The day is finally here! The day we have been waiting for.
However, the terribly tragic news of the death of the Luge athlete from Georgia, Nodar Kumaritashvili , as well as the news that protesters had marred the Torch Relay celebrations for some children and some veterans by placing barriers along the route definitely cast a shadow on our excitement.
At the anointed time we curled up on our couch before the TV to see the Opening Ceremony with eagerness. I loved the opening shot of the snowboarder skiing through the maple leaf! The tears started to well at that point. It was so interesting to see BC Place decorated in a way that it was almost unrecognizable.
I know that some Canadians were almost offended with the modern take on our National Anthem, but I didn’t hate it. The 16 year old singer most certainly had a fabulous voice, but the new arrangement of our anthem didn’t give me any goose-bumps. I guess I will have to wait until Canada gets to the podium, to hear the anthem in a familiar way that I know will send shivers down my spine and tears down my face.
Mark and I had to smile when we heard that the native VIPs were late and did not show up to the VIP box on time. That is just a quality of our native friends that we have learned to accept.
We also really enjoyed the Four Nations greeting with the totems raising their hands in greeting. It was nice to see younger natives being able to greet in their language because all native languages are in danger of dying out. The Tseil-Wathuth native was dressed in the wolf’s hide as their tribe is known as “Takaya” or people of the wolf. We were also impressed with how long they danced while the athletes were entering the stadium. It was nice that the athletes were able to see the show and not have to wait until the end.
When the Austrian team walked into BC Place, I startled Mark and Emma by shouting “WhoooooHooo” even before the team was announced. They recovered quickly after the realized why I had begun yelling. I quite liked Austria’s uniforms and thought that they looked modern, but still had the old world “Trachten” feel.
I also thought that France was very stylish and liked the way that the colours of their flag were demurely placed on the sides of their jackets. Most unusual for the French to be demure!
It was extremely moving to see Georgia walk in. How torn those people must be. How courageous of them to participate despite the death of their comrade mere hours before.
I am so sorry to have to say that I found the colours of Germany’s uniforms to be a little unusual. To me, the blue or pink and bright yellow did not represent the Germany I know.
On the other hand, I liked the fact that Great Britain had their umbrella. They have a very similar climate to Vancouver, so they were very smart to bring their umbrellas. They will need them.
There was a nice story about India’s team. The Indo-Canadian community in Vancouver upon discovering that Team India did not have any money to purchase matching outfits supported the money-poor team by buying uniforms and providing spending money. I found that very touching.
At about the time that Italy walked in, we decided to change TV stations from CTV, a Canadian TV station, to NBC, an American TV station. We found that watching the ceremony on CTV we could not hear the crowds in the background and the ceremony lacked energy. While watching the ceremony on CTV I was actually beginning to feel embarrassed, thinking that the Canadian spectators were not cheering any of the teams on. Mark thought that the spectators were unable to clap because they had to wear ponchos and that might have restricted their ability to clap. Our perspective changed as soon as we changed the TV channel and heard the roar of the crowd in the background. We normally don’t like to watch American TV coverage on events like this because of the huge emphasis solely on Americans. At this point I felt even sadder that CBC, the public TV station of Canada, was out-bid by CTV to cover the Olympics. I know CBC would have done a much, much better job.
Other outfits of note were those of Poland, which I liked. The outfits of Russia paid homage to their heritage, but I am not sure that many of the men were happy to have to wear something that had such a flamboyant flair. But maybe I am wrong and they were extremely happy to wear them.
Finally Team Canada walked in!! I can only describe their outfits as “Hoser- Chic”. Not fashion forward, but on the other hand, you would not be surprised to see a Canadian wearing that exact outfit on the street. At least the outfits were honest to our identity, if not super fashionable.
We all thought that the song sung by Nelly Furtado and Bryan Adams was really good and everyone looked like they were enjoying it.
In the next part of the show, we really like the energy pattern emanating from the floor, the aurora borealis effect and how the floor was made to look like ice cracking. The Spirit Bear was really cool, but I couldn’t help thinking that it looked like a polar bear and that any minute it was going to pick up a coke and drink it, just like in the Christmas Coke commercials. We all LOVED the effect of the Killer Whales swimming across the floor!
Other highlights of the ceremony for us include the cool effect of the totem poles turning into the sacred grove as well as the singing of Sarah Maclaughlin and K.D. Lang, who was as usual in her bare feet. We also liked the bands of energy that were meant to look like the city in motion. The poet who described Canada was really good too. We liked how he defined Canada with phrases such as please and thank you, we say zed not zee and how Canada is all the ways you choose to live.
I felt that John Furlong’s speech was very good and the tribute to the Luge athlete, Nodar Kumaritashvili, with a moment of silence was very fitting.
I also approved of the flag bearers of the Olympic flag. I felt the choices of Betty Fox, the mother of Terry Fox, Hockey great Bobby Orr, singer Anne Murray, racecar driver Jacques Villeneuve, gold medallist figure skater Barbara Ann Scott, Sen. Romeo Dallaire, astronaut Julie Payette and Emmy Award-winning actor Donald Sutherland were good ones.
With the final lighting of the torch, I was really happy to see Rick Hansen in his wheelchair with the torch once again, because he has done so much for so many people and he deserves the acknowledgement.
I also felt that the choice to have Catriona Le May Doan, Steve Nash , Nancy Greene and Wayne Gretzy all light the torch inside at the same time was a good one. But it was hard to watch the four try to be patient while waiting for the technical problem to be solved.
Ah, but I wonder if the trouble that was had at the very beginning of the torch relay was a foreshadowing of this? I remember when the flame was first brought to Victoria from Greece and it took a very long time for the Olympic flame to light the torch that would symbolize the start of the Torch Relay.
I am a little disappointed that the ceremony wasn’t perfect with the technical glitch, but in true Canadian fashion I think that life is not perfect and we have to move on. On the bright side, I really liked the design of the torch especially seeing the identical one that Wayne Gretzy lit up outside.
All in all it was a big day and now it is time to lay my head down.
