Korea officially made its statement to world at the opening ceremony of the XXIII Winter Olympic Games Friday night. With scenes of Korea’s beauty and culture and its own style of pomp and circumstance, the Olympics were officially opened at Pyeongchang Olympic Stadium.
Digital imaging was a huge factor in South Korea’s opening ceremony which began as usual with the Olympic countdown. A video showing the previous Winter Olympic sites was followed by scenes of the city of Pyeongchang. The countdown inside the stadium began with a massive Korean peace bell in the middle that gonged once before a fireworks display illuminated the sky.
A following video began with children playing in the snow until they found a crystal ball that showed them a map. The children set off to find a cave surrounded by ice where many digital objects took shape describing the culture of Korea. A white tiger moved by a set of puppeteers took center stage in the stadium with the children from the video.
A performance of Korea’s nature and traditional dance took shape with over hundred performers dancing to music of the host country. The segment finished with a dome of digital constellations signified the universe as a whole. The second part had over a few hundred women come out with drums before taking the shape of their country’s flag which followed while being carried by eight former Olympic athletes from South Korea.
Six members of the nation's traditional military carried the flag to be hosted in the stadium during their national anthem. The Rainbow Children’s Choir sang the anthem that ended with a cheer from the fans. The parade of athletes soon came with Greece coming into the stadium first as the country that originates the modern Olympic games. They were welcomed by dancers who moved to popular Korean music including K-Pop. Each country was followed with a model holding a metallic branch with the name of the country in English and Korean.
Using the Korean characters, the 91 nations marched into the stadium with the United States coming in a third of the way in with Luger Erica Hamlin of Michigan being chosen as the flagbearer. The parade concluded with the host nation ending things to an eruption of cheers from their countrymen in the stands. The Democratic People’s Republic of North Korea joined South Korea as a whole to show peace and unity during the games. Two flagbearers carried a flag with the nation of Korea as a whole over a white background.
When all the athletes took their place in the stands, a video was shown of the beauty of Korea as the seasons passed by. An old man sang an ancient song while the children were floating on a wooden raft moved across the floor over moving images of flowers. A video then showed the children moving ahead in time through a doorframe where they were all grown up enjoying their professions of a doctor, inventor, performance artist, teacher, and an architect.
The doorframe that was used in the video took shape as many were placed on the stage where along with video graphics created a unique performance. Lee Hee-beom, President and CEO of Pyeongchang Organizing Committee spoke to the host nation. IOC President Thomas Bach expressed fair play and following the rules to respect the Olympic spirit. He made it clear of all the athletes coming together despite their differences to send an inspiration to those around the world.
After Korean President Moon Jae-in opened the games of the 23rd Olympiad, the show continued on with the children passing a light to a family who then passed it along to others that made two doves. In between were singers In-Kown Jeon, Eun-mi Lee, Hyun-woo Ha and Ji-yeong An who took turns singing John Lennon’s “Imagine” while in a video side box, musicians from around the world were shown playing different instruments to the song.
Lights were then used to create a snowboarder which made its way to the alpine skiing venue where many skiers and snowboarders carried flares before creating the shape of the Olympic rings. The lights also did the same which was followed by the carrying of the Olympic flag by eight winter Olympians and future Olympians. The flag was then raised during the anthem of the Olympic Hymn.
After the Olympic Oath was taken by a Korean athlete, judge and a coach, a video was shown of the Olympic torch and its journey across Korea from the ground, the water, and sky. The Olympic flame entered the stadium where it was lit by figure skating champion Yu-na Kim.
The opening ceremony ended with another dance performance that finished with a fireworks spectacular that brought an end to the festivities in 2 hours and 17 minutes. While some of the events began before Friday, the majority of the competition would begin on Saturday until Feb. 25.
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