What we know about the Feb. 12 opening ceremony of the 2010 Winter Olympics at Vancouver's B.C. Place Stadium:
Bryan Adams performed a duet with Nelly Furtado at the Feb. 10 dress rehearsal. On Feb. 6, a recording of Adams and Furtado was played repeatedly inside B.C. Place Stadium. The chorus was “sing something louder so the whole world can hear.” The piece included aboriginal chanting and drumming.
Adams will perform a private show for attendees of Molson Canadian Hockey House after the ceremony.
K.D. Lang and Sarah McLachlan performed solo pieces at the Feb. 10 rehearsal.
Members of the Four Host First Nations offered a welcome greeting. Performers on the white floor were dressed in white, but there were cheerleaders in the grandstands to assist with the audience participation elements. Everyone in the audience will get a bag of props and goodies. The cheerleaders were dressed in red toques, white sweaters, grey pants or slacks and white footwear.
Hudson’s Bay Co. provided the apparel.
Greece will march in first, Canada last. U.S.A. is third to last. Taiwan will be called Chinese Taipei, as usual at Olympics.
Gov. Gen. Michaelle Jean will formally declare the Games open. United States vice-president Joe Biden will be among the VIPs.
VANOC CEO John Furlong and IOC president Jacques Rogge will speak to the audience.
Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson will carry the Olympic flag.
A giant Olympic flag will be carried by eight people. Will they be eight great Canadians? Will Betty Fox, Terry’s mom, be among them?
A snowboarder flew through the Olympic rings at the rehearsal. A performer who did this stunt was injured during a rehearsal more than a week ago.
A pit for the cauldron was dug in the centre of the floor of the stadium in May 2009. This was among the wish list submitted by executive producer David Atkins to VANOC, which provided another $8.3 million for the production at a May 20 board meeting. The expenditure, but not the details, was disclosed on June 16 by VANOC. Click here to see a photo of the construction site in May and a link to the David Atkins Enterprises report that outlined what the production required.
The cauldron may not burn inside for all 17 days. An outdoor cauldron has been erected to the immediate west of the Vancouver Convention Centre, the international broadcast centre, and is hidden from ground view. The location is called Jack Poole Plaza, dedicated Oct. 2 to the founding VANOC chairman. Poole died in a Vancouver hospital three weeks later after a lengthy battle with pancreatic cancer. He passed just hours after the Olympic flame was lit in Ancient Olympia, Greece.
VANOC CEO John Furlong told Global National on Feb. 11 that Wayne Gretzky would not light the Olympic cauldron.
The Government of Canada is paying $20 million for the ceremony and $25 million for the torch relay. Therefore, the Oct. 2006 brainstorming document released via Access to Information could provide a clue. In that document, it was recommended that an aboriginal athlete light the cauldron, just like at Sydney 2000 where Cathy Freeman did the deed.
Could twin cross-country skiers/ex-Olympians Sharon Firth and Shirley Firth-Larson from the Northwest Territories do the honour at the climax of the Vancouver opening ceremony?
The ceremony begins at 6 p.m. PST. The cauldron-lighting will come in the third hour.
Showing posts with label Jacques Rogge. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jacques Rogge. Show all posts
Friday, February 12, 2010
Thursday, February 11, 2010
IOC at the QET
The most exclusive event in the Olympic city on Feb. 9 was the opening ceremony of the International Olympic Committee's 122nd session at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre.
The cultural component, a Canadian Welcome, included the Aliqua women’s vocal group performing the Olympic anthem, Langley Ukelele Ensemble doing What a Wonderful World, Circus West acrobats and Marianas Trench, a pop-punk band that had some IOC members bobbing their heads, but a few plugging their ears. Unfortunately the show relied on lip-synching and performers were not introduced before or after their number.
Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson and B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell offered the opening remarks of the Patrick Roberge-produced event.
Sponsors and government partners and VANOC executives joined the IOC at the Queen E. Canadian Olympic Committee president Mike Chambers, VANOC CEO John Furlong and IOC president Jacques Rogge all spoke. Furlong was given an immediate standing ovation by most of the crowd. Many in the IOC section in the centre orchestra seating were slow to get up or didn't bother. Rogge remarked that Furlong had a standing ovation and the Games had not even begun.
Afterward, the adjacent Four Host First Nations’ Chiefs’ House was used for overflow where Canada's Gov. Gen. Michaelle Jean held court.
Among those spotted at the post-event reception were Vancouver Olympic Village developers Shahram Malekyazdi and Peter Malek, B.C. finance minister and former Olympics minister Colin Hansen, B.C. Pavilion Corporation chairman David Podmore, Canadian Olympic team Dr. Bob McCormack, former Canadian Olympic Committee vice-president Bob Hindmarch, Prince of Orange of Netherlands, International Triathlon Union founder Les McDonald, Easton sporting goods’ founder Jim Easton, Arthur Griffiths and Francesco Aquilini. Charmaine Crooks, the 1984 silver medal sprinter, introduced me to Prince Albert of Monaco, who is officially known as the Serene Highness. It's not false advertising. A pleasant, serene fella you'd never guess is an aristocrat or former Olympic bobsledder. We chatted about the famed St. Moritz track in Switzerland that I visited in November and he actually took a run on last month.
Griffiths is the ex-owner of the Vancouver Canucks and General Motors Place who led the domestic bid for the 2010 Games that beat out Calgary and Quebec City in 1998. Aquilini bought half of the Vancouver Canucks and General Motors Place from John McCaw in 2005 and gained the rest in a subsequent transaction.
Also spotted was Vic Poleschuk, who was fired in 2007 from the presidency of the B.C. Lottery Corporation after the B.C. Ombudsman issued a report highly critical of the Crown corporation for lax security, including lottery wins by retailers. BCLC is a Vancouver 2010 sponsor, but the deal it made with VANOC won't let it offer odds on Olympic hockey games. So anyone who really feels the need to gamble on the Games will place a bet on websites that are technically illegal under Canada's Criminal Code. Good job, VANOC.
The IOC members were whisked back to the Westin Bayshore Hotel via two Cherrey Motor Coaches from Drayton, Ont. and a Brewster bus from Banff, Alta. The Brewster bus idled for several minutes outside the civic theatre.
IOC members got down to business Feb. 10 at the Bayshore and chose Nanjing, China over Poznan, Poland 47 votes to 42 to host the 2014 Summer Youth Olympic Games. The first Youth Games are in Singapore Aug. 14-26.
Lee Kun-Hee made his first appearance in an IOC session since being readmitted on Feb. 7 by the executive board. Lee, the former head of Samsung, was sentenced to three years after a tax evasion conviction. He was pardoned so that he could make a bid to return to the upper ranks of the IOC and promote the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Games bid.
PyeongChang was the runner-up when Vancouver was chosen for 2010 on July 2, 2003. PyeongChang also lost to Sochi 2014 when voting was held in 2007.
The cultural component, a Canadian Welcome, included the Aliqua women’s vocal group performing the Olympic anthem, Langley Ukelele Ensemble doing What a Wonderful World, Circus West acrobats and Marianas Trench, a pop-punk band that had some IOC members bobbing their heads, but a few plugging their ears. Unfortunately the show relied on lip-synching and performers were not introduced before or after their number.
Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson and B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell offered the opening remarks of the Patrick Roberge-produced event.
Sponsors and government partners and VANOC executives joined the IOC at the Queen E. Canadian Olympic Committee president Mike Chambers, VANOC CEO John Furlong and IOC president Jacques Rogge all spoke. Furlong was given an immediate standing ovation by most of the crowd. Many in the IOC section in the centre orchestra seating were slow to get up or didn't bother. Rogge remarked that Furlong had a standing ovation and the Games had not even begun.
Afterward, the adjacent Four Host First Nations’ Chiefs’ House was used for overflow where Canada's Gov. Gen. Michaelle Jean held court.
Among those spotted at the post-event reception were Vancouver Olympic Village developers Shahram Malekyazdi and Peter Malek, B.C. finance minister and former Olympics minister Colin Hansen, B.C. Pavilion Corporation chairman David Podmore, Canadian Olympic team Dr. Bob McCormack, former Canadian Olympic Committee vice-president Bob Hindmarch, Prince of Orange of Netherlands, International Triathlon Union founder Les McDonald, Easton sporting goods’ founder Jim Easton, Arthur Griffiths and Francesco Aquilini. Charmaine Crooks, the 1984 silver medal sprinter, introduced me to Prince Albert of Monaco, who is officially known as the Serene Highness. It's not false advertising. A pleasant, serene fella you'd never guess is an aristocrat or former Olympic bobsledder. We chatted about the famed St. Moritz track in Switzerland that I visited in November and he actually took a run on last month.
Griffiths is the ex-owner of the Vancouver Canucks and General Motors Place who led the domestic bid for the 2010 Games that beat out Calgary and Quebec City in 1998. Aquilini bought half of the Vancouver Canucks and General Motors Place from John McCaw in 2005 and gained the rest in a subsequent transaction.
Also spotted was Vic Poleschuk, who was fired in 2007 from the presidency of the B.C. Lottery Corporation after the B.C. Ombudsman issued a report highly critical of the Crown corporation for lax security, including lottery wins by retailers. BCLC is a Vancouver 2010 sponsor, but the deal it made with VANOC won't let it offer odds on Olympic hockey games. So anyone who really feels the need to gamble on the Games will place a bet on websites that are technically illegal under Canada's Criminal Code. Good job, VANOC.
The IOC members were whisked back to the Westin Bayshore Hotel via two Cherrey Motor Coaches from Drayton, Ont. and a Brewster bus from Banff, Alta. The Brewster bus idled for several minutes outside the civic theatre.
IOC members got down to business Feb. 10 at the Bayshore and chose Nanjing, China over Poznan, Poland 47 votes to 42 to host the 2014 Summer Youth Olympic Games. The first Youth Games are in Singapore Aug. 14-26.
Lee Kun-Hee made his first appearance in an IOC session since being readmitted on Feb. 7 by the executive board. Lee, the former head of Samsung, was sentenced to three years after a tax evasion conviction. He was pardoned so that he could make a bid to return to the upper ranks of the IOC and promote the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Games bid.
PyeongChang was the runner-up when Vancouver was chosen for 2010 on July 2, 2003. PyeongChang also lost to Sochi 2014 when voting was held in 2007.
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