10 February 2002
8 February – I have to stay up
to watch the opening ceremony of the Salt Lake City 2002 Olympics. According to the
TV guide, it starts at 2h35 on EuroSport and TVP1.
9 February – 0h15 –
Oh darn, Olympic Ski Jumping is supposed to be on EuroSport right now, but the
K90 was cancelled due to high winds in Utah. So, they’re reshowing the Zakopane
jumps from a few weeks ago. I like this one because it’s in Poland and a Pole
wins.
0h32 – They just showed Malysz’s win in Zakopane.
02h31 – 4 minutes and counting. I really hope that
they show it. If not, according to the TV guide, EuroSport will have an
abbreviated version of it on later today at 9h. Perhaps one of the German
channels will show it live.
02h41 – Nope..none of the them are showing it. What
a crock!! Time for bed after one more flip through the channels.
02h44 – OHHHH wait, I might have found it (when I
got back to TVP1). I wish I could find it on one of the English speaking
channels.
02h51 – On the German channel ARD they have two
reporters on location, but it doesn’t appear to have started yet.
On ARD, some hip-hop singer is singing something
that is not hip-hop. Sorry that I can’t be specific, but I didn’t understand
what the German commentators said, and I didn’t know the artist or song that
was being sung. Perhaps it’s some kind of pre-event thing.
02h56 – I heard the announcer say that the even will
begin in 4 minutes. I’ll switch back to TVP1 and watch it there, as there’s a
better (but still slim) chance of me understanding what is going on.
3h – On a Jumbotron, a camera is zeroing in on Salt
Lake City.
3h01 – Fireworks are going off.
3h03 – Ice skaters are bringing flags with the names
of places that have hosted the winter Olympics before. I’m back to the German
channel, as they’re not translating every single word that is said.
3h05 – The President of the ICO is making a speech.
I’m actually getting info from when they speak French, as the German channel
isn’t translating that part.
3h06 – Oh God! W is on! Now is a good time for a
terrorist attack.
3h07 – Now that flag that few at the WTC on 11 Sept
is being carried into the stadium. No comment. The crowd is silent and
standing, and have their hands over their hearts.
3h08 – The national anthem of the USA is being
performed by th4 Utah Symphony and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. I’ve always
loved the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.
3h11 – They did a great job.
3h11 – A different flag is being raised. It was
supposed to be the WTC flag. I’m glad that it wasn’t.
3h13 – More ice skaters are on (in costume). I
assume the whole thing will be ice skaters. It’s very nice, but I don’t think
it symbolizes anything.
3h15 – “None of life’s storms can darken like once
lit but he fire within.” A kid who they’re calling “child of light” is skating
around trying to fight off evil (the evil whatever they’re called are trying to
get him).
3h17 – Someone in red (I assume the devil) is now
trying to get the kid.
Personally, the kid theme reminds me too much of the
Sydney opening ceremony.
3h22 – The Olympic theme is being played now and the
athletes are coming in.
3h26 – I’ve just realized that I can’t understand the commentary because I’m still o the German channel. I’ve changed back to TVVP1 now.)
I can’t really understand anything on the Polish
channel either. Oh well
3h51 - I’m really tired!
I don’t feel that the Winter Olympics are as good as
the Summer Olympics because most of the warm weather countries are missing.
There are more than 100 more countries represented in the Summer Olympics.
4h13 – The Utah Symphony is playing Stars &
Stripes Forever.
4h14 – They skipped a verse of it!!!!
4h16 – Olympics or not, I’ve been up for a
LOOOOOOONG time, so it’s time for bed. I’ll catch EuroSport’s rebroadcast
later.
9h25 – Okay, I’m up. The Olympians have just started
entering the stadium. At least I can understand it in EuroSport.
9h36 – The EuroSport announcers said that they’re
official supporters of the Great Britain team.
Notes from the procession:
In my opinion, if it hadn’t been for the Jamaicans
in 1992, many of the Caribbean countries wouldn’t have even considered trying
anything for the Winter Olympics. The Jamaicans have paved the way and I’ll
always support their bobsled team.
According to the TV Guide, the Olympics start at
17h30 today
10h06 – The kid that was ice-skating earlier is just
walked over to a Native American thing going in the ceremony. They ripped the
child part and the native “occupant” part off from Sydney!
10h08 – An Eagle is flying in and landing in front
of the athletes. I wonder if it’s cold?
10h09 – The 5 Native American tribes are coming in,
one for each of the continents.
10h11 – The Native American tribal leaders are
welcoming the IOC members in their native languages.
10h12 – They’re beating drums, chanting and dancing
now.
This reminds me of the Native American festival I
went to in Philadelphia in 1999.
10h15 – The symphony and Choir are doing a number.
10h18 – Fireworks are going off around the stadium
while they’re playing.
10h19 – The President of the IOC and the SLCOC (Salt
Lake City organising committee).
The SLCOC president just said, “Is this a great show
or what? And how about that volunteer cast.” He didn’t need to brag about the
cast like that the Sydney cast was also a volunteer cast, and I assume that
most casts are. And no, it’s not a great show. It’s adequate. The Sydney opening
ceremony was MUCH MUCH better. This show is disappointing.
The IOC president said that the IOC stands united
with the people of the USA in their common ideals for world peace.
10h27 – Oh God! The IOC President just announced
that W will declare the games open. That should go to the mayor of SLC or even
the governor of Utah, not to W.
10h29 – The Olympic flag is arriving in the stadium
being carried by representatives of each of the 5 continents and the three
ideals of the Olympics (or something like that).
10h32 – The Olympic hymn is being played.
10h34 – Yo Yo Ma and Sting are doing a duet. This is
an odd combination.
10h38 – Skaters came in for a minute at the very end
carrying kites of seagulls.
10h39 – Jim Shea (a participant of Skeleton) is
taking the athlete’s pledge on behalf of all athletes. This is the first time
Allen Church is taking the oath of the Judges on behalf of all judges.
10h40 – The “child of light” is back, ushering in
skaters.
This segment is about the “Evolution of the child,”
and is about the progression of an Olympic athlete. It starts with that person
as a child, then follows their progression into adulthood and Olympic
participation, with Christie Yamagoochie (spelled incorrectly) playing the part
as the Olympian.
10h46 – The Olympic flame is being brought into the
stadium.
Peggy Fleming and Scott Hamilton are skating it onto
the ice.
They’ve handed it to Phil Mayer and Bill Johnson, two
former Olympic skiers.
They’ve handed it to Bonnie Blair and Dan Janssen,
two former Olympic skaters, who are skating it around the stadium again.
They’ve handed it to Jim Shea and his son Jimmy
Shea. The grandfather would have been there, but he died three weeks ago in a
car accident (they were three generations of Olympians
Picabo Street and Cammi Granata (I have no idea who
they are) are running it up to where the flame is to be lit. While they’re running, the symphony is
playing the Finale from Shosatkovich 5th Symphony, my favourite
work!!
10h51 – They’ve handed it to Mike Emzoine, a 1980
Olympian (he was the man who scored the winning goal on the 1980 USA Hockey
team in Lake Placid).
10h52 – Now, the rest of that team is coming out and
is going to light the flame. HOORAY. This I totally agree with!!! I remember it
fondly. That was what the Olympics were all about. It wasn’t about professional
athletes getting paid millions of dollars to participate (which is why I
boycott the USA Olympic basketball team), it was about a bunch of unknown 24
year olds wining a gold medal.
10h54 – Someone just lit the Olympic rings on fire
on the ice in the middle of the arena.
10h55 – Fireworks are going off, the symphony is
playing and the choir is singing.
10h59 – It was okay. It wasn’t good, just okay. You
cant even compare this to the Sydney Olympics opening ceremony, as the Sydney
one was SOOOOO much better.
EuroSport is in its “Olympics 24 hours a day until
the Olympics are finished” mode (except for the 6 ˝ hours when it’s off the
air) and is now going to review all of the past winter Olympics. This is in
place of the ski jumping that was cancelled last night. Where’s the TV guide?
11h15 – It appears that EuroSport is going to have
all of the Olympic events “relive” in the mornings. That means I might not have
to stay up all night. I probably still will as I like to see the events live,
and it’s also half the fun of the Olympics! I remember sacking out on the couch
a few nights for the Sydney Olympics.
1992 is the first Olympics EuroSport ever covered.
It was also the last time the USSR paraded together, and the first time
reunified Germany paraded together.
I just though of something...I didn’t notice if the
Koreas marched together under the special Olympic flag, like they did for the
Sydney Olympics or if South Korea was considered “Korea.” Luckily, I’ll be able
to watch it again to find out because EuroSport is showing it again at 13h.
12h31 – HAHAHAHAHA! One of the EuroSport just
pronounced Malysz’s last name as “Miles.” Not even close. That’s surprising as
usually the EuroSport commentators pronounce the names well.
13h41 – The “Korea” mentioned is using the South
Korean flag, so it must only be South Korea. They should be labelled “South
Korea” since there are two countries with that name.
17h30 – Conflict..I’ve been watching the African
Nations Cup (football) on EuroSport (Mali vs. Nigeria...the score is 0 - 1),
but now the Olympics are on TVP1. The Olympics are also on ARD, but they’re
showing cross-country skiing, something I have absolutely no interest in.
17h46 – TVP1 is reshowing the opening ceremony.
According to the TV guide, they should be showing events. ARD is now showing
football highlights. Back to the African Nations Cup I go.
18h – Olympic Ski Jumping is on ARD. Hooray!
Hmm..TVP1 is showing a part of the opening ceremony
that I didn’t see on EuroSport (Lee Ann Rimes singing). EuroSport must have cut
it out. I guess I’ll have to stay up all night for the closing ceremony and
watch it on TVP1 if I want to see all of it.
18h44 – I haven’t seen any of the big names in sky
jumping yet. I haven’t seen any Polish jumpers yet either!
18h50 – Round 1 is over and there weren’t any Polish
jumpers.
21h39 – Well, perhaps I wont get to see any Olympics
this evening. TVP2 is only showing highlights. For the summer Olympics they
showed entire events. ARD has more cross-country skiing (one of the presenters
is wearing a pink hat that looks like a pig). Back to EuroSport.
22h20 – Women’s Mogul skiing is on ARD. I guess ARD
will be my best source for the Olympics.
22h51 – Or perhaps not. They’re onto news now.
23h23 – Speed skating is on ARD.
23h41 – EuroSport is going to show Women’s Moguls
now, even though the medal has already been presented. Even thought they’re in
24 hour Olympic mode, they’re not showing anything live. Idiots. I’m going to
bed.
10 February – 9h –
Let’s try the Olympics again. EuroSport is showing Figure Skating Pairs Short.
First up is a brother and sister team from Slovakia.
They did it to the music from a Michael Jackson’s song (only music, now words),
the one from the Pepsi commercial (“I Am The One,” or something like that).
Next is a Russian pair. Their music was from a
movie, but I missed the name of it (it was classical). They did very well.
A couple from Uzbekistan is next and they did it to
a classical piece. They didn’t do well, but the man had a broken bone in his
foot, so all things considered, they did well.
A 2nd Russian couple is skating to
classical music now. A quite good performance.
A Chinese couple is performing now to some kind of
Chinese classical music (which ha western influences). They did very well and
came in 2nd place (so far).
Now we’re onto a Canadian couple, who are performing
to classical. I guess that classical is the way to go for this event. They did very well, but at the very end, as
they were doing the bow, they both fell! They came into 2nd place
Mariusz Siudek (29 years old) and Dorota Zagorska
(26 years old), a husband and wife team, ) are skating for Poland now!
Hooray! Why didn’t he tie his bowtie? He just fell and she stumbled. Oh well.
Their music was jazz. The commentator said that because of their ages, this
will be their last Olympics. The came in 5th place (so far).
A 3rd Russian couple is on now. They’re
skating to Tchaikovski’s Nutcracker.
Next is a couple from New Jersey, USA. Of carouse,
they got a lot of applause. The music
was “Shine On You Crazy Diamond” by Pink Floyd. They did well and came in 5th
place (the USA judge gave them some of the lowest marks of any of the judges).
According to the presenters, the couples get 33% in
this short program (each pair gets 2 minutes and 40 seconds) and 66% of their
marks in the free program in a couple of days.
Another USA couple from Newark, Delaware, are now
skating to Heartbreak Hotel. They didn’t do all that well
(she fell twice) and came in 8th place.
A Canadian couple is now skating to Spanish music.
They came in 9th place because she made 2 big mistakes and he made
1.
17h44 – Olympic ski jumping is on TVP1. According to
the TV guide, Malysz will jump in this round.
17h47 – I turned it on just in time for two of the
Polish team.
Tomasz Pochwala – 85 metres
Robert Mateja – 85.5 metres
17h48 – Cute. They showed someone holding a GO
POLAND sign in red and white (the flag colours).
17h50 – ARD is also showing it, but there’s a better
chance of me understanding it on TVP1. I’m quite familiar with Ski Jumping
words in Polish.
I have to go to the bathroom, but the minute I do,
he’ll jump and I’ll miss it.
17h56 – I’m seeing many of the big names in ski
jumping that I know.
17h58 – They’ve just shown about 6 people waving
Polish flags.
18h03 – There was a sign next to an American flag saying,
“Fly like a Malysz.”
18h04 – Alan Alborn (USA) – 91 metres
18h09 – They just showed Malysz getting ready. He’s
#60. It must go by World Cup rankings. They’re on #51 right now, so this means
I have time to use the bathroom.
18h18 – Malysz just jumped 98.5 metres, which put
him in 3rd place (he had a bit of a problem with the landing). He
got lot of cheers, so I guess American do watch ski jumping. I was told that
all they get is highlights.
18h51 – Round 2 has started. They’re using World Cup
rules for this...only the top 30 from the first jump go a 2nd time.
19h10 – Alan Alborn just jumped 93 metres and has
240 points, putting him in 4th place.
19h19 – Malysz 2nd jump – 98 metres 263
metres, so he’s in 1st place, with only two jumpers left!!
19h23 – He came in 3rd place. Both of the
jumpers after him got more points. A bronze medal is better than none.
12 February – 9h01 – EuroSport is now showing the
Pairs Figure Skating Free program (their long shows). The “free” programs are 4
˝ minutes.
9h47 – An American couple (John Zimmerman and Kyoko
Ina) just did a great program. Even the commentators said that they couldn’t
have done better and deserve a medal. She was born in Japan, but is a
naturalized American.
10h10 – The Polish couple (Mariusz Siudek and Dorota
Zagorska) for Poland now. They did much better today than on Sunday. He
is the Athlete’s Representative for Europe in the IOC.
10h19 – There was just an accident on the ice during
a warm-up. A Russian male skater crashed into a Canadian female skater. It was
shown live. No injuries, just a lot of shock.
10h46 – A Canadian couple just skated an almost
perfect program. The EuroSport presenters were saying that they’ve easily won
the gold, and the audience was chanting “6 6 6 6 6,” meaning for the judges to
give them 6’s (the highest score possible). The judges only gave then high
enough marks for 2nd place. The EuroSport presenters called it a
travesty and the crowd booed the judges.
10h54 – The Final results: Gold: Russia; Silver:
Russia; Bronze: China. The Americans came in 5th and the Poles came
in 7th. The EuroSport presenters went on to say (again) how the
Canadians were robbed.
22h20 – I’ve been watching 500 metre Speed Skating
since 22h, but it really doesn’t interest me, so I’m going to bed.
14 February – 9h40 –
Ski Jumping is on. It’s from yesterday and I already know the result, but I’m
watching it anyway. Adam Malysz is in 3rd place (1st jump
131 metres) by 2 ˝ points. A German and Swiss are tied for first. They’re the
ones who got the Gold and Silver a few days ago.
Mateja is the only other Pole in the 2nd
round (tied for 29th place) and he didn’t do well on the 2nd
jump.
10h09 – I just got out of the shower. There are 7
jumpers left in round 2.
10h15 – Malysz’s 2nd jump was 128 metres
and he has a total of 269.7 total points.
Amman, the Swiss guy just jumped 133 metres (281.4
points).
The German guy jumped 131 metres but fell on the
landing.
Gold – Switzerland
Silver – Poland
Bronze – Japan
15 February – I’m watching Figure Skating, the Men’s Free event. I already know how it ends (a Russian wins) as I saw the results on a sports program last night.
A Belgian just did fantastically.
Todd Eldridge (USA) is skating now. He really blew
it a few days ago during the short program when he fell twice. He’s retiring
after this season, so the presenter said that he’s now skating for pride as
he’s too far down for a medal. He’s skating to the soundtrack of “Lord of the
Rings.”
Elvis Stojko is now skating. He’s Canadian and I
know the name from past Olympics. He’s also retiring after this season. He’s
skating to the soundtrack from “The Bruce Lee Story.”
I’m beginning to see how
much the choice of music has on a performance. Stojko is doing well, but the
grandeur in Eldridge’s and Weiss’ music made their performances seem much
better.
Michael Weiss is skating
for the USA now. He’s skating to an operatic piece.
Ivan Dinev (Bulgaria) skated to a Bulgarian piece called “Two Worlds.” It was a very different sound than the previous pieces. The commentators said that the music probably would have gone over better in Europe. I liked it, but I think I agree with them.
10h51 – I just saw the
gold medal winning performance by Alexei Yagudin and I completely agree with the
decision. His performance was phenomenal. Everything, except one landing, was
impeccable. Everything looked so easy of him and he looked like he was having a
lot of fun doing his show. The music was “The Man In The Iron Mask.” He got all
5.9’s for Technical Merit. For Performance, he had four 6’s and five 5 5.9s.
Gold – Russia
Silver – Russia
Bronze – USA (timothy
Goebel).
Eldridge came in 5th
place.
22h43 – According to Sky
News, the Canadians who were ripped out of a gold medal on 13 Feb have been
awarded it. I missed a lot of what happened in the past few days, but it turned
into a big scandal, with it being thought that a backroom deal was made between
the French judge (that voted for the Russians) and the Russian judges. The
French judge has been suspended for misconduct and her vote was has been thrown
out. So, it turned out to be a split decision and the Russian couple has been
allowed to keep their gold medal also.
15h15 – Bobsledding is
supposed to be on now, but they’re showing team ski jumping instead. I don’t
watch team jumping as Malysz is hampered by the rest of the team. They’re
nowhere near as good as he is.
18
February – 2h13 – Bob Sledding highlights is on TVP1.
2h21 – Women’s Speed
Skating is on.
2h54 – Ice Dancing is on.
This is the first time
I’ve ever watched Ice Dancing. It’s pretty good. A lot of the teams choose to
do Spanish/Flamenco themes with their “free” dance.
24 Feb – According to the
TV guide, I’m watching speed skating on EuroSport right now. However, I’m not.
I think this is the Skating Exhibition as there are figure skaters and Timothy
Goebel is skating to Don McLean’s “American Pie.” I wanted to watch this when
it was live on 18 February, but was so busy last week I totally forgot about
it.
I’m going to try to get up
to watch the closing ceremony at 1h40.
Yep, it’s the exhibition.
The EuroSport presenters said it after the commercial.
An Italian couple is
skating now.
20h50 – Michelle Kwan is
skating to “Fields of Gold” now. Why is she so popular? When I watched figure
skating earlier this week, after her performance many roses were thrown onto
the ice for her.
20h54 – She did a great
job..great performance and very expressive. She has tears in her eyes.
The Canadian couple of
Sale/Pelletier, who were wronged at first, are skating. I’m still glad they got
their gold.
A Russian skater is
skating to Cotton Eyed Joe. Brenna, it’s a different version than we know, but
I still remember J
The Russian pairs gold
medallists are skating now. They did brilliant job!
21h34 – Alexei Yagudin, the men’s Olympic gold winner is skating now.
21h38 – A phenomenal and
flawless performance. The EuroSport presenters said that in the Men’s Free
performance, he got the best marks of any figure skater ever in the history of
the Olympics. I agree that they were well deserved.
21h40 – He’s doing an
encore now. Once again, everything looked perfect. The EuroSport presenters
even called him “The Ultimate.”
A French couple from the
Ice Dancing part of figure skating is skating now. They were gold medal
winners. I think I missed the beginning of this, but according to the TV guide,
EuroSport will show it again on Tuesday at 9h30, so I’ll be able to see what I
missed.
According to the EuroSport
presenters, tickets for this exhibition were $500 US.
21h54 – Sarah Hughes (gold
medal winner from the USA) skated in memory of the people who died in the
tragedies of last year. She’s 16 years old and is from New York (but I doubt
NYC).
21h58 – All the medal
winners are skating in a performance now. They were preceded by children
holding lanterns, similar to the Child of light at the beginning. This is
better than the gymnast performance at the summer Olympics. They said that this
was the final good buy for Michelle Quan, so I assume she’s retiring. They had
the Canadian & Russian gold medal couples winner skating together, I assume
as a sign of unity.
22h03 – It was great. I
should be in bed if I’m going to get up at 1h40 for the closing ceremony.
22h10 – I’m off to bed for
a bit.
25
February – 2h08 – The Olympics are on. Ice Hockey is on TVP1.
The closing ceremony is
supposed to be on sometime tonight, perhaps starting around 3h like the opening
one did?
Perhaps it’ll be on after.
I don’t really want to play the channel game like I did for the opening
ceremony.
2h15 – It’s tape delayed
because according to EuroNews, Canada won 5 – 2 over the USA. Good! The USA
deserved it for stacking their team with professional hockey players!
2h24 – I think it’ll be
soon as they just fast-forwarded to the end of the hockey game.
2h47 – It’s on. The
Athletes are coming in now, so the whole thing isn’t being shown.
2h49 I’m watching it on a
Polish channel, so of course they’re showing the Polish team.
3h06 – N Sync is singing
the National Anthem accapella.
3h09 – There are two electronic dragon fossils speaking. How idiotic.
3h11 – Diane Reese is singing and Kurt Browning is ice-skating.
The spellings of the names will probably be wrong as TVP1 isn’t showing the names of the performers on the screen.
3h14 – KISS (what an odd choice) is performing ‘I Wanna Rock And Roll All Night’ and Christie Yamagoochie & Katarina Vit are ice-skating.
I remember looking at the Olympics website and seeing that tickets for the opening and closing ceremonies were $885 US.
3h18 – Earth Wind & Fire (another odd choice) is performing a medley of their hits from years ago and kids are break dancing. Perhaps break dancing is supposed to be American?
3h21 – Gloria Estafan is singing a medley of her songs in English and Spanish. That’s very American. I love her music. Ice skaters carried her around part of the rink.
3h24 – Harry Conick Jr. is singing “Over the Rainbow” and Dorothy Hamil is ice skating. I figured Hamil would show up somewhere.
3h27 – A jazz band is playing while someone tap dances and someone else (I think he’s a former medal winner) ice skates.
3h32 – A Utah pop group called Eclipse is singing while people are dancing and ice-skating.
3h35 – Those two idiotic talking dinosaurs are back.
3h36 – The announcer said “Ladies and gentlemen, we’ll now take a minute to clean the ice,” and people came out with brooms to sweep, but one of them was really a great performer, even doing back flips on ice skates. The “child of light” from the opening ceremony is also back.
3h41 – The Olympic flag is being brought out, followed by the flags of each of the participating countries.
3h43 – They just showed the Polish flag, being carried by Mariusz Siudek again.
3h46 – The flags of the nations have been brought in and the Greek, Olympic and Italian flags are being raised (the Italian flag is being raised since they are the host of the next winter Olympics).
3h50 – Irene Grandi is singing Volare. TVP1 is now showing titles of whose singing.
3h53 – People are throwing flags back and forth. I’ve seen similar things, but I don’t remember where.
3h55 – Models are parading around in fancy dresses. They must be cold!
3h56 – Elisa (whoever that may be) is singing.
3h58 – They’re showing a few Olympics commercials on the Jumbotron.
4h – Once again, the idiotic dinosaur fossils are back.
4h03 – “We Are Family” is being sung by Donny & Marie Osmond.
The new members of the IOC Athletes’ commission are from Italy, Finland, and Norway. Not a good representation of the world. Where are the Asian and African representatives?
4h06 – The president of the SLC Olympic committee is speaking. He called these the best Olympics ever, as they always do. I don’t think so. The winter Olympics don’t hold a candle to the summer Olympics. He called the Olympians “Heroes of the entire world.” What a load of crap. athletes are not heroes. I see that that hasn’t changed in the USA. I thought that 11 September would have changed wording like that. I guess not.
4h08 – The IOC president is speaking.
4h10 – The Olympic games have been officially been declared closed.
4h12 – Willie Nelson is singing “Bridge Over Troubled Water.” He does not have the voice for this song.
4h16 – The Olympic flag is being lowered and will be carried out by 8 young people, five representing the five continents and three representing the Olympic ideals, Sport Culture and environment. They’re being led by the “child of light.” Laura Carp-Lewis is singing the Olympic Hymn.
4h23 – The “child of light” bid the athletes farewell.
4h24 – About a hundred “children of light” are singing “Happy Trails.”
4h26 – The “child of light” just handed his light to an Italian “child of light.”
4h27 – Huge white flags are being ice-skated around the rink.
4h28 – Oh cool! The flags are acting as a big screen and images from the games are being projected onto them.
4h31 – The Olympic prayer is being sang and ice-skated to before extinguishing the flame.
4h35 – The Olympic flame has just been extinguished.
4h37 – People are dancing around with huge pink, green & blue glow sticks.
4h39 – Now the have huge glow stick stick figures. This is pretty cool.
4h41 – Skaters are putting florescent colours on the ice while
4h44 – Christina Aguelara (spelt wrong) is singing. She must be really cold in that outfit! I haven’t heard much of her music, but what I have heard, I don’t really care for.
4h47 – The have been invited to, and are going down to, the stage around the ice.
4h48 – Moby and Angie Stone are performing. I’ve never heard of either of them.
While they’re singing, giant white beach ball type things are being hit around by the audience. That’s very American!
4h52 – HOORAY! Bon Jovi is singing “It’s My Life.” I love his music! He’s using a USA flag as a cape. You can’t have an American party without Bon Jovi!
4h56 – They’re showing aerial scenes of SLC and fireworks are going off in many parts of the city.
5h01 – Bon Jovi is singing “You Give Love A Bad Name.”
5h02 – They just showed a couple shots of the Polish team dancing.
There appears to be only one place where all the footage is coming from as TVP1 and ZDF (the German channel) are showing the exact same things at the exact same time.
5h05 – Moby is performing now. His song appears not to have intelligible words, but I think I like it.
5h06 – Several more shots of the Polish team! Somehow they must have ended up in a place right in front of the camera. They have really cool hats!
5h09 – So much for that. The party continues in SLC, but TVP1 has left it. ZDF is now showing cross-country skiing, so it’s time to go back to bed.
This opening ceremony was very different than Sydney’s. Sydney was about showing Australian pride and parading every famous Australian in front of the audience. This subtly showed the diversity of the USA and also had a lot of class. The Aussies may have had a (much) better opening ceremony, but SLC wins the closing ones.
As I had figured, I didn’t watch much of the Olympics as the winter ones don’t interest me that much. However, I’m glad I watched what I did.