"Beautiful Olympics" Opening Ceremony To Honor Ancient China
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Liu To Be One Of Singers Participating
In Friday's Opening Ceremony |
Friday's Opening Ceremony "will be called 'Beautiful Olympics' and it will be divided into two parts -- 'Splendid Culture' and 'Great Times,'" according to Clifford Coonan of DAILY VARIETY. During the ceremony, British singer Sarah Brightman and Chinese singer Liu Huan will sing the main theme song for the Games. The name of the song has not been disclosed (DAILY VARIETY, 8/6). The GLOBE & MAIL's Geoffrey York reports the ceremony will be a "glitzy show." Leaks from rehearsals "suggest there will be no mention of Mao or any other Communist, but plenty of ancient dynasties, calligraphy, painting, giant scrolls and a quotation from Confucius about the pleasure of welcoming 'friends who visit from afar.'" The event also "will emphasize the 'Four Great Inventions' -- printing, papermaking, gunpowder and the compass -- that China gave to the world." It is "a way of evoking Chinese pride in its ancient -- rather than revolutionary -- history" (GLOBE & MAIL, 8/6). NBC's Meredith Vieira, who was in DC, asked "Today" co-host Matt Lauer, who is in Beijing, if he could "spill a little" about the Opening Ceremony. Lauer: “I can’t spill anything, but I will tell you this -- and this is not hype, this is a fact. It is bigger than any Opening Ceremony you have ever seen as part of an Olympic Games. It is truly astonishing" ("Today," NBC, 8/6).
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Many See Yao As Candidate
To Be Final Torchbearer |
FANNING THE FLAME: AROUND THE RINGS' Hula, Min & Lee report though BOCOG "guards the identity of the final torchbearer" at the Opening Ceremony, Chinese men's basketball team C Yao Ming and former Chinese gold medalist shooter Xu Haifeng, the country's first Olympic gold medalist, "are among the prospects" for the honor. BOCOG confirmed that both "will take part in the relay." Of the final torchbearers, 232 are members of BOCOG, 90 are members of national Olympic committees, 60 are members of the IOC and 170 are associated with sponsors, with the remaining 289 torchbearers "handpicked by the Beijing city government." Meanwhile, the Beijing National Stadium, which will host the event, is "the most expensive item on Beijing's insurance inventory ... covered for some $500[M]." People's Insurance Company of China Vice CEO Wang He, whose company is the Games' insurance partner, said, "The amount is 1.5 times higher than the cost of the stadium." The insurance plan "will cover the whole of the Olympic Games and Paralympics, including some 150,000 personnel, 8,000 vehicles, as well as all the competition venues in Beijing and six other co-host cities" (AROUNDTHERINGS.com, 8/5).
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