Citius Altius Fortius ... Simultaneous

The Olympic Motto Citius Altius Fortius always had a nice ring to it.  I like Friday night's addition: Simultaneous.

Faster Higher Stronger Together was just one of several takeaways inspiring reflection since Tokyo's moving if muted Olympic opening ceremony. 

Like most of the world sidelined by the pandemic-enforced spectator ban, my "attendance" this time was via home viewing both through NBC's live morning broadcast and the heavily-editing evening rerun. 

There are many elements of the ceremony this five-ring-inspired writer loved (in no particular order):

• Olympic rings constructed of wood harvested from trees planted when athletes of the Tokyo 1964 Olympics brought seeds to the Games 57 years ago. The portable "Olympic Village" structures also provided a great surface for tap dancing

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  An original and marvelously elaborate dress by fashion designer Tomo Koizumi worn during the Japan national anthem performance by Misia, a nod to LGBQT inclusion (see photo below)

• Olympic drones -- more than 1,800 of them -- provided by Intel as announced in their June 2017 Worldwide Partnership press event. Loved what they achieved over Tokyo Olympic Stadium (a giant leap from the weather-sidelined debut in PyeongChang)

• Minimally-intrusive narration and commentary by NBC hosts Savannah Guthrie and Mike Tirico (this was my first time watching a live opening on TV since 1992, and they did a great job sharing facts while knowing when to let moments unfurl on their own)

• Kinetic pictograms from Tokyo 1964 to the brilliant live performance of their 2020 edition

• Another innovative and original Olympic cauldron design (see video at base of this post)

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  Jazz-scored comedic video of a control room operator illuminating Tokyo Olympic venues before casting a spotlight on live performers including a knockout piano solo by Hiromi Uehara

• Parade of nations camera work that generally placed athletes much closer to viewers (close enough to count Olympic pins on their lanyards and lapels or see the smiles in their eyes on their mask-covered faces)

• Release of digital projection and paper doves set to a new-to-my-ears version of "Wings To Fly" in a recorded performance by Susan Boyle, who affirmed via Twitter "it was a true honour to be asked by the #TokyoOlympics to use by song ... during the dove release."

There were also a few head-scratchers:

• Final torchbearers entered the stadium accompanied by Maurice Ravel's "Bolero," perhaps foreshadowing the matching hairstyles of Naomi Osaka and Bo Derek as seen in the comedy "10" (which famously relied on the same music for a memorable effect)

• Yet another Olympic ceremony (the third or fourth) featuring John Lennon's "Imagine" -- I like the song, and it was certainly appropriate (maybe more now than in past ceremonies), but it's getting overplayed (would have welcomed/preferred an original song to inspire togetherness)

• While NBC aptly cut much of IOC President Thomas Bach's long-winded speech for their evening broadcast, WTF was that weird and unnecessary promo reel featuring "The Rock" Johnson (other than another delay to Team USA entering the stadium)? The promo added more time and had no messages worthy of viewer attention. Ridiculous!

A couple of hours after the live broadcast, the IOC press office distributed the full text of Bach's remarks. While the speech would have benefited from many edits for brevity, his positive messages resonated with me. 

As armchair quarterback, I'd have substituted "solidarity" with "togetherness" to strengthen the point. We still needed Bach not The Rock!

And while no breaths were held waiting for Bach to do so, I was secretly hoping he might drop in a stern message to anyone in the world with vaccine access not choosing to get vaccinated. 

"Get vaccinated, dummies!" would have had a nice ring to it. 

Photos via Reuters, Getty Images, AFP/Getty Images and China News. Video via Reuters.

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

Rio Olympic Cauldron = Poetry In Motion

I'm still learning about the new Rio Olympic Cauldron, which is on par with London's very original and creative design unveiled for years ago.

Local TV showed the designer's name and the public display of the cauldron now at Rio Olympic Boulevard, the astounding waterfront live site for the Games, but I was not yet able to capture the name to post here.

Wondering if the British design studio for 2012 (reported here) played a role for 2016 as well.

What I love most about the 2016 cauldron design is the first-ever mobile elements that, when leveraged theatrically last night, inspired a light show similar to the Lasershow Spectacular in Mountainvision at client Stone Mountain Park in Atlanta.

As the opening ceremony crowds poured out of Maracana stadium on Friday evening, I spotted an open gate from section 124 to the floor of the stadium.

So just like that Brazilian supermodel who crossed the stadium during "The Girl From Ipanema" segment, my friend Joanne and I transversed Maracana unfettered by security.

In fact, most of the security and volunteers were enjoying some exclusive "selfie time" with the Olympic flame (one joyous police officer even snapped a photo for me!).

Check out this video of the Rio Olympic Cauldron in motion and please share it with those you think may enjoy:

Photos and video by and copyright Nicholas Wolaver may not be reused without permission. 

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

Don't Fence Me In

David Byrne (who celebrates his birthday on May 14, like yours truly) recorded my favorite version of the Cole Porter tune "Don't Fence Me In," and apt melody for news coverage of VANOC's ludicrous decision to place the 2010 Olympic Cauldron in a location "off limits" to the masses in the Olympic City.

I'm sorry, but for all their successes, VANOC's and the RCMP's decisions on this topic remain just plain stupid.

Their explanation of the decision (I suspect infused with messaging from the feds) perhaps takes things to the "galactically stupid" level.

We need SNL's Seth Meyers and Amy Pohler incredulously asking "Really!?!" at VANOC's next press conference on the Cauldron/fence topic.

Fortunately, some sensible passersby or helpful security guards near the International Broadcast Center in Vancouver took it upon themselves to "tear down this [fabric bunting-covered] wall [chain-link fence]" to provide some visual access of the cauldron from a distance. At least one may now place their camera lens up to the fence to get a shot of the VANOC staff hanging out under their cauldron.

The cauldron, in my opinion, is interesting and beautiful. When they fired it up in the Opening Ceremony, the building was warm and spirits were aglow. One can feel the same heat outdoors at the "public" location.

The design reminds me of the "Fortress of Solitude" that grew out of the Arctic ice when Clark Kent tossed the green crystal in "Superman: The Movie," the film that had the great John Williams-composition "Can You Read My Mind."

VANOC and RCMP, can you please re-read the minds of tens of thousands of your customers (the world, which you are hosting)?

Take down that fence!