Opening Ceremony of Beijing Olympic Games 2008: Detailed Information
‘Dancing Beijing’ is the official logo of Beijing Olympic Games 2008. But, not only Beijing, rather the whole world is now dancing with the excitement of Beijing Olympics Games 2008, officially starting from August 8, 2008. The biggest sporting occasion is expected to start with a eye-catching opening ceremony on Friday.
“One World One Dream” is the theme slogan of Beijing Olympics Games 2008, and no doubt, the whole world now has the same dream- the dream to experience a grand Olympics Games in Beijing. From 210,000 entries submitted from around the world, “One World One Dream” was selected as the theme slogan for the games, considering that these four words reveal the true spirit of Olympic Games.
‘Fuwa’ dolls, designed by Chinese artist Han Meilin, are the official mascot of Beijing Olympics Games 2008. Fuwa dolls are considered as ‘good-luck dolls’ in China. Five ‘Fuwa’ dolls: Beibei, Jingjing, Huanhuan, Yingying, and Nini- in different colors represent the five different-colored Olympics rings and Chinese culture. The five names of Fuwa dolls mean the sentence “Beijing welcomes you”.
After three public rehearsals on July 30, August 2 and 5, the organizers and the performers are now ready to present a gleaming opening ceremony of Beijing Olympics Games. Here, I am giving some details about the opening ceremony of Beijing Olympics Games 2008:
Opening Ceremony of Beijing Olympics Games 2008
As Olympic Games is the biggest sporting event in the world, the opening ceremony of Olympic Games is also something special and equally attractive to the fans from around the world. In fact, it is one of the most viewed television program across the world. The opening ceremony of Beijing Olympics will be no different. In the presence of celebrities and world leaders from around the world, Beijing Olympics is expected to present a glittering and sparkling ceremony with performances by singers, acrobats and others. Music, fire works, artistic performance featuring folk and ethnic art, gorgeous flash of lighting etc. all will be there in the opening ceremony to amuse the spectators and television viewers. All the performances will provide the sports fans with a glimpse of Chinese culture, heritage and civilization. Opening ceremony will be held in the presence of more than 80 state leaders from around the world.
The opening ceremony will be held at the Beijing National Stadium known as “Bird’s Nest” on 8 August 2008. The number 8 is considered as the sign of prosperity and confidence in Chinese culture. The opening ceremony will formally start at 8:00 p.m. China Standard Time (CST) and 12:00 UTC.
However, there will be a “pre-ceremony” performance which will continue 1 hour and 15 minutes, starting from 5:45 pm (CST) to 7:00 pm (CST). 28 teams comprising of artistic professional performers from all over China will stage 28 folk and ethnic art-based performances in the “pre-ceremony” display. At 7:00 pm (CST), an audience orientation will be held.
The 3 and half hour long opening ceremony will formally begin at 8:00 pm (CST) and will continue till 11:30 pm (CST). At first, there will be several performances including display of Olympic rings, entrance and raising of the national flags and welcoming the opening ceremony. These performances will be followed by the performing arts part of the opening ceremony of Beijing Olympic Games.
The artistic performance is the most important part of the opening ceremony. This artistic performance includes two parts: first part showcasing the glorious Chinese civilization and its history, while the second part focusing on the magnificent modern Chinese era. This artistic performance will continue for an hour, presenting the characteristics of the nation and the features of the time. Performers will use painting scrolls which is new to China. This one-hour long artistic extravaganza will also include traditional performance showcasing its age-old civilization. Usage of beautiful colors and creative arts will mark the ceremony at international standard. At the end of the artistic performance, the theme song of Beijing Olympics Games 2008 will be staged by Chinese singer Liu Huan and British singer Sarah Brightman. Nothing about content of the three-minute long theme song has yet come out. About 90,000 lyrics and more than 1,000 songs were received by the organizers for the theme song of the Beijing Olympic Games.
After the hour long performing arts, there will be two and a half hours remaining in the opening ceremony of Beijing Olympics. Activities which are due to take place in this part of the ceremony include marching of athletes representing 205 countries across the world. Approximately, 10,500 athletes will take part in 302 events in 28 sports included in Beijing Olympics Games 2008. Marching order for the athletes of different countries will be based on the order of strokes of the simplified Chinese characters. However, traditionally Greece will be the first team to enter into the stadium to march.
Then addresses by BOCOG Chairman and IOC Chairman will be followed by the declaration of opening the games by Chinese president Hu Jintao. Some other Olympic rituals including the entrance and raising of Olympic flags, releasing doves- symbolizing peace, torch relay and the lighting up the Olympics flame in the stadium will be done. The Olympic torch in the stadium will be kept lightening until the Beijing Olympics Games 2008 comes to end. However, it has not yet been revealed that who will light the flame of Olympics torch as the last torch bearer.
The opening ceremony will be concluded with spectacular display of fireworks. No doubt, fireworks display is one of the biggest attractions of Olympic opening ceremony and this year will be no different. The colorful fireworks will be seen throughout the opening ceremony of this year’s Olympic Games. New types of fireworks will be launched this year using the high technology content. Those who will not be able to get into the stadium will also be able to enjoy the fireworks from outside of the stadium as the organizers set up a large area around the venue for the people of Beijing. About 15,000 shells will be used for fireworks in the opening ceremony.
About 15,000 performers will perform in the opening ceremony of Beijing Olympics Games. Among the performers, one third are from military and the rest of the performers comprise of artistic professional performers and students.
If you want to know about the tickets of various events at Beijing Olympics Games 2008, then visit the official ticketing website of the Beijing 2008 Olympics Games.
Bad Weather and Rain may Hit the Beijing Olympic Games Opening Ceremony
Beijing Meteorological Bureau has forecasted a bad weather and some rain showers on 8th August evening. So, organizers are in fear for a possible bad weather that could mar the extensive fireworks display scheduled to take place in the opening ceremony. However, there is no sign of heavy rain, but a small rain could affect the performance of opening ceremony.
In case of any rain, the organizers have alternative plan. Organizers expressed that they were fully prepared with contingency plan for cloudy weather or some showers. Organizers think that drizzle or some small shower would be affect the opening ceremony, but if there is middle rain then some of the performances would be excluded from the pre-scheduled program on the night of opening ceremony.
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Also read:
2008 Beijing Olympic Games Opening Ceremony – 15 FACTS
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