Opening Ceremonies
I am a volunteer cast member in the Opening and Closing Ceremonies for the Vancouver 2010 Olympics. Yes, it's totally cheesy, but being a part of the Opening Ceremony was wonderful, despite missing my chance at an international television debut. Here are some thoughts:
The lights. Wow! I don't usually get excited by things like fireworks or light shows, but it was so impressive seeing lights from 60,000 audience members lit up at once. Amazing. The lights that were part of the show itself were also really lovely. Watch a replay to check it out, if you can.
The athletes. I saw Peter Forsberg up close! Unfortunately, he wasn't very excited to be holding the Swedish flag. Amongst the members of Team USA I didn't know was Shaun White. Smiling but nowhere near as tall as I had anticipated. I also saw Steve Nash from 30 feet away, Wayne Gretzky from farther away than that, and Bobby Orr (although I didn't know it at the time...)
The rehearsals. We've had quite a few rehearsals, although nowhere near as many as the dancers and other performers. I think our group could have used a lot more practice to appear in sync and professional when walking or swaying to the music. But I guess mandated perfection is not a North American value in the same way it was at the Beijing Olympics.
Almost every rehearsal involves a catered meal and a snack. Sounds great, right? Meal and snack actually mean: a choice of mediocre chain store sandwiches with a granola bar, a green apple, and water from a corporate sponsor. A granola bar and a green apple. Every day, multiple times a day, for weeks on end. Granola bars and green apples. Green apples and granola bars.
The casts. In the Opening Ceremony there were a few different performance casts--ballet dancers (of whom some were pros), tappers and fiddlers (the stars were paid professionals), "builders"--manly-looking fellows with giant maple leaves, aerialists, and roller bladers. The non-performers are the placard bearers and athlete marshals (that's me). Everyone is friendly with each other, but we're friendliest with the tappers, fiddlers, and builders since we spent hours together in a holding tent.
The placard bearers have the fewest rehearsals, but a choice job--looking pretty for the international camera. They even have their own spacious dressing area in the stadium. Some of us wonder if we could have done a better job than some of those chosen for that role. We soothe our hurt pride by deciding we must be too old, too short, or too ugly to fit the image the show designers had in mind. This despite the fact that our men are often younger than those chosen (and fewer men auditioned than women), that we are taller than many and are on par with or better-looking than those who were chosen for the role.
The celebrities. We volunteers spent countless hours debating who we thought might be in the Opening Ceremony. We listed every famous Canadian singer we thought had potential--Celine (!), Michael Bublé (a local boy), Bryan Adams (a shoo-in), Nelly Furtado (she's from Vancouver Island, but is performing in concerts, so unsure about her...), kd lang (well-known in the States, but when was her last album released?), Nickelback (please, no!), Joni Mitchell (she's Canadian?!), Ann Murray (what does she sing? Teddy Bear Picnic?), Rufus Wainwright, Feist, Leonard Cohen (our hopes go up when we hear the piano refrains of Hallelujah in rehearsal). We were wrong on many accounts.
We also thought of potential flag bearers and torch bearers. I only knew two or three names my friend threw out. He was right about Rick Hansen (who?). Donald Sutherland! My young friend was excited to see him as he is "Kiefer's dad!" [sigh]
I keep picturing Bryan Adams and Nelly Furtado on stage and Stephen Harper as the tiny dot across the stadium. I had no idea where Joe Biden might be sitting and I don't recall seeing him on the screens. I heard the guy who plays Finn on Glee was there, but didn't make the screens, either.
The entire atmosphere and the effects seen from within the stadium. The energy from the audience was really vibrant and enthusiastic--everything you could hope for. Except for the dignitaries. Very few looked to be glad to be at the event. Stephen Harper seemed bored during every closeup he received on TV (Can't you fake it for us? This is your country. These are your Games. Good grief, man.).
That's all for Part I.
The lights. Wow! I don't usually get excited by things like fireworks or light shows, but it was so impressive seeing lights from 60,000 audience members lit up at once. Amazing. The lights that were part of the show itself were also really lovely. Watch a replay to check it out, if you can.
The athletes. I saw Peter Forsberg up close! Unfortunately, he wasn't very excited to be holding the Swedish flag. Amongst the members of Team USA I didn't know was Shaun White. Smiling but nowhere near as tall as I had anticipated. I also saw Steve Nash from 30 feet away, Wayne Gretzky from farther away than that, and Bobby Orr (although I didn't know it at the time...)
The rehearsals. We've had quite a few rehearsals, although nowhere near as many as the dancers and other performers. I think our group could have used a lot more practice to appear in sync and professional when walking or swaying to the music. But I guess mandated perfection is not a North American value in the same way it was at the Beijing Olympics.
Almost every rehearsal involves a catered meal and a snack. Sounds great, right? Meal and snack actually mean: a choice of mediocre chain store sandwiches with a granola bar, a green apple, and water from a corporate sponsor. A granola bar and a green apple. Every day, multiple times a day, for weeks on end. Granola bars and green apples. Green apples and granola bars.
The casts. In the Opening Ceremony there were a few different performance casts--ballet dancers (of whom some were pros), tappers and fiddlers (the stars were paid professionals), "builders"--manly-looking fellows with giant maple leaves, aerialists, and roller bladers. The non-performers are the placard bearers and athlete marshals (that's me). Everyone is friendly with each other, but we're friendliest with the tappers, fiddlers, and builders since we spent hours together in a holding tent.
The placard bearers have the fewest rehearsals, but a choice job--looking pretty for the international camera. They even have their own spacious dressing area in the stadium. Some of us wonder if we could have done a better job than some of those chosen for that role. We soothe our hurt pride by deciding we must be too old, too short, or too ugly to fit the image the show designers had in mind. This despite the fact that our men are often younger than those chosen (and fewer men auditioned than women), that we are taller than many and are on par with or better-looking than those who were chosen for the role.
The celebrities. We volunteers spent countless hours debating who we thought might be in the Opening Ceremony. We listed every famous Canadian singer we thought had potential--Celine (!), Michael Bublé (a local boy), Bryan Adams (a shoo-in), Nelly Furtado (she's from Vancouver Island, but is performing in concerts, so unsure about her...), kd lang (well-known in the States, but when was her last album released?), Nickelback (please, no!), Joni Mitchell (she's Canadian?!), Ann Murray (what does she sing? Teddy Bear Picnic?), Rufus Wainwright, Feist, Leonard Cohen (our hopes go up when we hear the piano refrains of Hallelujah in rehearsal). We were wrong on many accounts.
We also thought of potential flag bearers and torch bearers. I only knew two or three names my friend threw out. He was right about Rick Hansen (who?). Donald Sutherland! My young friend was excited to see him as he is "Kiefer's dad!" [sigh]
I keep picturing Bryan Adams and Nelly Furtado on stage and Stephen Harper as the tiny dot across the stadium. I had no idea where Joe Biden might be sitting and I don't recall seeing him on the screens. I heard the guy who plays Finn on Glee was there, but didn't make the screens, either.
The entire atmosphere and the effects seen from within the stadium. The energy from the audience was really vibrant and enthusiastic--everything you could hope for. Except for the dignitaries. Very few looked to be glad to be at the event. Stephen Harper seemed bored during every closeup he received on TV (Can't you fake it for us? This is your country. These are your Games. Good grief, man.).
That's all for Part I.
We totally looked for you but didn't see you... Maybe in the closing ceremonies? You're right though, the ceremonies were very cool. Steal me a cool souvenier!
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