So the opening ceremonies of the Olympics turned out pretty much like I thought it would. A little underwhelming but what wouldn’t be after Beijing? Even in comparison to Torino or Athens though this was a bit of a sleeper opening ceremonies. Yes, I am biased as they did not hire my company Circus Orange but I feel that I have a lot of perspective on events such as this as this is the field that I am in. I have watched most of the opening and closing ceremonies over the years and there is always those magical visual moments that I will remember forever. I think back to being a kid and watching the LA 1984 opening and seeing the guy fly in on the jet pack and how much that blew my mind. I am sure it somehow changed the course of my life. I remember that vertical wind tunnel effect from Torino and how incredibly awesome that was. Huge scale gags these never get presented as performance outside of these events. Not to mention the pyrotechnics! If Olympics ceremonies mean anything they have come to mean serious pyrotechnics. Athens was HUGE, Torino was amazing and Beijing, well... let’s just say the Chinese invented black powder and leave it at that (even if they faked the footprints). Somehow this scale of performance and spectacle was sadly lacking in Vancouver and I found it upsetting. I understand times are tough and that it was a covered venue and all the rest of it but if these ungodly expensive events are meant to happen at all they should seriously kick ass!
BC Place had to be a very difficult venue to work in and I will say that they did a fantastic job of making that 25 year old dinosaur look somewhat elegant. The roof did not collapse and they made the room look a lot bigger than it actually is. That snowboard fly through to snow/talcum powder bomb effect was original and nice. It made for some great stills but it really didn’t sustain. Rebecca liked the northern lights bit and the aerial thing was sort of OK. Obviously there were HUGE problems with the cauldron and four way flaming ice crystal gag at the end but that is the nature of technology. I am surprised that they pulled it off with just three crystals and I commend them for what must have been harrowing “on the spot” fixes.
My big beef had to be the lack of connection between performance, technology and the overall show. The humanity of the performance just didn’t come across and aren’t “people doing amazing things” what the Olympics are supposed to be about? When the performers were not Native they all appeared to be dressed in GAP costumes. Perhaps this is what best represents many Canadians but it is most certainly NOT what I want to represent my country on the world stage.
Overall the show was better than I feared it could be. It looked good but somehow lacked real soul. Perhaps the closing will be a little more kick ass. We’ll see.
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