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Olympics ceremony - Wow
My family did something Friday night we normally don’t do: watch a full evening of television together. The occasion was the opening night ceremony of the Beijing Olympics and I thought it might be like other ceremonies: Overblown, pompous and dotted with head-scratching bad Art Moments (the ‘92 Albertville Winter Olympics still is the high water mark for me).
The Beijing Olympics ceremony, however, was sheer, overwhelming spectacle: a feat of dazzling visuals (2,008 choreographed drummers, the 3-D graphics powered by humans, stunning costuming and lights, the stadium-surrounding projection screen, the final lap of the torch relay done by an athlete suspended in space, the mother of all fireworks shows), mind-boggling logistics and moving moments (the young survivor of the Sechuan earthquake who led the Chinese delegation in with basketball giant Yao Ming). The realization of director Zhang Yimou’s vision was so impressive that it simply overwhelmed the usually banal television commentary that accompanies this type of event. For once, I missed having a wide-screen digital TV. If China intended to make the Beijing Olympics a statement of its intention to be a global player in the 21st century, the Games’ opening ceremony certainly showed technological wizardry, artistic flair and sheer intent.
It also made many of the high-dollar TV commercials that aired in between look wrong-footed, with creativity tied to stupid jokes or simple crassness (namely, the McDonalds’ spot where fast-food made a team of poor losers ultimate winners over a team of poor winners - Olympic spirit, anyone?).
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