The Chinese did it again! They made it sure na kung gaano ka-impressive ang opening ceremonies nila, ganon din ang ginawa nila sa kanilang closing ceremonies. Once again, Beijing wowed the world with exhilarating performances showing how good they can be when it comes to mammoth events like this.
Eh ikaw ba naman ang maging bansa ng more than a billion people, you really won’t go short of all too-willing volunteers. In fact more than a million daw ang nag-volunteer para doon sa olympics and I would assume kasama na doon yong libo-libong dancers, acrobats, singers and others including those who form human chain providing a very effective crowd controllers. Buti naman they were given a moment on stage so the Chinese government can show their appreciation to these unpaid volunteers who worked so hard to make their olympics a success.
Dyan lang ako bilib sa kanila, mereseng walang bayad ang pagpapagod nila, they will still do their part of making an impression to the outside world. Masasakit na nga siguro ang mga panga nila sa kaka-smile all day and yet cameras won’t catch a single volunteer frowning. All for the love of their country. Something we, Pinoys, should really be mulling over. Kaya ba natin ang ganong level of patriotism? I hope so.
Back to the closing ceremonies, again, I was awed with the program. The first production number was again superb using thousands of performers in their yellow gowns with bell trinkets all over them. Huge drums were suspended in the air. Then the stadium was dimmed at pumasok yong mga malalaking luminous unicycle.
The usual Olympic formalities followed. And normally, tapos na talaga yong event after the torch was extinguished. Party time na dapat yon where the athletes have the entire field to themselves to dance away the night.
But in Beijing, they do it differently. Tuloy-tuloy pa rin ang show. They unveiled a Memory Tower where hundreds of performers climb effortlessly na parang wala talagang pull of gravity sa mga katawan nila. Thanks of course to the harness. And the 16 huge strips of cloth that covered the tower then eventually lifted making the Bird’s Nest grounds one huge ball room! Galing ng concept!
The show was flavoured with futuristic numbers via their floating spacemen na nag-a-acrobatics some 100 feet above the ground. As well as the men descending from the top of the tower na akala moy mga lumilipad na space warriors. Pero hindi pa rin nila totally inalis ang culture nila. They took the opportunity to showcase their musical talents.
There was a group of six divas who sang a song about the moon na kahit parang pinupunit na lata ang mga boses at hindi ko maintindihan ang lyrics, alam kong maganda yong song. Nandoon din yong kanilang pop stars na kumanta with singers from 50 different countries – our very own Eric Santos reportedly being one of them. Unfortunately, ni hindi ko nakita si Eric sa screen. Obviously, ginawa lang silang pampa-dami ng tao sa stage and were used as backdrop to the two Chinese lead singers, Jackie Chan and a few other Chinese entertainment figures. (Kaya siguro hindi masyadong played-up sa local entertainment programs yong stint ni Eric).
What’s cool is that Placido Domingo had a duet with this Chinese soprano who sang her part in Chinese while Placido does his thing in Italian. Pero ang ganda ng naging blending. Over lang sa OA ang attire ni diva, nahilo yata ako sa pagkislap ng kanyang gown.
And of course, nandoon ulit yong awesome fireworks including two bursts of lights forming the Olympic Rings followed by some 100 tonnes of pyrotechnics. Siguradong nadagdagan na naman ang pollution sa Beijing skyline kagabi.
Kahit pa siguro nagkaroon ng kaunting ‘daya’ yong opening ceremonies nila (where the organizers admitted feeding international media pre-taped fireworks plus lip-synch lang yong cute na little girl), we can’t take away the fact that the Chinese did one helluva job for this event. The creativity, the concepts, the grandeur and the sheer size of it simply says they want to be the best in the world. They’ve made this statement four years back in Athens when they gave us a sneak peek of what to expect in Beijing.
Unfortunately, if the performance last night by the London contingency is going to be the gauge for what we will expect for 2012, I’d say it’s gonna be boring. Leona Lewis, a pathetic ‘transformer’ bus and an ageing pop rocker doesn’t impress me. Even David Beckham doesn’t spell AWESOME for me the way Beijing did. They’ve gotta do better than that.
Eh ikaw ba naman ang maging bansa ng more than a billion people, you really won’t go short of all too-willing volunteers. In fact more than a million daw ang nag-volunteer para doon sa olympics and I would assume kasama na doon yong libo-libong dancers, acrobats, singers and others including those who form human chain providing a very effective crowd controllers. Buti naman they were given a moment on stage so the Chinese government can show their appreciation to these unpaid volunteers who worked so hard to make their olympics a success.
Dyan lang ako bilib sa kanila, mereseng walang bayad ang pagpapagod nila, they will still do their part of making an impression to the outside world. Masasakit na nga siguro ang mga panga nila sa kaka-smile all day and yet cameras won’t catch a single volunteer frowning. All for the love of their country. Something we, Pinoys, should really be mulling over. Kaya ba natin ang ganong level of patriotism? I hope so.
Back to the closing ceremonies, again, I was awed with the program. The first production number was again superb using thousands of performers in their yellow gowns with bell trinkets all over them. Huge drums were suspended in the air. Then the stadium was dimmed at pumasok yong mga malalaking luminous unicycle.
The usual Olympic formalities followed. And normally, tapos na talaga yong event after the torch was extinguished. Party time na dapat yon where the athletes have the entire field to themselves to dance away the night.
But in Beijing, they do it differently. Tuloy-tuloy pa rin ang show. They unveiled a Memory Tower where hundreds of performers climb effortlessly na parang wala talagang pull of gravity sa mga katawan nila. Thanks of course to the harness. And the 16 huge strips of cloth that covered the tower then eventually lifted making the Bird’s Nest grounds one huge ball room! Galing ng concept!
The show was flavoured with futuristic numbers via their floating spacemen na nag-a-acrobatics some 100 feet above the ground. As well as the men descending from the top of the tower na akala moy mga lumilipad na space warriors. Pero hindi pa rin nila totally inalis ang culture nila. They took the opportunity to showcase their musical talents.
There was a group of six divas who sang a song about the moon na kahit parang pinupunit na lata ang mga boses at hindi ko maintindihan ang lyrics, alam kong maganda yong song. Nandoon din yong kanilang pop stars na kumanta with singers from 50 different countries – our very own Eric Santos reportedly being one of them. Unfortunately, ni hindi ko nakita si Eric sa screen. Obviously, ginawa lang silang pampa-dami ng tao sa stage and were used as backdrop to the two Chinese lead singers, Jackie Chan and a few other Chinese entertainment figures. (Kaya siguro hindi masyadong played-up sa local entertainment programs yong stint ni Eric).
What’s cool is that Placido Domingo had a duet with this Chinese soprano who sang her part in Chinese while Placido does his thing in Italian. Pero ang ganda ng naging blending. Over lang sa OA ang attire ni diva, nahilo yata ako sa pagkislap ng kanyang gown.
And of course, nandoon ulit yong awesome fireworks including two bursts of lights forming the Olympic Rings followed by some 100 tonnes of pyrotechnics. Siguradong nadagdagan na naman ang pollution sa Beijing skyline kagabi.
Kahit pa siguro nagkaroon ng kaunting ‘daya’ yong opening ceremonies nila (where the organizers admitted feeding international media pre-taped fireworks plus lip-synch lang yong cute na little girl), we can’t take away the fact that the Chinese did one helluva job for this event. The creativity, the concepts, the grandeur and the sheer size of it simply says they want to be the best in the world. They’ve made this statement four years back in Athens when they gave us a sneak peek of what to expect in Beijing.
Unfortunately, if the performance last night by the London contingency is going to be the gauge for what we will expect for 2012, I’d say it’s gonna be boring. Leona Lewis, a pathetic ‘transformer’ bus and an ageing pop rocker doesn’t impress me. Even David Beckham doesn’t spell AWESOME for me the way Beijing did. They’ve gotta do better than that.
go of the images. That’s why I don’t watch scary movies. I want to be entertained, not frightened.
