They're the greatest shows on Earth! Well, they must be. I am talking about the opening ceremonies of the Summer Olympics. Just look at the 2012 London Olympics opening ceremony - more than a thousand performers; more than a thousand hours of preparation; and definitely not just a thousand but millions of British pounds worth of spectacle shown in a few hours! Indeed, one great show on Earth!
Over the past years, you must have one favorite opening ceremony, right? I have witnessed so far 10 opening ceremonies (well, on TV, he-he-he). All of them I shall declare SPECTACULAR! But I have one favorite. That's the 2008 Beijing Olympics opening ceremony. The grandeur and magnitude of that opening ceremony is beyond words. The glitz and glamour is so far unsurpassed. It is no wonder that the opening ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Olympics is popularly dubbed as the "greatest ceremony in history". The entire stadium, the gorgeous Bird's Nest, is in fact specifically designed to host a ceremony performance. The more than two thousand drummers at the start of the ceremony, reenactment of the "typesetting", the "rhythm of the modern times", the dazzling display of the LED lights on the stadium floor, the "one world, one dream", and the lighting of the cauldron for the first time by a suspended torchbearer are all jaw-dropping! I won't bore you with words anymore. Here, watch the highlights of the 2008 Beijing Olympics and you'll know what I am talking about. ENJOY!
Opening Ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
The awesome "Bird's Nest" Olympic Stadium.
More than 2000 drummers in the Opening Ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
One World - One Dream
Postcript: I cannot end this post without saying that my second favorite is the 2000 Sydney Olympics, and my third favorite is a tie for the 2012 London Olympics and 2004 Athens Olympics. They are amazing. The underwater dream sequence and the tap dance number of the Sydney opening ceremony were fantastic. I originally thought that this is the best in terms of magnitude with its grand scale. Beijing topped it. The Olympic rings blazing on fire in water of the Athens opening ceremony is spectacular! Minimalism was put into a grand scale and sophistication is at its zenith. The suspended rings with fireworks and the giant Lord Voldemort are fantastic with the London opening ceremony. Indeed, these ceremonies showcased human creativity at its best!
Important Note:I stumbled upon a great blog.It's Bryan Pinkall's World of Opera.His blog features all of the opening ceremonies of the Summer Olympics. Bryan's blog has complete videos,official reports, and great pictures. The pictures of the 2008 Beijing Olympics above were from his blog (except for the Bird's Nest pic). He has tons of information about the Olympics ceremonies.You should visit his blog. It's at http://bryanppinkall.blogspot.com and his other web site is at http://www.olympicceremony.org.
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I definitely enjoying every little bit of it and I have you bookmarked to check out new stuff you post.
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