Real-Time Notes from the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Opening Ceremony

As evening arrived over South Korea on Friday, Feb. 9, I filed into PyeongChang Olympic Stadium with a small army of fellow reporters and an actual army of South Korean police.

Typing what follows, I am seated beside a new friend from the media bus (a reporter from Moscow) and looking out at about 50,000 seats soon to be filled by spectators. The sponsor VIP seating is directly to my right, as is the media tribune video screen for live updates.

Though the following is not actually posted “live” (as my in-stadium Wi-Fi connection was/is spotty at best, and not at its best -- I pasted in this post back at the Main Press Center at 2 a.m. local time), what follows are my real-time updates as witness to the Opening Ceremony of the Games of the XXIIIrd Winter Olympiad.

Spoiler alert: At the end, they light a cauldron!

18:30 – Set up on row three aisle seat of press tribune. Upper level seats across the stadium are filling with spectators. For some reason five entire lower sections (one side of the pentagon-shaped stadium) remain completely empty.

18:45 – They’re playing a trio of Korean pop hits in rotation to warm up the audience. But wait, the temps are in the teens Fahrenheit and minus 20’s Celsius. “Here We Go!” lyrics will remain burned in my auditory memories for weeks.

18:50 – The trio of songs persists. One of them starts with a guitar solo reminiscent of Sia’s “Titanium” but it’s not Sia. And the other tune that starts like Justin Timberlake’s “Mirror” is not J.T. Must retreat again to indoor workroom for coffee and heat. Fingers already numb.

19:05 – I get it now. The entire side of the venue that is empty will be the athlete seating (duh).

19:10 – Speculating now as to which corner’s vomitory will expel the athlete parade.

19:20 – A pair of Korean comedians are on deck (center of stadium) to share spectator instructions. Bang the drums slowly … and loud! Turn on your mini-torch flash light with this button. 

19:25 – Joint North/South Korean Tae Kwo Do demonstration in progress with about 20 athletes kicking and screaming, perhaps to keep warm. Did I mention it’s fucking cold here? Fortunately there’s fresh and hot coffee and powdered donuts to keep the media happy. It helps they also gave us a complete Ceremonies Kit including blankets, seat warmers and an Olympic-branded full-body condom to keep out the cold.

19:45 – Went inside for a bathroom break. Commented to guys next to me, “Sorry, it’s so cold it may take me a minute to locate by testicles!” We laughed, then a reporter from Ireland chimed in, "Me, too!"

19:50 – Interesting: USA Today’s veteran Olympic reporter Christine Brennan just accepted my invitation to sit next to me in the press tribune.

20:00 – Countdown clock in Korean script. Let’s get this party started! Brennan went for warmth and did not return. 

20:01 – Enormous bell at center of the stadium sets off freezing stage -- like the Disney film "Frozen" animated frost -- then fireworks. Brilliant!

20:05 – Enormous paper tiger (maneuvered by six puppeteers) bounds into the center of the stadium followed by other wintry wildlife including fish, horses, dragons, a phoenix and elk. This segment is titled "The Land of Peace" according to embargoed Media Guide.

20:10 – Enter the president of South Korea, IOC President Thomas Bach and other dignitaries. The sister of North Korea’s leader just got a smiling handshake. Bet they're talking about that on CNN right about now. 

20:12 –The center of the arena just bottomed out and drummers soon will ascend. Unison in creation of the yin and yang symbol as seen at the center of the nation’s flag.

20:17 – Time to raise the South Korean flag for real. Some of the nation’s Olympic  heroes are carrying in the banner in elegant white uniforms.

20:25 – Parade of nations led by Greece, then Ghana’s skeleton athlete with whom I traded pins in the Olympic Village yesterday. OK, going inside to get warm before Team USA arrives.

20:35 – Nice sombrero, Team Mexico flag bearer! Followed by Montenegro athletes introduced with “Gangnam Style” blaring.

20:45 – Team USA in da house!

20:55 – Olympic Athletes of Russia (O.A.R.) now enter behind the Olympic flag. Loudest cheers since Team USA.

20:58 – Japan’s dayglow winter coats are a hit, as is the Jamaican bobsled team dance around the arena. Team China also got a loud cheer upon entry. Going in for a close up of the South Korean volunteers (dressed like ice princesses) who are carrying the polished aluminum signs of competing nations.

21:15 – Shiver me timbers, the Unified Korean Team is in the stands, at long last!

21:16 – With our in-stands TV monitors showing the Olympic Channel footage, I gather some of the virtual reality theatrics appear to viewers at home but not for us in the stands, which is OK. The augmented dome of constellations is spectacular. 

21:25 – "River of Time" and "All for the Future" segments bring forth a time portal of sorts and a hand-drawn smiling emoji. Happy!

21:30 – POCOG President Lee Hee-beon and IOC President Thomas Bach chat up the great work of the volunteers and athletes. Bravo!

21:43 – President of South Korea officially opens the Games.

21:45 – "Imagine" all the times John and Yoko Ono got this song into the Olympics (by my count this is the third time in Winter Games, with Torino 2006 as the first). Not likely to be the last time, either. 

21:50 – VR lighting in the skies over venues  -- drone effects via Intel? I need to check the Intel press kit tomorrow!

21:52 – Olympic flag carried aloft by Korean Olympic heroes, and the sudden appearance of a massive artsy drum kit (I think).

21:55 – Packing up laptop as I can no longer feel my fingers. And I want to focus on enjoying the last 15 minutes of the show. Signing off from the stadium.

02:11 on 10 February – I am in the Main Press Center to add photos to the above post. The fireworks and cauldron lighting really made a lasting impression. This Olympiad already rocks! And congrats to Kim Yuna as the final 2018 Olympic torchbearer. 

Photos by Nicholas Wolaver

Thoughts on the Opening Ceremony Experience

It's four days past the London Olympic Opening Ceremonies, and words are still not easily found to describe the experience. Of course, it was a wonderful ceremony. But it was so different on several levels, and my reactions varied greatly from one portion to the next.

Entering the venue, I learned early on one major difference from past Opening Ceremonies. Most likely due to austerity considerations, the seats for attendees included no kit, no program, no pins. Nothing. This was a disappointment -- Opening Ceremony kits are a coveted prize of past Games!

How better to Ebay the experience, my dear?

Shaking off the sticker shock for official programs, priced at 15 pounds (!!!), settling into my original seat in the 222 section, I did enjoy the massive green field of play symbolizing the Isles of Wonder. In case NBC cut it, during the countdown sequence, there were live sheep, ducks, geese and horses with May Pole players on the British "island" in the center of the stadium. Audience members participated by "silking" the stands with massive blue silks creating water around the grand stage.

The massive bell featuring Shakespeare's quote from The Tempest -- "Be not afeard: the isle is full of noises" -- hung just a few row below my seat, and in the one-sheet run-of-show provided to spectators, I learned this bell will remain for posterity to be run in the year 2212 with a message from its creators commenting on the recent infancy of the World Wide Web, invented by British-born scientist Tim Berners-Lee, who said "This Is For Everyone" (the theme of the evening). Clever!

Other segments to love: The opening "Journey along the Thames" video, the "Green and Pleasant Land" countryside show on the British meadow, the songs from the Four Nations, Kenneth Branagh acting as a leading engineer (Branagh was the first of several predicted performers from my pre-ceremony post), and the transformation into "Pandemonium" and The Age of Industry (as described in the ceremony media guide).

I was delighted by the Olympic rings -- one forged by iron workers on the stadium floor -- took flight and rained gorgeous gold fireworks. Best rings arrival since Torino.

Also loved the pixel screens, which volunteers taught the audience to use during the countdown. This is the modern version of the flag cards famously unveiled by the spectators at the Los Angeles Opening Ceremony in 1984.

Paraphrasing a friend's friend via Facebook comment, I could have done without the tribute to socialized medicine. From my seat, the "big baby" did not appear as as such. Blowing bubbles was a good idea but not easy to appreciate outside of the venue (nor inside). The 3D glasses did not enhance a thing (and why not brand the glasses with Games logos?).

But Rowan Atkinson's performance set to "Chariots of Fire" was perfect. And the montage of music and TV via the BBC went over well (more Annie Lennox next time, please). I found myself awaiting Morissey's lyrics "There is a light that never goes out" for the arrival of the torch and cauldron, but the song's somber themes would not have played well.

I really did love the solo performance of "Abide With Me" sung by Emeli Sande. The modern dance segment was beautiful, and it struck me as the largest dance in opening ceremony memory. What a bloody shame NBC cut this (see my July 28 post for more on this segment).

It was brilliant to play tribute to the July 7 bombing victims with a memorial video (set to my favorite Brian Eno tune) ... why not add a brief remembrance for all Olympic Family members at future opening ceremonies (this would have easily covered the Munich 1972 victims and Olympic Family/IOC members lost in this Olympiad)?

The arrival of a record 204 national Olympic committees gave me time to grab dinner, trade a few pins and ... wait for it ... UPGRADE MY SEAT. With a wink, a flash of an unaccredited media badge, and a camera, I found myself on row 10 in section 124, this time under the stage right area of the big Olympic bell and platform for Sir Paul McCartney's performance.

As luck had it, I sat only a few seats from just about every living Team GB Olympic medal winner, and enjoyed a much closer view of the athlete parade including Usain Bolt/Jamaica, Team USA, Team GB and many more (I arrived during the letter "H").

The "dove bikes" were cool.

Much was made of the Queen's arrival with the James Bond actor Daniel Craig. Jolly good show! The only improvement I'd suggest ... perhaps Her Majesty could have high-fived the other living James Bond actors en route to the helicopter, or Sean Connery could have been revealed as the pilot.

I searched with loaned binoculars but did not yet spot the newlywed Royals, who I hope to see at beach volleyball or gymnastics.

For me, the more I learn about the Olympic cauldron, the better it gets. In the media section of the stadium after the event, the TODAY Show's Meredith Viera told me the delegations each carried in a bit of the cauldron that was attached (it was a bean- or melon-like chrome piece about the size of a football), which volunteers attached to the cauldron before it was ignited (Viera stated these pieces go back to each participating nation after the Games).

But it was, in my opinion, an oversight to permit its display out of public view. Vancouver got this right with two cauldrons in the Olympic city.

And inviting unknown youth to ignite the cauldron ... zzzzzzzzzzz ... (been there done that with the little girl who lit the cauldron in Calgary).

There are many things to love about the London Olympic Opening Ceremony and I will always cherish the experience. There is a light that never goes out, indeed.

Photos by Nicholas Wolaver

Frustrated Francophones, and a Closing Ceremony Prediction

Yesterday it was vandals posing as protesters who grabbed a few headlines from Olympic media in town.

The Olympic media bandwagon today jumped on word that some French Canadian officials politely griped that there was, in their view, not enough French in Friday's Opening Ceremonies.

C'est la vie.

One report on this topic brought up Celine Dion's absence from the Opening Ceremony as an example of "could've provided more French feeling" performer, but also mentioned that Dion's manager/spouse reported it was a problème discutable (moot issue) since the award-winning (and 1996 Atlanta Opening Ceremonies "Power of the Dream") singer is apparently in hôpital for assistance to conceive a child.

I'm going to go out on a limb, er, hors sur une branche (or "hors sur un membre") and state here that there's something fishy about Dion's alleged "unavailability" -- I think it is a ruse (much like VANOC's John Furlong stating Wayne Gretzky would not ignite the cauldron), and she will in fact appear in the Vancouver Olympic Closing Ceremony to sing the duet "Immortality" with one of several male Canadian stars (a la Bryan Adams' duet with Nelly Furtado in the Opening Ceremony).

You might recall, Dion recorded "Immortality" (infused with the theme/words "we don't say goodbye") with the Bee Gees a few years back (for an all-Canada extravaganza, perhaps Leonard Cohen or Michael Bublé would stand in for Gibb two weeks from tonight).

"Immortality" provides appropriate "farewell" lyrics to send-off the athletes of the world, much like "Amigos Para Siempre" at Barcelona's spectacular Ceremony in 1992 (Sarah Brightman's first Olympic appearance).

So, you read it here first: Closing Ceremony including Celine Dion and the lyrics "We Don't Say Goodbye" two weeks from tonight.

For this evening, au revoir!

Photo of Celine Dion performing in Atlanta's Opening Ceremony via this site.

More Opening Ceremonies

Spent most of today at my computer for client work, so no new updates from the Olympic City (though heading to client LiveCity Downtown shortly).

But wanted to get a new shot from last night up for perusal -- the photo on this post is via the LA Times, and that is yours truly, bottom-left corner of image about third person up (in the snazzy white holding up camera as Team USA cruises into B.C. Place).

More blogging time on Sunday, or so I've pencilled in on calendar.

C'est Magnifique, Both Sides Now, Hallelujah

What a day! Oh, what a night!

A couple of years ago it seemed Beijing delivered an untoppable Olympic Opening Ceremony. Tonight, Vancouver answered with a magnificent, moving evening, the memories of which I will always cherish.

So many moments. So much poetry, via spoken word and in motion.

And, what music! Joni Mitchell's "Both Sides Now" brought tears to those in my party. Bryan Adams and Nelly Furtado. The Aboriginal dance and Four Host Nations drumbeat. Nikki Yanofsky's rendition of "O Canada." Sara McLachlan -- brilliant! And finally k.d. lang singing Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" -- an astounding encore Olympic performance.

I am most grateful that my assigned seat (absolutely devine intervention and/or sheer luck) was in the section immediately to the right of the snowboarder, and later the Olympians', grand entrance, affording me numerous stops on the lower corner of the seating area, often staring up the tunnel at legends of the past and legends in the making.

Singer Anne Murray high-fived me with one hand while carrying the Olympic Flag with the other.

Donald Sutherland, who narrated much of the voice overs for the grand Canadian showcase was steps away, too.

Felt like I was walking into the stadium with Team USA (more high-fives, this time from Olympians marching to competition). Thought I was full-blood Canadian when their flag entered the arena.

In China's Opening Ceremony, a few thousand assigned drummers brought down the house. In Vancouver, more than 50,000 audience members got the pleasure of beating to their own drum (the audience participation kit itself was a clever cardboard drum set)

There have been plenty of "big moments" of pride working at Edelman, and witnessing our client, a Paralympic gold medalist who spent the last 25 years as the "Man In Motion" raising more than $200 million for spinal cord injury research, carrying the Olympic flame -- WOW -- to be even remotely connected to that and have the opportunity to work again at the Olympics is just unbelievable! I am so proud and thankful to be part of the Edelman team.

So happy to be at the Olympics again.

Living the dream. Go Canada Go!

2,417 Days Ago ...

Paraphrasing today's cover story of 24H newspaper, 2,417 days ago the IOC announced Vancouver to host the 2010 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games. At long last, today is the day they begin.

Walking along False Creek this morning, with the Olympic Village across the water and B.C. Place all decked out on the horizon, was incredibly inspiring. And on the streets people are all smiles and proclaiming "It's finally here!"

For all the preparations, for all the planning, for all the anticipation and chasing the Olympic starting line, it's time to quote Sean Connery in The Untouchables, who proclaimed (after pursuing a bootlegger from the Canadian border crossing to a little log cabin, calling a halt to their chase), "Alright! Enough of this running sh*t!"

Another news source this morning also posted word leaked from the Opening Ceremony rehearsals, affirming at least four of the Canadian performers listed in the survey to the right of this column -- a nice mix of new faces and Olympic veteran performers. We could hear one of them singing as we walked to Gastown on Wednesday night. Can hardly wait. Hours away.

There are dozens of items I need to post from the last 48 hours: Sarah Brightman at the Panasonic (client) pavilion; the Canadian Tenors singing "Oh, Canada" at Canada House last night; chatting with Olympic legend Dick Fosbury; Kristi Yamaguchi and Scott Hamilton. I will endeavor to post more during the weekend.

Have a great Olympic Day, Vancouver, and world. The best is yet to come!

POLL: Which Canadian Musicians Will Rock the Olympic Opening Ceremony?

With just days to go until the Vancouver Olympic Opening Ceremony, folks are buzzing about who will perform and represent Canada on the big night Feb. 12.

I'd like to know who you think will perform, so please peruse the Olympic Rings And Other Things poll (on the right side of screen just below the "About Me" section) and click on as many names as you like.

If you know a Canadian musician who is not listed but you believe may perform, please email that name to me or post a comment (I might add names to the poll, but only Canadians).

Happy clicking!

Update: Dang it all! I thought that k.d. lang was on the poll, and only now realized she was left off by mistake. But I do think she should be on the poll (sorry, k.d. lang and fans) -- unfortunately, now that there are votes posted, she cannot be added. So noting her here in this update -- if you want to vote for her, please send me an e-mail.

Gaga for GRAMMY Awards (and Olympics)

Around the office we've been placing our bets on which Canadian icons -- with or without GRAMMY Awards (set to air tonight) -- might pop up as performers at the 2010 Olympic Opening Ceremonies at B.C. Place.

Of course, Olympic vet Celine Dion, who performed "The Power of the Dream" (the official song of the 1996 Olympic Torch Relay) at Atlanta's Olympic Opening Ceremony, tops the list for Feb. 12 festivities. I'm betting on some other Grammy winners, like Avril Lavigne (who played at Torino's 2006 Olympic Closing Ceremony), or Alanis Morissette (whose music was EVERYWHERE leading up to the 1996 Games).

And then there's dark horse candidates like Canadian icon Leonard Cohen, or a return Olympic performance by k.d. lang, who Canada introduced to the world at the 1988 Calgary Olympic Opening Ceremony.

Lady Gaga does not yet have an Olympic connection, but she's hot these days (but not Canadian). Ke$ha is on the charts, too, but again is sans Canadian roots.

My personal hope is that U2 will perform, given their worldwide appeal. But even if Bono eats Canadian bacon, it would be a stretch (my personal hope for 1996 was the R.E.M. of Georgia would perform in Atlanta, and it still is shocking and disappointing they didn't).

Who else should be on the short list for Feb. 12 appearances, song-wise? Who is going to sing the Canadian national anthem? Please share your thoughts as I need to learn more Canada stars while in town.