The Opening Ceremonies brought the spotlight to Vancouver and Canada last night.
There was the bad — the horrible tragedy of the death of Georgina luger Nodar Kumaritashvili. The tragedy was handled well during the ceremony. And there was the snafu at the end for the pylons leading up to the cauldron.
The good dominated throughout the evening. BC Place look amazing, especially since I have been there twice. The tributes to the different sections of Canada and Canadian life were dazzling.
The Canadian identity poem — Shane Koyczan's poem, "We Are More" — was magnificent. Selling Canada to the world, not in an economic fashion, but displaying the true Canadian spirit is something to come away with once this is all over.
If there has to be a voice of Canada, Donald Sutherland is a rather nice pick. Sutherland's voice was prominent in the sections after the athletes came out. Speaking of voices, we also heard from Sarah McLachlan, a Nova Scotia native who now lives in Vancouver, and K.D. Lang, singing a song from fellow Canadian Leonard Cohen.
And Wayne Gretzky was a great choice for lighting the cauldron, not just inside BC Place but the truck and running efforts to get Gretzky and the Olympic flame from BC Place to the downtown location. The symbolism of having a spot where many can see the flame was to be difficult from having the Opening Ceremonies indoors.
Other highlights from the Opening Night coverage
-- Tom Brokaw did a really nice job with his piece on the relationship between the United States and Canada. There were some fun facts throughout the piece, emphasizing the tightness in relationship on numerous levels between the two countries.
The report spotlighted John F. Kennedy's famous words about Canada in a speech to Parliament in Ottawa in 1961:
"Geography has made us neighbors. History has made us friends. Economics has made us partners. And necessity has made us allies. Those whom nature hath so joined together, let no man put asunder. What unites us is far greater than what divides us."
Brokaw said "In the long history of sovereign neighbors, there never has been a relationship as close, productive and peaceful."
-- Though it was a commercial for BC Tourism, the Hello BC ad was an amazing showcase of the areas where BC shines. What a cross section of the province and its more famous celebrities.
The ad starred BC natives Michael J. Fox, Ryan Reynolds, Kim Cattrall, and Steve Nash along with fellow Canadians who now live in Vancouver in McLachlan (Halifax) and Eric McCormack (Toronto). The co-stars include trees, beaches, mountains — the true stars of British Columbia.
There is usually a surprise when some famous person in movies, TV, stage, sports, or music is Canadian. Having six well-known Canadians cheer for the country and specifically, the British Columbia province, is a great way to draw attention to the wonder and beauty of Canada's West Coast.
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