August 8, 2008
Lavish Start to the 2008 Olympics
The 2008 Olympics in Beijing were officially kicked off, and the NY Times reported that the festivities were an "opening ceremony of soaring fireworks, lavish spectacle and a celebration of Chinese culture and international good will." The ceremonies were produced by director Zhang Yimou, and NBC will be broadcasting the ceremony beginning at 7:30 p.m. EST tonight, but in case you want to get a sense of the highlights to look for, USA Today has a liveblog.
As for live reaction, it seems China's making good on its promise to impress the world:
USA Today's Christine Brennan said, "In its first 30 minutes, it had easily outdone any of the previous 12 Opening Ceremonies I have covered. At times there was a rigidity to the performances that reminded you exactly where you are, in Communist China, but the ingenuity and beauty of the scenes quickly overwhelmed that thought." And the NY Times' Lynn Zinser says up till now, the Sydney Olympics' opening was the most memorable "But this one was mesmerizing on such a grand scale, with the meaning of this event to a huge, formerly closed country obvious in every minute. And the culminating lighting of the cauldron was s jaw-droppingly cool. In a word, wow."
Earlier, Chinese President Hu Jintao said, "The historic moment we have long awaited is arriving. The world has never needed mutual understanding, mutual toleration and mutual cooperation as much as it does today.” But there were some worries today: There was a bomb threat that diverted a plane (not headed to Beijing, but the city of Chongqing) back to Japan while there were a few protests, inside and outside of China, as well--BBC News has a rundown.
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I am sure that the Times called the opening ceremonies of the 1936 Berlin games "a lavish spectacle and a celebration of German culture and international good will."
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Toby: http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F50C15FF3C59167B93C0A91783D85F428385F9&scp=7&sq=1936%20opening%20ceremonies%20berlin&st=cse
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the times article calls it the greatest yet of the Olympics, but at least you can take comfort knowing that the US athletes avoiding saluting Hitler (as per the headline)
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please dont tell me you guys are gonna cover this propaganda for the next two weeks....
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@fugothamist, well, the highlights.
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fuck china
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anybody know if the ceremony can be seen online in high quality?
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The US government and these multi-national corporations don't really care what China does, as long as they can make money. Jerks.
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And don't forget all of us that want our stuff cheap...
Go China... Fuck the government... I should be learning chinese...
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Oh, and fuck NBC also...
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I am clearly the only New Yorker who is jealous of this. The Olympics will never come here. I can pretty much guarantee it.
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fuck bush, fuck kobe, and fuck ralph lauren's pony
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"anybody know if the ceremony can be seen online in high quality?"
Officially, only if you have Windows Vista.
Unofficially, if you know where to look it's probably already online from one of the countries that aired it live.
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Good luck China. Fuck the haters.
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I can't wait for the Phlegm spitting competition. I hear the Chinese are favorites to win, but lets see if those boys in Vietnam have what it takes to make an upset!
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yes, all support to the chinese state! with your authoritarian ruling elite, your basic disregard for human rights, your willingness to let nothing stand in the way of economic progress, and your insistance that anything you can physically stop from being reported in the mainstream media didn't really happen, you are really setting the bar for what the state will be in the 21st century. so fuck the haters indeed.
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It's about the athletes. Most of whom have spent much of their entire lives preparing for these games. I'm psyched.
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China's government sucks. Russia just invaded Georgia. Our own government isn't winning any beauty contests these days. I can differentiate between the government and the governed, and I hope that the Chinese people, many of whom have difficult lives because of factors outside their control, have a successful Olympics.
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A lot of jealousy being spouted here! While no one cannot deny that China's authoritarian capitalist hybrid society has a plethora of problems, that does not mean one cannot deny its rich culture and exquisite beauty.
The INTERNATIONAL ELITE however are all there today in some shape or form and *that* cannot be denied.
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i like how everyone is dissing China but not America and bush's Iraq policies. America is supposed to be better right?
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Keep it up, Finger! I find your comments hilarious!
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@eyekantspel
i agree, the russian gov't sucks as does the american. i can also differentiate between the chinese people and the chinese gov't. and the gov't are the only ones who stand to truly benefit from the games. the people meanwhile have been swept out of beijing or hidden behind walls, and silenced for months leading up to the games.
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except for the beautiful, wealthy ones, which judging by most of your comments are your definition of "people"
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I'm personally very excited for the Olympics. Sure, China has a less than ideal record on just about everything, but I'm excited for all the sporting events. It's a great showcase of world class athletes.
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i like how everyone is dissing China but not America and bush's Iraq policies. America is supposed to be better right?
Is this your first day here? The comments on easily a third of the stories every day turn into a Bush rant.
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#26 - yes it's my first day here *snicker*
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No live executions during this ceremony? What is the I.O.C.paying for? Between the athletes, many of whom are professionals, their use of performance enhancing drugs, their sketchy "nationalities" and the host country which is fulfilling some sort of Mid 20th Century ideal, you have all the makings of the death of the Olympic Movement. Nobody can believe anything these athletes say or do and nobody can reconcile the I.O.C.'s love affair with authoritarian regimes that are willing to spend a chunk of their GDP on whatever the I.O.C. desires and all those "high-minded Olympian ideals". The whole thing is a sickening spectacle and it has dark 1930's undertones.
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what's the difference between China and the NYPD on critical Mass?
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I am watching the opening ceremonies right now on the Canadian channel and those Chinese women are quite awesome!
As for online viewing, do a search: Olympics online. There are tons of sites out there.