony turned into a technological spectacle celebrating the country's diversity and natural beauty. More than 100 screens around the stadium projected video and images to turn the venue into a re-creation of Canada's constellations, oceans, rivers and forests.
Singer-songwriter Sarah McLachlan, a British Columbia resident, sang as members of the Alberta Ballet danced among holographic images of the huge trees of an old growth forest.
There was a mechanical glitch when four Canadian sports legends tried to light the Olympic cauldron. Hockey legend Wayne Gretzky, speed skating hero Catriona LeMay Doan, NBA star Steve Nash and alpine ski star Nancy Greene each were supposed to light one beam of the structure and then watch the flames rise to meet in the cauldron. But one beam failed to emerge from the floor of BC Place, the first indoor arena to host the opening ceremony.
A second cauldron, near Coal Harbour, was lit because the indoor caldron was too hot for a closed arena.
It is going to be exciting to see which countries win those medals. Keep reading my posts for the latest!!
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