2004 Summer Olympics Opening Ceremony
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The Opening Ceremony of the 2004 Summer Olympics was held on August 13, 2004 at the Olympic Stadium in Maroussi, Greece, a suburb of Athens. 72,000 spectators attended the event, with approximately 15,000 athletes from 202 countries participating in the ceremony as well. An estimated 4.5 billion people watched it worldwide on television, though many of them watched it on a tape delay due to large time differences between Greece and other nations. It marked the first-ever international broadcast of high definition television, undertaken by NBC and the Japanese television station NHK.
The Opening Ceremony began with a twenty-eight second countdown — one second per Olympics held since Athens last hosted — paced by the sounds of an amplified heartbeat. As the countdown was completed, fireworks rumbled and illuminated the skies overhead as fire erupted from a reflecting pool in the middle of the stadium creating a burning image of the Olympic rings.
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Celebration of Greek culture
The Opening Ceremony was a pageantry of traditional Greek culture and history harkening back to its mythological beginnings, and viewed through the progression of Greek art. The dramatic music that accompanied the performances often combined drumming with the traditionally Greek sound of bouzoukia.
The program began as a young Greek boy sailed into the stadium on a giant paper boat waving the host nation's flag, followed by the appearance of various characters from ancient Greek myths. A centaur — whose human and animal parts supposedly symbolize the duality of spirit and body — threw a spear of light into the center of the stadium, from which a giant statue that exemplified Cycladic art (and thus one of the first depictions of the human form in Greek art) emerged. With the use of lasers, geometrical shapes and other scientific images (such as a stylistic representation of the solar system) were displayed on the figure's face. The statue then broke into pieces that floated away, and from within it emerged a smaller statue of a later and more naturalistic artistic style, which in turn also broke apart. At the end of this sequence, a man was seen balancing on a slowly rotating cube.
Subsequently, Eros, the Greek god of love, was introduced flying over a pair of lovers frolicking in the pool of water located in the center of the stadium. Throughout the rest of the scenes from history and mythology, the actor portraying Eros flew over the parade, occasionally touching or stepping on the floats moving beneath him.
The pageantry following the statues and the introduction of Eros continued to portray scenes that showed the sequence of Greek civilisation through its art. The scenes started with the Minoan civilisation, with scenes of bull-jumping, dolphins, and other elements that harkened back to the images in the frescoes of Phaestos. The scenes then proceeded to the more stark art of the Mycenean civilisation, followed by representations of the Classical period. A chariot carrying an actor portraying Alexander the Great introduced images from the Hellenistic period, which in turn were followed by representations of Byzantine art, the Greek War of Independence, and lastly of 20th century elements of Greek culture, such as the popular shadow-theatre figure Karagiozis, who is sometimes said to be a humorous and self-deprecating depiction (and parody) of Greek mentality.
At the end of the parade, "Eros" lowered enough to help a woman remove her outer garment. Portrayed as pregnant and with belly glowing, the woman moved into the lake of water as the stadium's lights dimmed and lasers depicted stars reflected on the water. Slowly the stars rose around the woman, and moved to form a rapidly rotating DNA double helix, which is the basis for all life on the planet.
Parade of Nations
In order to prepare for the entry of the athletes to the stadium, the giant pool of water that had been constructed on the floor of the stadium had to first be drained. 2,162,000 liters of water were drained from the stadium in a time period of 3 minutes, providing a dry, hard surface for the athletes to march and gather on.[1] (http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1101040823-682263,00.html)
Typically, Greece leads the Parade of Nations in any Olympics, with the host nation entering the stadium last. However, since Greece was the host nation, they went last, sending only their flag into the stadium at the beginning of the parade, and the athletes themselves at the end of it.
The debut position was given to Saint Lucia (Αγία Λουκία in Greek), who led the Parade of Nations into the stadium. As the nations entered in Greek alphabetical order, Zimbabwe — which has usually been the penultimate nation, followed only by the host country — appeared in the middle of the parade.[2] (http://www.athens2004.com/Files/pdf/NOC_marching_order.pdf)
Afghanistan's entrance was an emotional highpoint of the parade, since Afghanistan had been absent from the Olympics since its Taliban regime took control of its government. The Iraqi delegation also stirred emotions as its teams in the past were tortured by Uday Hussein, son of Saddam Hussein. Also recognized was the symbolic unified march of athletes from North Korea and South Korea, reminiscent of their march in the Parade of Nations at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney. The nation of Kiribati made its debut Olympic appearance at the 2004 Summer Olympics, and East Timor marched under its own flag for the first time. Serbia and Montenegro appeared at the Olympics under the nation's new name for the first time since the country was officially renamed in 2003; it had previously been known as Yugoslavia.
Due to the unpopularity of the American-led invasion of Iraq among Greeks, it had been expected that audience members would protest the war during the entrance of the American delegation into the stadium by booing; however, the roar of cheers and applause the Americans received was among the loudest of the evening.[3] (http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/olympics_2004/3564088.stm)[4] (http://www.indystar.com/articles/4/170267-4554-036.html)[5] (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2004/olympics/2004/08/14/bc.olympics.usa.cheers/) Commentators noted that the applause and loud cheering occurred because Greeks typically view the American public warmly, especially since over 1 million people of Greek descent live within the United States, even though they traditionally disagree with the policies of the American government.
Apart from Greece and the United States, the Greek crowd reserved some of their loudest cheers for their fellow Greeks from Cyprus; Australia, home to many Greeks and site of the previous Summer Olympics; the United Kingdom, a traditional friend and home of a large number of Greek students; and Mediterranean countries such as France and Italy. The team from Palestine was also warmly welcomed. Cheers greeted Portugal, the nation that hosted the Euro 2004 football tournament, which Greece won. Notable silences marked the entry of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, with which Greece has a dispute over its name; Israel; and Turkey, reflecting the political sympathies of the Greek public.
High-ranking politicians and royalty from all around the world applauded as the teams from their respective countries paraded by. Along with their spouses, U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair, Crown Prince Haakon of Norway, and Crown Prince Fredrik of Denmark (among others) each stood and applauded the teams from their countries. Past world leaders, including former U.S. President George H. W. Bush, also attended and applauded their national teams during the parade.
Speeches to athletes & spectators
After the Parade of Nations had concluded and the athletes were gathered in the center of the stadium, two short speeches were delivered in front of a model of an olive tree, a traditional Greek and Olympic symbol.[6] (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2004/olympics/2004/08/14/bc.oly.athens.openingce/)
The first speech came from Gianna Angelopoulos-Daskalaki, the chief organizer of the Athens 2004 Olympics. She told the athletes: "Greece is standing before you. We are ready." She also stated the people of Greece "have waited long for this moment", alluding to the long time period between the first modern Olympic Games in Greece and the 2004 Games, as well as the fact that Athens was passed over in 1990 in favor of Atlanta, Georgia for host of the 1996 Summer Olympics.
Angelopoulos-Daskalaki was followed by International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge, who delivered a speech encouraging participating athletes to resist the urge to use banned performance-enhancing substances and "show us that sport unites by overriding national, political, religious, and language barriers". Rogge then introduced Greek president Costis Stephanopoulos, who declared the games officially open.
Music during the Opening Ceremony
The music played during the performances portraying Greek history and mythology was conducted by Stavros Xarhakos. The songs played were instrumental in nature and many used traditional Greek instruments. Famous Greek artists such as Stavros Xarhakos (whose song "Zeimbekiko" was played), Manos Hadjidakis, Mikis Theodorakis and Konstantinos Bita, were included in the Olympic soundtrack. The whole music project was arranged by composer George Koumentakis, who had worked in the past several times with Papaioannou.
During the Parade of Nations, Dutchman DJ Tisto provided the music, becoming the first DJ ever to spin live at the Olympics.
Icelandic singer Bjrk performed the song "Oceania" from her upcoming album, Medlla, immediately after the Parade of Nations ended. While the song was being played, a large piece of fabric was pulled over the heads of the athletes, who had gathered on the ground in the center of the stadium following their march around the stadium. At the conclusion of Bjrk's performance, a map of the world was projected on the fabric.
After Bjrk's performance and the speeches delivered by organizers, Xarhakos returned to conduct a choir comprised of Greek children.
Torch relay & lighting
The Opening Ceremony culminated in the end of the torch relay, a tradition begun when Berlin hosted the games in 1936.
Torch bearer Nikos Galis, considered to be the greatest Greek basketball player of all time, entered the stadium first. The torch was passed on, in sequential order, to Greek football legend Mimis Domazos, 1992 Hurdles champion Voula Patoulidou, 1996 Olympic weightlifting champion Kakhi Kakhiashvili, and 1996 Olympic gymnastics champion Ioannis Melissanidis.
The torch was finally passed to the 1996 Olympic sailing champion Nikolaos Kaklamanakis, who lit a giant cigar-shaped tapered column resembling a torch — not, as usual, a cauldron — to burn during the duration of the 2004 Summer Olympics.
External link
- Athens2004.com (http://www.athens2004.com/) - official websiteel:Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004/Τελετή Έναρξης
sv:Olympiska sommarspelen 2004 - ppningsceremonin
