Opening Ceremony

louisa05 · Feb 7, 2014

Olympia said:
I actually loved the Canadian opening ceremonies. They were modest and unassuming, and they reflected a country that has a small population and is young in cultural heritage. But they had moments of great beauty that reflected the Canadian character and also the land. That "flying scene" over the prairies is still one of my go-to YouTube videos.

But I expect the Russian ceremonies to be much more elaborate, and rich with their culture and MUSIC! (Many of my favorite composers are Russian.) I'm thrilled to hear from those of you who have already been able to watch it. It sounds as if it will live up to expectations. And to see athletes such as Rodnina taking part will be a delight. Thanks for the advance word, everyone who described it. I'm eager to plant myself in front of the TV and will not be answering the phone tonight.

I liked the Vancouver Opening as well.

My winner for most embarrassing moment at an Opening Ceremony has to be the pick up trucks of cheerleaders in Atlanta in 1996. And they did that on purpose.

Favorite Opening ever was London 2012. SLC in 2002 was good, too.

Olympia · Feb 7, 2014

I loved London too, Louisa. But then I'm a children's literature buff, and they had me at hello.

The opening tableau of this Sochi ceremony was magical, absolutely magical. Visually sumptuous. And they used Borodin's music! I was practically afloat with delight.

I'm always a sucker for the parade of nations, too. The national diversity is awesome--and the costumes!--and it's fascinating to find out about the backgrounds of the athletes. Not everyone is a young kid who lives his or her sport wall to wall every day. Some are businessmen or bricklayers; one is a prince; one young woman is a concert violinist. Vive la difference!

invisiblespiral · Feb 7, 2014

Does anyone else find the Turkish flagbearer really handsome?

louisa05 · Feb 7, 2014

invisiblespiral said:
Does anyone else find the Turkish flagbearer really handsome?

LOL!

The Russian team's outfits had a bit of a Father Christmas/Victorian Santa flavor to them. I'm sure it fits nicely with Russian culture and all that, but that's what it reminded my Western mind of...

I like the less busy, less fussy team attire. And the U.S. certainly missed the mark on that more than any other team.

Olympia · Feb 7, 2014

My favorite section: Natasha's ball. The colors of the costumes! All those peach-rose tones...sublime. And the dancing. Did anyone notice that the music was "Sentimental Waltz," which Sasha Cohen used for her 2002 short program? I love that melody; so unusual and haunting.

Zamboni · Feb 7, 2014

It was nice seeing Gracie marching for the U.S.! I saw one of the American female athletes (don't know who) look like she was overcome with emotions.

I felt bad for Heidi Kloser on her crutches. She looked like she was in such pain. I know she was determined to "walk" in the opening ceremony despite not being able to compete after her bad crash. I saw her get into her wheelchair later. It was so touching when she asked her father after her crash "am I still an Olympian?"

cornell08 · Feb 7, 2014

There were photos on social media of all the American figure skaters except Polina-- anyone know if she wasn't able to attend the opening?

TontoK · Feb 8, 2014

Memelah711 said:
Exactly! At the Winter Olympics, I want see great Winter Olympians participate in the Opening Ceremony. I don't want to see Summer Olympic athletes participate at the Winter Games. The opposite is true of the Summer Olympics.

The Summer athlete I was most shocked at was Maria Sharapova.

I suppose I had forgotten, or never knew, that Sharapova is an Olympic medalist. That, coupled with her early upbringing in Sochi made her a reasonable choice, considering one of the flame relay members is reportedly Putin's mistress.

I would STILL have preferred winter Olympians. There have been so many Russian greats that could have been honored. Irina Rodnina was an excellent pick for lighter-of-the-flame, along with hockey guy.

A.H.Black · Feb 8, 2014

I enjoyed the ceremonies. I like opera and enjoyed Anna Netrebko. I love men's choruses and loved listening to them. I love classical music - especially Tchaikovsky. I love ballet and classical dancing. I thought Rodnina a great choice.

I saw Gracie, Alex and Maia, and Jason. Who did I miss?

I will now wait for the Shib's new video.

A.H.Black · Feb 8, 2014

cornell08 said:
There were photos on social media of all the American figure skaters except Polina-- anyone know if she wasn't able to attend the opening?

It's entirely possible that she isn't there yet.

louisa05 · Feb 8, 2014

A.H.Black said:
It's entirely possible that she isn't there yet.

She was still in Germany yesterday, per her Twitter.

CaroLiza_fan · Feb 8, 2014

Very enjoyable ceremony. I think I have only ever seen 3 Olympic Opening Ceremonies (Beijing Summer, Vancouver Winter, and Sochi Winter), and I'm dithereing between Beijing and Sochi for my favourite.

Of the whole night, I think my favourite part was actually one of the formalities. The singing of the Russian National Anthem.

Normally, the only National Anthem to send my heart a-flutter is the German Anthem. Haydn's "Oesterreich" is one of my favourite pieces of music ever! But that rendition of the Russian Anthem did it too. It was just beautiful.

I REALLY want to get my hands on a recording of the audio of that performance! :biggrin:

And wee Liza who was playing "Lubov" was just amazing! What a performance for somebody so young! And what an honour, too!

Just one thing, though - she was wearing far too much make-up! Having been on the stage myself a couple of times when I was at school, I know you have to put on a lot of make-up for the lights. But that looked like it was put on with a trowell!!! :eek:

And I found it very interesting that Lubov means "love" in Russian.

It's a good job Pairs skater Lubov Ilushechkina doesn't live in Northern Ireland, because she could find life over here very confusing. A typical way to get a female's attention is to shout "here, love" to her. Miss Ilushechkina would be reacting every time she heard it, whether it was directed at her or not!!! :laugh:

But, on a VERY positive note, all three of the Ulster girls were not only in the parade, but they were shown on camera!!! :biggrin:

And Aimee Fuller even got a close-up shot!!!

A thing I was a bit annoyed about, though, was that I wasn't able to pick out anybody I knew in the Russian or American teams in the parade. There were just too many people and they kept changing camera shots!!!

The only Russian skaters I recognised all afternoon were Moskvina and Tarasova, and they were in the VIP box! :laugh:

CaroLiza_fan

iluvtodd · Feb 8, 2014

Olympia said:
I actually loved the Canadian opening ceremonies. They were modest and unassuming, and they reflected a country that has a small population and is young in cultural heritage. But they had moments of great beauty that reflected the Canadian character and also the land. That "flying scene" over the prairies is still one of my go-to YouTube videos.

:agree: Loved the Calgary opening ceremony too!

Olympia said:
I loved London too, Louisa. But then I'm a children's literature buff, and they had me at hello.

The opening tableau of this Sochi ceremony was magical, absolutely magical. Visually sumptuous. And they used Borodin's music! I was practically afloat with delight.

I'm always a sucker for the parade of nations, too. The national diversity is awesome--and the costumes!--and it's fascinating to find out about the backgrounds of the athletes. Not everyone is a young kid who lives his or her sport wall to wall every day. Some are businessmen or bricklayers; one is a prince; one young woman is a concert violinist. Vive la difference!

I love the music to the Russian National Anthem (wish I could understand the words), also for the Olympic Hymn. Loved all the classical music played throughout the ceremonies. Firebird for the torch lighting!

Javier in the Parade of Nations & Brian O. in the Spanish contingent. Tamara Moskvina in the VIP box! :love:

ARipp42014 · Feb 8, 2014

I thought the OC was nice (even with the snowflake/Olympic ring error). Thank goodness NBC did not edit anything out while showing extended coverage on the Americans' march to the stadium.

Btw who's the ridiculously hot guy from the Dutch team?

Oh Tara and Johnny is on NBCSN right now! Both looking fab as always!

Winnie_20 · Feb 8, 2014

ARipp42014 said:
Btw who's the ridiculously hot guy from the Dutch team?

Uh... well, we have a few, and the flag bearer was a woman, so... could you be a bit more specific? ;-)
To help you narrow it down, probably a speed skater, and probably not one of the long-distance skaters (because they are skating this afternoon, and I don't think they were at the ceremony).

ARipp42014 · Feb 8, 2014

Winnie_20 said:
Uh... well, we have a few, and the flag bearer was a woman, so... could you be a bit more specific? ;-)
To help you narrow it down, probably a speed skater, and probably not one of the long-distance skaters (because they are skating this afternoon, and I don't think they were at the ceremony).

I know it's not Sven Kramer (even though he's cute) but he on the left of the flag bearer. Shaggy light brown/blonde hair, looks like James Maslow of BTR.

Winnie_20 · Feb 8, 2014

ARipp42014 said:
I know it's not Sven Kramer (even though he's cute) but he on the left of the flag bearer. Shaggy light brown/blonde hair, looks like James Maslow of BTR.

Hhhmmm..., Michel Mulder, maybe? http://www.sochi2014.com/en/athlete-michel-mulder
Otherwise you could try looking here: http://www.sochi2014.com/en/team-netherlands-athletes

annoyingly enough, he has a twin brother who is also at the Olympics, lol.

edited to add: Oh, I was looking at the video again, and I think you may have meant Mark Tuitert, then. :biggrin:

ARipp42014 · Feb 8, 2014

Winnie_20 said:
Hhhmmm..., Michel Mulder, maybe? http://www.sochi2014.com/en/athlete-michel-mulder
Otherwise you could try looking here: http://www.sochi2014.com/en/team-netherlands-athletes

Yeah that's him! :eek:

: It's funny because when you say it fast enough, that's my husband's name!

It's cool to see Chara carrying the Slovak flag. Good for the Boston Bruins for letting him fly to Sochi so he can do this honor.

Winnie_20 · Feb 8, 2014

ARipp42014 said:
Yeah that's him! : It's funny because when you say it fast enough, that's my husband's name!

Ah, nice, long live the internet for providing the answer to this fun question!
For some reason the video I was watching only seemed to bother showing Mark Tuitert, but I googled the name James Maslow, and I agree Michel Mulder does rather look like him. Kewl.

Tonichelle · Feb 8, 2014

we lost power due to a wicked wind storm... so I missed it

anyway this American can watch a rebroadcast online?

Opening Ceremony

louisa05

Olympia

invisiblespiral

louisa05

Olympia

Zamboni

cornell08

TontoK

Hot Tonto

A.H.Black

A.H.Black

louisa05

CaroLiza_fan

EZETTIE LATUASV IVAKMHA

iluvtodd

ARipp42014

Winnie_20

ARipp42014

Winnie_20

ARipp42014

Winnie_20

Tonichelle

Idita-Rock-n-Roll

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