Jump to content

2008 Summer Olympics opening ceremony

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 59.149.32.77 (talk) at 17:48, 14 August 2008 (→Lip-syncing and fireworks controversy: minor edit). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

File:BeijingOlimpicGames2008-08-08.jpg
A scene at the opening ceremony
Olympic rings
Part of a series on
2008 Summer Olympics

The 2008 Summer Olympics Opening Ceremony was held at the Beijing National Stadium, also known as the Bird's Nest. It began at 8:00 pm China Standard Time (UTC+8) on 8 August 2008.[1][2][3][4] The number 8 is associated with prosperity and confidence in Chinese culture.[5] Organisers claim that the stadium was full to its 91,000 capacity.[6]

The ceremony was directed by Chinese filmmaker Zhang Yimou, with Chinese choreographers Zhang Jigang and Chen Weiya as deputies.[7][8][9] It was noted for its focus on ancient Chinese culture, and for its creativity. The musical score for the ceremony was arranged by composer Tan Dun. The final ascent to the torch featured Olympic gymnast Li Ning, who appeared to run through air around the top ring of the stadium. Featuring more than 15,000 performers, the ceremony lasted over four hours and was reported to have cost over US$300 million to produce.[10] The opening ceremony was lauded by spectators and various international presses as spectacular and spellbinding.[11]

Event program

China's national flag carried into National Stadium
Performers dance on the surface of an illuminated sphere in the middle of National Stadium
Fireworks during the ceremony
  1. 1-Hour Pre-Show: Beijing 2008 Olympics
  2. The Arrival of Chinese President Hu Jintao and the President of IOC
  3. 60-seconds Countdown and Fou Drum Performance
  4. Welcome Fireworks
  5. Welcome
  6. Footprints of History
  7. Olympic Rings
  8. Entry: Chinese National Flag
  9. Raising the National Flag
  10. Singing the Chinese National Anthem
  11. Prelude: Beautiful Olympic
  12. Painting Scroll
  13. Chinese Writing (Calligraphy)
  14. Silk Road (By Land and By Sea)
  15. Chinese Traditional Music and Peking Opera
  16. Starlight
  17. Nature (Tai-Chi)
  18. Parade of Nations: Athletes' Entry
  19. President of BOCOG
  20. President of IOC Speech
  21. Declaration of the Opening
  22. Entry: Olympic Flag
  23. Raising the Olympic Flag
  24. Singing the Olympic Anthem
  25. Athletes' and Officials' Oath
  26. Dove Release
  27. The Journey of the Torch
  28. Lighting of Flame Cauldron
  29. Celebration Fireworks

Attending heads of state

More than 100 heads of state, heads of government and sovereigns attended the opening ceremony.[12][13] The number of heads of state who attended the opening ceremony was by far the largest in Olympic history.[14][15][16]

Sequence of events

Welcoming ceremony

The opening ceremony proper began with a contemporary drum sequence by 2,008 Fou drummers[18] on a backdrop of a giant LED paper scroll, representing the first great Chinese invention, paper, and displaying animated graphics. The LED-embedded Fou drums and their glowing drumsticks were lit up by the drummers. In formation, the drummers lit their drums to form giant digits (in both Arabic and Chinese numerals) to countdown the final seconds to the Games and herald the start of the opening time of 8:00 p.m. local time, in continuation of the 8/08/08 opening date. [19][20]

A trail of 29 colossal firework footprints were set off at the rate of 1 per second, one after another, from outside the Stadium, marching along Beijing city's central axis into the national stadium.[21] They symbolized each of the 29 Olympiads, and celebrated the invention of gunpowder, which is one of the Four Great Inventions of ancient China. (However, Gao Xiaolong, head of the Opening Ceremony's visual effects team, admitted that, save for the very last footprint, the footprint fireworks broadcast on TV were all computer generated).[22]

Next, twenty "fairies" were suspended in midair as they hovered near giant Olympic rings[23], each holding 45,000 beads.[24] The Olympics rings were then lifted up high vertically to show the complete Olympics emblem.

Attention was then turned to 56 young children representing the 56 ethnic groups of modern China, each donning their ethnic costume. They marched in the flag of the People's Republic of China as a young girl in red, 9-year-old Lin Miaoke, was seen performing Ode to the Motherland while listeners heard the voice of Yang Peiyi, a seven-year-old.[25] Some controversial phrases in the lyrics of Ode to the Motherland like "But if anyone dares to infringe upon our peaceful home, We will render him to death!" were removed. [26] Audiences did not learn of the role of Yan Peiyi in the opening ceremonies until several days later when music director Chen Qigang acknowledged in a Beijing Radio interview that Lin had been chosen to sing in part for her "flawless [...] image, internal feeling, and expression" while Yang Peiyi had been chosen for her voice.[25]

The flag of the People's Republic of China was then handed over to People's Liberation Army soldiers and its anthem was sung by a 224-member choir while the flag was raised.

Artistic section

Fireworks explode above the National Stadium

At the prelude to the section, "Beautiful Olympics", a short film was screened depicting the making of paper, another of the Four Great Inventions. Ceramics, porcelain vessels and other Chinese fine arts artifacts were beamed on a giant scroll slowly unfurling. At its center was a piece of white canvas paper, which then ushered in a performance of black-costumed dancers whose hands hid brushes that had been dipped in ink. They performed a dance while leaving their squirming trails on the block of white paper, reminiscent of Chinese ink and wash art.[27]

The giant scroll was then removed to show a fluid array of 897 movable type blocks that formed three variations of the character 和 (harmony), representing the third great Chinese invention: the movable type press. The character was shown, consecutively, in Bronze inscription, Seal script and modern Songti kaishu (Modern Chinese Script). 810 Han Dynasty-era performers representing the 3000 Disciples of Confucius, wearing feathered headgears and carrying bamboo slips, recited excerpts from the Analects: "Isn't it great to have friends coming from afar?" and "All men are brothers within the four seas." The blocks changed swiftly into a small-sized version of the Great Wall, which then sprouted peach blossoms, the Chinese symbol for openness.[28][29] At the end of the sequence the tops of the "movable type" blocks came off to reveal 897 performers, who waved vigorously to the crowds.

A scene of Beijing opera performers

The next segment saw ancient terracotta soldiers and Chinese opera[30], followed by a Beijing opera puppetry performance. The different types of Beijing opera performers were also enacted.

Actors' performance

Next, a troupe of female dancers dressed in Tang-era clothing entered, suspended by a rectangular extension held by hundreds of performers. On the ground was the map of the Silk Road. Another procession of men, in blue dress, with oars forming pictures of junks, symbolized the voyages of Zheng He. There was a celebration of the next great Chinese invention, the compass, which was in its ancient form, a metal spoon floating in a fluid suspensible vessel.

The next segment featured the kunqu, one of the oldest extant Chinese operas, with two opera artistes, a male singing and a female accompanying on a guqin, as a celebration of music in China. Another male performer with a large Chinese brush added further depth to the scroll painting while accompanied by the sounds of the guqin.

At this point, two rows of royal dragon pillars called huabiao (华表) emerged as pink and orange fireworks were set off overhead, followed by a segment where pianists Lang Lang and five-year-old Li Muzi[31] performed a melody from the Yellow River Cantata. Around the pianists a sea of rainbow-coloured luminescent performers swayed in wave-like unison to symbolize the flow of the Yellow River. The illuminated dancers, symbolizing modern-day China, then arranged themselves in the shape of the Dove of Peace, whose wings were then set into motion as the performers moved about.

Next, one thousand performers in green costume formed the "bird-nest" shape of the Beijing National Stadium. A young girl flew a kite at mid-air, suspended from wires, as performers flickered light in an intricate pattern.

A Tai Chi performance by 2,008 Tai Chi masters[32] in white showed the fluid movements achieved when in harmony with nature.

Next came a skit with schoolchildren drawing and colouring on the giant scroll and chanting poetry. These were the same children representing the 56 ethnic groups of China. They symbolized a "Green Olympics" (to "protect the world"). As their sequence drew to an end, the giant white paper was lifted vertically to reveal a drawing of mountains and waters with a smiling face as the sun.

There was a light presentation showing brightly-coloured flying birds, symbolizing the rebirth of the phoenix and the "bird-nest" stadium itself.

The next segment saw the arrival of the astronaut - symbolizing modern space exploration with a gigantic, 60-feet, 16-tonned[33] ball structure representing the earth. 58 acrobats tumbled rightside up, sideways or upside down on its surface, which was then transformed into a glowing Chinese red lantern.

The Chinese singer Liu Huan and British singer Sarah Brightman, standing on the central platform, sang the 2008 Olympic theme song: You and Me.[34]

2,008 performers then held out parasols with smiling faces of young children.[35] This was followed by red and orange fireworks in the form of smiley faces. The representatives from the 56 ethnic groups danced a vigorous folk dance.

Parade of nations

See also: 2008 Summer Olympics national flag bearers

Finally, the athletes taking part in the 29th Olympiad parade of nations marched out to the centre of the Stadium.

In accordance with Olympic tradition, the national team of Greece entered first; the host country came last. As Chinese is written in characters and not letters, the order of the teams' entry was determined by the number of strokes in the first character of their respective countries' Simplified Chinese names.[36] Countries with the same number of strokes in the first character are sorted by those of the next character.[citation needed] This made Guinea (几内亚) the second country to enter following Greece as it only takes two strokes to write the first character in the country's name (几). Australia (澳大利亚) marched 202nd, just ahead of Zambia (赞比亚), which was the last country to march before China. [37] The first characters of these countries' names (澳 and 赞) are both written 16 strokes; the second characters (大 and 比) are three and four strokes respectively.

Announcers in the stadium read off the names of the marching nations in French, English, and Standard Mandarin with music accompanying the athletes as they marched into the stadium. The leading signs of delegations, carried by young Chinese women in stylish red dresses, had their names in these three languages printed in Chinese calligraphy style. Chinese names of most states were condensed to their short form when possible. For example, Bosnia and Herzegovina (波斯尼亚和黑塞哥维那) entered as Bohei (波黑) in Chinese, while Saudi Arabia (沙特阿拉伯) entered as simply Shate (沙特). The exception was the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, which entered in Chinese as its full designation (前南斯拉夫马其顿共和国) because of the Macedonia naming dispute. China entered as People's Republic of China in English and French, but simply as Zhongguo (中国) in Chinese.

The athletes marched along the tracks toward the center of the stadium, which was encircled by white-capped Chinese cheerleaders welcoming each contingent. As they did so, they would step on colored ink before treading on the Chinese painting done earlier by the children and the performance artists.

Unlike in previous years, North and South Korea did not send a unified team; their athletes marched in separately as Korea Republic (South Korea, Chinese: 韩国) and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea, Chinese: 朝鲜民主主义人民共和国).[38] Taiwan marched under the name "Chinese Taipei" (Chinese: 中华台北) per a 1989 agreement - and the Chinese media has seemed to follow suit, referring to Taiwan as Zhonghua Taibei (Chinese: 中華台北).[39][40]

The Chinese contingent, which was last, was led by Yao Ming and Lin Hao, the 9-year-old primary school student who had rescued two schoolmates during the 2008 Sichuan Earthquake.[41][42]

Speeches by the Presidents

Liu Qi, the head of the Beijing Olympic Organizing Committee, gave a speech in Mandarin welcoming the athletes. Jacques Rogge, the President of the International Olympic Committee, followed with a speech in English, praising the Chinese for their warm reception and effort. He urged the athletes to "have fun" and to reject doping and performance enhancement drugs. This reminder was reiterated in French. Afterward, Hu Jintao, the President of the People's Republic of China, formally announced the opening of the 2008 Summer Olympics.[43]

The Olympic flag was carried in by eight former athletes from China. They were:

They then passed on the flag to soldiers of the Liberation Army as the flag was raised and the Olympic anthem played. A multinational chorus of 80 children sang the Olympic Anthem in Greek. Chinese table tennis champion Zhang Yining and arbiter Huang Liping took the Olympic oath, representing athletes and officials respectively.

There was a short dance presentation, followed by bright yellow fireworks - representing the release of doves of peace.

Torch relay and the lighting of the flame cauldron

At this point, the Olympic flame entered the stadium as a continuation of the Beijing relay leg from the outside. The Olympic torch was relayed around the stadium by 7 athletes, and was finally passed on to Li Ning, the former Olympic gymnast champion, the 8th and final athlete.

The eight athletes were, in order:

  • Xu Haifeng (shooting, China's first Olympic gold medalist in any event)
  • Gao Min (diving, China's first repeat Olympic gold medalist in any event)
  • Li Xiaoshuang (gymnastics, China's first gymnastics all-around World Champion and Olympic gold medalist)
  • Zhan Xugang (weightlifting, China's first double Olympic gold medalist in weightlifting)
  • Zhang Jun (badminton)
  • Chen Zhong (taekwondo, China's first taekwondo gold medalist)
  • Sun Jinfang (volleyball, member of team that won China's first major championship in a team sport)
  • Li Ning (gymnastics, China's most decorated athlete at its first Olympics in 1984)

Li Ning, who was suspended by wires, then appeared to run horizontally along the walls of the stadium through to the Olympic cauldron, which at this moment was still undisclosed. As he ran along the upper wall of the stadium, the projection displayed an opening scroll, usually ahead of him, on which was beamed footages of previous torch relays. At the final moment, a spotlight revealed the final resting place of the Olympics flame. A colossal torch situated at the top of the stadium was lit by a proportionately large fuse.[44]

A flurry of spectacular fireworks of various colours and shapes, some projecting Olympic rings, others forming hoops, flower outwards, fountain or float down, accompanied the ending of the ceremony. The ceremony ended at 12:09 am, August 9, 2008 CST, which was later than the time originally planned: 11:30 pm, August 8.

Encore

As the audience started to exit the stadium, singers from Mainland China and Hong Kong came onto the stage to provide music as a way to stall the audience from leaving all at once. Jackie Chan, Karen Mok, Han Hong, and Sun Nan (孙楠) sang the first song, "Stand Up"; while Andy Lau, Nicolas Tse, Joey Yung, Wakin Chau, Wang Feng, and Sun Yue sang the second song, "Cheering for Life". Since the ceremony was already overtime by then, this portion was not televised.[45]

Weather modification

Weather modification technology was used in an attempt to prevent rain during the Ceremony. A total of 1104 rockets were launched to keep rain clouds from entering Beijing.[46]

Originally scheduled

In 2006 the Beijing Organizing Committee (BOCOG) initially chose American film maker Steven Spielberg, Yves Pepin, head of the French entertainment group ECA2, and Sydney Games opening ceremony director Ric Birch as special consultants.[47] In February 2008, Spielberg pulled out of his role as advisor in protest over China’s continuing support of the Sudanese government and the escalating violence in the Darfur region.[48]

Gillian Chung was originally scheduled to be a performer at the opening ceremony, but due to the Edison Chen photo scandal, director Zhang Yimou replaced her and another Hong Kong star (not involved in the photo incident) with PRC C-pop act A-One.[49] A-One was not a part of the performances on August 8.

Glitches and controversies

Injuries

Dancer Liu Yan fell from a three-meter high platform during practice on July 27, 2008 and sustained severe spinal injuries. She was paralyzed waist-down after a three-hour operation. Despite this and despite her not performing in the ceremony proper, deputy director Zhang Jigang has her name written in the program as the lead dancer.[50]

Rehearsal leakage

The South Korean Seoul Broadcasting System (SBS) leaked parts of a rehearsal of the opening ceremony through secret shooting before the actual ceremony, disregarding the prohibition of the Organizing Committee.[51] The video was uploaded at YouTube on July 30, 2008, but was deleted soon after its upload.[52] However, several additional videos have been uploaded by other users.[53][54] An Organizing Committee spokesman indicated that an investigation has been launched on the unauthorized filming.[55] Due to the leakage, on August 6, 2008, the IOC sanctioned SBS from bringing its own cameras inside the stadium during the ceremony.[56]

Technical issue

One of the computers running the Windows XP operating system used for the opening ceremony crashed part way into the ceremony and displayed the Blue Screen of Death for the remainder of the ceremony. The final torch bearer, Li Ning, incidentally flew close by this BSOD but they did not appear together on the broadcast.[57][58]

Lip-syncing and fireworks controversy

The song Ode to the Motherland was recorded beforehand by another young girl, Yang Peiyi, who was replaced by Lin Miaoke to perform at the ceremony because of "image issues". Apparently Yang Peiyi was not pretty enough to appear on television so they used Lin Miaoke to stand in for her.[59][60][61] International Olympic Committee's executive director Gilbert Felli however has defended the use of a more photogenic double.[62] This was not the first time the Olympics Opening Ceremonies involved lip-synching, one such occasion was during the 2006 Winter Olympic opening ceremony in Turin, Italian tenor Luciano Pavarotti lip-synched his own performance because Leone Magiera, the maestro who conducted the aria, felt the cold weather made it difficult for Pavarotti to perform live.[63]

Details: Part 2 of Official Production Documentary

One part of the fireworks show which displayed the 29 footprints that wandered into the Bird’s Nest from outside the stadium, was simulated by computer animation to portray the real fireworks due to the hazy smog conditions and safety concerns with flying a helicopter near the display. [64][65][66]

Reception

Hein Verbruggen, chairman of the IOC Coordination Commission for the XXIX Olympiad, called the ceremony "a grand, unprecedented success."[67]

The AFP called it "a spectacular opening ceremony."[68] The BBC and The Times concurred by calling it a dazzling and spectacular show in Beijing.[69][70] The Associated Press praised the show as spectacular with an extravaganza of pageantry and "interlude of fervor and magic" as well as being "spellbinding" and noted the show steered clear of modern politics.[71] The USA Today described it as an exhilarating display of China's thousands of years of traditions of art and culture[72], and the Art Daily stated it was a celebration of China's ancient history, along with sumptuous costumes from different imperial dynasties.[73] The Spanish media were impressed by the opening ceremony[74], with Antena 3 describing the ceremony as "an astonishing effort," while Cuatro called it "awesome and impressive."[74] Cadena COPE said it was "the most dramatic Olympic opening ceremony ever."[74] Germany's Deutsche Welle also praised it as a spectacular and a firecracker of a show, and a trip through China's rich history.[75]

While praise for the games were generally widespread amongst the world's media[76], a few reviewers were cynical in their reports, with some being outright hostile.[77] The Globe and Mail had a column with title "The iron hand behind the magic show"[78], some questioned the "heavy military theme"[79]. The Mirror columnist Kevin O'Sullivan called the ceremony a snooze feast and said the show is a tedious endurance test of awful Chinese music, fireworks and dragon.[80] O'Sullivan also described the Beijing opera and art of Kunqu as terrible and the sound of "cat's dying".[80] Some Asian news sources were similarly critical, and the Hong Kong-based Asia Times, although praising the show as "stunning opening ceremony...with its panoply of color, painstaking choreography and sweeping portrait of Chinese culture and history - was everything it was supposed to be", referring to the games as one devoid of "fun" in its article headlined "Awe (but no laughter) in Beijing".[81]

Estimates of the global television audience varied: "around one billion" (Reuters);[82] "[e]xperts estimated ... more than two billion" (Wall Street Journal);[83] "2.3 billion" (MindShare);[84] "Billions...probably the largest live television audience in history" (Bloomberg);[85] "3 billion" (Sky News);[86] "nearly 4 billion" (Xinhua);[87] "estimated 4 billion" (McClatchy).[88] This included an estimated 842 million viewers in China, with polls ranging from 63 and 69 percent of the Chinese viewing population, exceeding that of the 51-58 percent who watch the CCTV annual Chinese New Year gala.[82]

The BBC reported five million viewers in the United Kingdom, the Seven Network had 7.8 million viewers in Australia, The Hollywood Reporter said 4.4 million in France watched the ceremony, the ARD estimated 7.72 million viewers in Germany, while in Italy, RAI had 5.5 million viewers. In the United States, the NBC network delayed its telecast by 12 hours for evening primetime viewing, though Americans in markets bordering Canada could watch it on CBC Television, and others watched clips of it earlier on YouTube and other online video websites.[89] Still, it managed to capture 34.2 million viewers according to Nielsen Media Research, making it the most watched Olympic Opening Ceremony ever held in a non-U.S. city by American audiences.[90]

Official Production Documentary

A documentary, The Making of the Opening Ceremony of the Beijing Olympic Games, is officially released, which shows the practices, tools used and idea development of the Ceremony. It also reveals the preparation of Chinese in making footprint-firework with the help of American manufacturers (See Part 2).

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to 2008 Summer Olympics opening ceremony.

References

  1. ^ "Tickets Infomation - The official ticketing website of the BEIJING 2008 Olympic Games".
  2. ^ "Beijing Confirms the Opening Ceremony Time for 2008 Olympics", Travel China Guide. Retrieved on August 2, 2008
  3. ^ "Opening Ceremony plan released". Official website. 2008-08-06. Retrieved 2008-08-08.
  4. ^ "Beijing 2008 As the final seconds ticked away".
  5. ^ "The Number Eight And The Chinese". Retrieved 2007-04-22.
  6. ^ "Spectators awed as Games begin". BBC. 2008-08-09. Retrieved 2008-08-09.
  7. ^ http://en.beijing2008.cn/culture/ceremonies/n214143744.shtml
  8. ^ How the Opening Ceremony was born
  9. ^ Behind the 29th Olympic Opening Ceremony
  10. ^ http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=93420251
  11. ^ "Press hails 'greatest ever' Olympic opening show". Agence France-Presse. 2008-08-09. Retrieved 2008-08-09.
  12. ^ Olympics Opening
  13. ^ Olympic News - Reuters
  14. ^ http://english.people.com.cn/90001/90776/90883/6466194.html
  15. ^ http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-08/07/content_9033271.htm
  16. ^ "Beijing lifts air quality goal for games", World News Australia
  17. ^ Santo Tomas, Jojo (2008-08-09). "2008 Olympics get under way: Judoka Ric Blas Jr. chosen as flagbearer". Pacific Daily News. Retrieved 2008-08-08.
  18. ^ Ancient Chinese music at Beijing Olympics opening
  19. ^ [1]
  20. ^ Beijing dazzles: Chinese history, athletes on parade as Olympics begin August 8, 2008, CBC Sports.
  21. ^ Olympics: the power and the glory - China leaves world awestruck
  22. ^ "CGI faked-fireworks feature in Olympics opening ceremony footage", Davey Winder, 12 August 2008.
  23. ^ [2]
  24. ^ [3] "Opening ceremonies wow crowd". John Henderson, The Denver Post, 8 August 2008.
  25. ^ a b Yardley, Jim (2008-08-13). "In Grand Olympic Show, Some Sleight of Voice". www.newyorktimes.com. The New York Times. Retrieved 2008-08-13.
  26. ^ 中國評論﹕京奧開幕式看不一樣的中國
  27. ^ Feature: Chinese culture shines at dazzling Olympics opening ceremony 2008-08-09.
  28. ^ [4]
  29. ^ Olympics: the power and the glory - China leaves world awestruck
  30. ^ Beijing dazzles: Chinese history, athletes on parade as Olympics begin August 8, 2008, CBC Sports.
  31. ^ Lang delights the crowd with moving performance Chen Jie, China Daily Staff Writer.
  32. ^ Art performance of Beijing Olympics opening ceremony showcases Chinese culture www.chinaview.cn, 2008-08-08
  33. ^ Beijing dazzles: Chinese history, athletes on parade as Olympics begin August 8, 2008, CBC Sports.
  34. ^ Olympics: the power and the glory - China leaves world awestruck
  35. ^ Most of the smiling photos are collected by MERRY PROJECT.
  36. ^ "Opening Ceremony plan released - The Official Website of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games".
  37. ^ "Olympics athletes march to be done to different drum", ABC Radio Australia, July 29, 2008
  38. ^ Tedmanson, Sophie (August 8, 2008). "North and South Korea to march separately in Olympics opening ceremony, although both 韩国 and 朝鲜 are of 12 strokes thus could have marched together". CNN. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Unknown parameter |accessmonthday= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  39. ^ Shih Hsiu-Chuan; Ko Shu-Ling (July 25, 2008). "Taiwan's Olympic title fuels controversy". Taipei Times. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Unknown parameter |accessmonthday= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  40. ^ Brian Cazeneuve (August 8, 2008). "China makes its opening statement". CNN. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Unknown parameter |accessmonthday= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  41. ^ Yao Ming and boy from quake zone lead Team China into opening ceremony
  42. ^ Beijing's Opening Ceremony Finds a Hero Mary Hughes, August 9th, 2008, Most Valuable Network, MA
  43. ^ Chinese President Hu Jintao declares open Beijing Olympic Games
  44. ^ Former gymnast Li Ning lights Olympic cauldron
  45. ^ 華仔鳥巢獻唱 港人無眼福 祖兒見證奧運開幕 感動想喊, Sing Tao Daily. 2008-08-10.
  46. ^ 開幕人工消雨 千枚火箭彈攔截雲朵 [5]
  47. ^ Chinadaily. "Chinadaily." Zhang Yimou to direct opening ceremony of Beijing Olypmics. Retrieved on 2008-07-04.
  48. ^ Rachel Abramowitz (2008). "Spielberg drops out as Beijing Olympics advisor". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2007-02-13.
  49. ^ Sydney morning herald. "Dirty downloads: diva axed from Olympic ceremony Sydney Morning Herald, February 26, 2008, retrieved on July 21, 2008.
  50. ^ Tragedy of paralyzed Olympic dancer
  51. ^ "Beijing opening ceremony leaked", Sydney Morning Herald, July 31, 2008
  52. ^ Deleted video. YouTube. {{cite AV media}}: Unknown parameter |year2= ignored (help)
  53. ^ Beijing Olympics 2008 Opening Preview (Seoul Broadcasting System). YouTube. {{cite AV media}}: Unknown parameter |year2= ignored (help)
  54. ^ "韩媒曝光北京奥运开幕式细节遭网友谴责 (Beijing Olympic Games opening ceremony details made public)".
  55. ^ "http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_asiapacific/view/364009/1/.html". {{cite web}}: External link in |title= (help)
  56. ^ Broadcaster banned for Olympic breach
  57. ^ "Blue Screen of Death Makes Appearance at the Beijing Olympic Opening Ceremony". Gigazine. 2008-08-12. Retrieved 2008-08-12.
  58. ^ Blue Screen of Death Strikes Bird's Nest During Opening Ceremonies Torch Lighting
  59. ^ "Beijing Olympics Faking scandal over girl who sang in opening ceremony". The Daily Telegraph. 2008-08-12.
  60. ^ [6]
  61. ^ "China Olympic ceremony star mimed". BBC News. 2008-08-12.
  62. ^ [7]
  63. ^ "Olympic opening uses girl's voice, not face". Breitbart. Retrieved 2008-08-12.
  64. ^ Live From Beijing: Computer-Enhanced Fireworks
  65. ^ "Beijing Olympic 2008 opening ceremony giant firework footprints 'faked'". The Telegraph. 2008-08-10. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  66. ^ "Beijing enhanced olymmpic show with faked 'fireworks'". CNN. 2008-08-12. Retrieved 2008-08-12.
  67. ^ Verbruggen: Opening Ceremony a grand success
  68. ^ "Beijing's Games kick off with spectacular opening ceremony". AFP. 2008-08-08. Retrieved 2008-08-09. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  69. ^ "Games begin with spectacular show". BBC. 2008-08-08. Retrieved 2008-08-09.
  70. ^ "Olympic Opening Ceremony spectacular sets the bar high for London 2012". Times Online. 2008-08-08. Retrieved 2008-08-09. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  71. ^ "China opens its long-sought Olympics spectacularly". Associated Press. 2008-08-08.
  72. ^ "China opens Olympics with fireworks, pageantry". USA Today. 2008-08-08. Retrieved 2008-08-09. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  73. ^ "Chinese Director Zhang Yimou Presents Dazzling Opening Ceremony at The Olympic Games". Art Daily. 2008-08-08. Retrieved 2008-08-09. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  74. ^ a b c "Spanish media impressed by Olympic opening ceremony". Earth Times. 2008-08-08. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help); Text "accessdate-2008-08-09" ignored (help)
  75. ^ "China opens its long-sought Olympics spectacularly". Deutsche Welle. 2008-08-08.
  76. ^ http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5ibNAUAq-kZNOy3LmO9HAI2cN-smg
  77. ^ http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking%2BNews/World/Story/STIStory_266513.html
  78. ^ http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080808.wolympics-blatchford09/BNStory/Front
  79. ^ http://in.reuters.com/article/worldOfSport/idINIndia-34908220080809?feedType=RSS&feedName=worldOfSport
  80. ^ a b "The Beijing Olympics opening ceremony was a four-hour snooze fest". The Mirror. 2008-08-09. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  81. ^ http://www.atimes.com/atimes/China/JH12Ad01.html
  82. ^ a b Goldsmith, Belinda (2008-08-11). "Beijing opening night lures 15 percent of world". Reuters. Retrieved 2008-08-11.
  83. ^ Dean, Jason (2008-08-09). "Opening Ceremonies Aim To Illustrate Rise to Global Power". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2008-08-11. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  84. ^ Sweney, Mark (2008-08-08). "Beijing Olympics: UK firm behind TV titles for China state broadcaster". The Guardian. Retrieved 2008-08-11.
  85. ^ Baynes, Dan (2008-08-08). "China's Hu Opens Beijing Games to Global Audience of Billions". Bloomberg. Retrieved 2008-08-11.
  86. ^ Stone, Mark (2008-08-11). "Parts of the spectacular Beijing Olympics opening ceremony were faked, it has emerged". Sky News. sky.com. Retrieved 2008-08-11.
  87. ^ "Beijing Olympics opening ceremony hailed all over world". Xinhua. 2008-08-09. Retrieved 2008-08-11.
  88. ^ Kaufman, Michelle (2008-08-11). "Let the fireworks begin: China's Opening Ceremony dazzles 91,000 in hazy Bird's Nest]". Kansas City Star. McClatchy. Retrieved 2008-08-11.
  89. ^ "Tape Delay by NBC Faces End Run by Online Fans". New York Times. 2008-08-08. Retrieved 2008-08-10.
  90. ^ "Opening night is a big TV draw for NBC". Associated Press. 2008-08-09. Retrieved 2008-08-09.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=2008_Summer_Olympics_opening_ceremony&oldid=231942387"