2010 Asian Games opening ceremony

2010 Asian Games
Firework displays at the Canton Tower.

The 2010 Asian Games opening ceremony officially began at 8:00pm China Standard Time (UTC+8) on November 12, 2010. The ceremony took place along the Pearl River on Haixinsha Island, mark it the first time in history that the ceremony was held outside the stadium. In front of 30,000 spectators,[1] it lasted four hours, featured about 6,000 performers,[2] with at least 40,000 of fireworks.[3] The ceremony was choreographed by Chen Weiya (陈维亚), who was assistant director to Zhang Yimou in 2008 Summer Olympics opening ceremony.

Sequence of events

Pre-ceremonial events

Prior to the opening ceremony, athletes and officials from 45 National Olympic Committees (NOC) were paraded by boat around the Pearl River with distance of 9.3 km to showcase the Cantonese culture.[4]

Welcoming ceremony

After the countdown, the opening began with firework displays at Canton Tower and around Haixinsha Island. Afterwards eight honour guards of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) received the flag of the People's Republic of China from two children and raised it up, accompanied by the national anthem March of the Volunteers.[5]

Artistic section

Zhang Ziyi, sang "Light" with Lang Lang performed the lyrics.

The artistic section, dubbed "Sailing" (启航) began at 8:06pm. The beginning saw a drop of water shown on eight giant retractable screens followed by a boy sat in a giant leaf slowly descending from the sky. By this time the centre stage was flooded with water and the men on horseback rode onto the arena.[6]

The next portion "Water of the Earth" (大地之水) saw dancers perform and form a series of flowers. Initially five smaller flowers were formed before eventually the performers came together to form one big flower bloom. Children dancers then came out with lanterns followed by neon light dancers.[7]

Afterwards the segment "The Ship in the Ocean" (海洋之舟) saw two main dancers perform in the centre stage along with others in the background. A giant expedition boat then entered the stage with dancers acting as waves in an intense storm. The boat measured 28.8 metres long, 8 metres wide and 18 metres high.[8] The boat then reached its destination.

In the penultimate segment, which was known as "Sail of the White Cloud" (白云之帆), Chinese pianist Lang Lang (郎朗) opened with song "Light" (時光). The song was sung by Zhang Ziyi (章子怡)[9] and written by lyricist Albert Leung and composer Li Hai-ying (李海鹰). 180 dancers twirled in the air and converged on the water.[8][10] Watercraft riders then created a series of water displays. High wire performers then put up a series of acts in front of the giant screens to form waves, seesaws, smiley faces, birds and other shapes.

Before going into the final segment, a one-minute segment known as the "Green Minute" showed people from each district of Guangzhou bring pots of plants to display, displaying Guangzhou as a green city.[11]

The last segment known as "Invitation from the City of Flowers" (花城之邀) started with a stage full of drummers.[12] A group of hostesses joined the performance. China's Wei Wei (韦唯), Tang Jing (谭晶), Hong Kong's Joey Yung (容祖儿), Taiwan's David Tao (陶喆) and South Korea's Kim Hyun Joong (金贤重) performed the games theme song "Sunshine Again" (日出東方).[13][14] The cauldron was then reveal when it emerged from the ground as a giant flame cauldron tower. Fireworks then lit up the area, followed by watercraft and boat exhibitions.

Parade of NOCs

Baseball player Yoon Kyung-shin as South Korea flagbearer.
Wen Jiabao officially declared the Games opened at the ceremony.

All athletes and officials from 44 National Olympic Committees and Kuwait entered the site with the host country entering last. Due to the NOC suspension, Kuwaiti athletes entered the site under the Olympic flag with the banner "Athletes from Kuwait".[15][16] Each NOC was led by a national flagbearer. During the parade of the NOCs, a local song from each country was played when the country marched to the arena.[17][18]

Below is list of national flagbearer during the ceremony.

Order Nation Flagbearer Sport
1 Afghanistan
2 Bahrain
3 Bangladesh
4 Bhutan
5 Brunei Lee Ying Shi[19] Wushu
6 Cambodia Chhoeung Puthearim[20] Taekwondo
7 North Korea
8 Hong Kong Yip Pui Yin[21] Badminton
9 India Gagan Narang[22] Shooting
10 Indonesia Ade Candra Rachmawan Beach volleyball
11 Iran Samad Nikkhah Bahrami[23] Basketball
12 Iraq Haider Nawzad[24] Rowing
13 Japan Reiko Shiota[25] Badminton
14 Jordan
15 Kazakhstan
16 South Korea Yoon Kyung-shin[26] Handball
17 Kyrgyzstan
18 Laos
19 Lebanon
20 Macau Au Ieong Sin Ieng[27] Synchronized swimming
21 Malaysia Koo Kien Keat[28] Badminton
22 Maldives
23 Mongolia
24 Myanmar
25 Nepal
26 Oman
27 Pakistan Zeeshan Ashraf[29] Field hockey
28 Palestine
29 Philippines Mikee Cojuangco-Jaworski[30] Equestrian
30 Qatar Ali Al-Rumaihi[31] Equestrian
31 Saudi Arabia
32 Singapore Jasmine Yeong-Nathan[32] Ten-pin bowling
33 Sri Lanka Mithun Perera Golf
34 Syria
35 Chinese Taipei Lin Chih-sheng[33] Baseball
36 Tajikistan
37 Thailand Danai Udomchoke Tennis
38 Timor-Leste
39 Turkmenistan
40 United Arab Emirates
41 Uzbekistan
42 Vietnam Ngô Văn Kiều Volleyball
43 Yemen
44 Athletes from Kuwait
45 China Jin Ziwei[34] Rowing

Speeches

Diver He Chong lit the main flame.

A few people gave welcoming speech, they were:

  1. Huang Huahua – Executive President of Guangzhou Asian Games Organising Committee (GAGOC), Governor of Guangdong
  2. Liu Peng (刘鹏) – President of GAGOC, President of Chinese Olympic Committee (COC)
  3. Sheikh Ahmed Al-Fahad Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah – President of Olympic Council of Asia (OCA)

Afterwards, Premier of the People's Republic of China Wen Jiabao declared the Games to be officially open and large scale of fireworks erupt from the Canton Tower and Pearl River delta once again. Sun Nan and Mao Amin then performed the official theme song "Reunion" (重逢),[35] and flag of OCA was carried in by eight athletes.

The eight athletes who carried in the flag were:[36]

  1. Li Xiaopeng (李小鹏) – gymnast
  2. Yang Boyong (杨伯镛) – basketball coach
  3. Meng Guanliang (孟关良) – canoer
  4. Huang Jiangang (黄建刚) – wushu
  5. Wang Liping (王丽萍) – race walker
  6. Lu Yuansheng (陆元盛) – table tennis
  7. Gao Ling (高崚) – badminton player
  8. Jia Zhanbo (贾占波) – shooter

As flag of the OCA was raised, the official anthem of OCA was played. Fu Haifeng took the athlete's oath while gymnastics referee, Yan Ninan took the judge's oath.

Lighting ceremony

In the closing stages, dragon boat team leader Wu Guochong (吴国冲) carried the torch through the Pearl River into the stage. The torch was relayed by three athletes, before being passed to the final torchbearer. The three were:[37]

  1. Chen Yibing (陈一冰) – 2008 Olympic gold medalist gymnast
  2. Rong Zhixing (容志行) – ex-footballer
  3. Deng Yaping (邓亚萍) – Olympic gold medalist table tennis

The final torchbearer, Olympic gold medalist diver He Chong (何冲) was accompanied by two children, Xiong Yuxiang (熊钰翔) and daughter of director, Chen Jiayu (陈佳雨). The trio used the flame to light the fuse of a traditional Chinese firecraker that produced an explosion which ignited the cauldron tower directly above it.[38][39] Song Zuying (宋祖英) then performed the song "Smile" (微笑). Fireworks were set off in the air and around the arena to conclude the opening ceremony.[40][41]

References

  1. ↑ "Asian Games sets sail on Pearl River". Xinhuanet. 2010-11-12. Retrieved 2010-11-15.
  2. ↑ "Romance never out of style". China.org.cn. 2010-11-13. Retrieved 2010-11-14.
  3. ↑ "Guangzhou Asian Games: opening ceremony in numbers". The Hindu. 2010-11-12. Retrieved 2010-11-13.
  4. ↑ "9-km boat parade on Pearl River to showcase opening ceremony". The Times of India. 2010-11-11. Retrieved 2010-11-15.
  5. ↑ "第十六届广州亚运会:升国旗仪式". XJBS. 2010-11-13. Retrieved 2010-11-15.
  6. ↑ "现场：广州亚运会开幕式文艺表演《启航》开始". People. 2010-11-12. Retrieved 2010-11-15.
  7. ↑ "现场：第一篇章《大地之水》水面开满"木棉花"". People. 2010-11-12. Retrieved 2010-11-15.
  8. 1 2 "海洋之舟开启未来航程 亚运开幕独具中国风情". ifeng.com. 2010-11-13. Retrieved 2010-11-13.
  9. ↑ "郎朗章子怡献艺亚运开幕式 16万枚焰火发射创纪录". sports.163.com. 2010-11-11. Retrieved 2010-11-13.
  10. ↑ "白雲之帆緩慢啟動 郎朗鋼琴伴奏章子怡甜美獻唱". CNTN. 2010-11-12. Retrieved 2010-11-13.
  11. ↑ Venkateswaran, Anand (2010-11-12). "Asian Games 2010 - Opening Ceremony". The Hindu. Retrieved 2010-11-15.
  12. ↑ "今晚8点 广州亚运开幕". news.163.com. 2010-11-12. Retrieved 2010-11-13.
  13. ↑ "譚晶：廣州亞運會開幕式演唱時像做夢一樣（圖）". News.cn. 2010-11-13. Retrieved 2010-11-13.
  14. ↑ "祖兒代表港人 高歌《日出東方》". Hong Kong Daily News. Retrieved 2010-11-13.
  15. ↑ "Spectacular Asian Games open". Arab Times. 2010-11-12. Retrieved 2010-11-22.
  16. ↑ Schiffman, Matt (2010-11-21). "Kuwait athletes at Asian Games under IOC banner". Taiwan News. Retrieved 2010-11-22.
  17. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h85zlL6y-a8
  18. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QwjxtnsUTVE
  19. ↑ Thomas, Jason. "Lee Ying Shi Brunei's Flagbearer In China". BruDirect. Retrieved 2010-11-22.
  20. ↑ "Puthearim loses bout by just a single point". The Phnom Penh Post. 2010-11-19. Retrieved 2010-11-22.
  21. ↑ "羽將葉姵延任亞運旗手". orientaldaily.on.cc. 2010-11-04. Retrieved 2010-11-28.
  22. ↑ "Gagan Narang to be India's flag-bearer at Asian Games". The Hindu. 2010-11-02. Retrieved 2010-11-22.
  23. ↑ "Nikkhah Bahrami named Iran's flag-bearer in Asian Games". Iran Sports Press. 2010-10-19. Retrieved 2010-11-22.
  24. ↑ "伊拉克实现奖牌"零"突破 哈马拉希德获得铜牌". Sina. 2010-11-21. Retrieved 2010-11-22.
  25. ↑ "Asian Games: Japan looking to outshine S. Korea in gold medal tally". Mainichi Japan. 2010-11-13. Retrieved 2010-11-22.
  26. ↑ "Veteran handball player named S. Korean flag bearer at Asian Games". Yophap News Agency. 2010-10-27. Retrieved 2010-11-22.
  27. ↑ "歐陽善盈擔大旗興奮". Macao Daily News. 2010-11-13. Retrieved 2010-11-22.
  28. ↑ Paul, Rajes (2010-10-28). "Kien Keat named flag bearer of the Malaysian contingent". The Star Online. Retrieved 2010-11-22.
  29. ↑ "Pakistan change flag bearer for Asian Games". The Times of India. 2010-11-10. Retrieved 2010-11-22.
  30. ↑ "Cojuangco-Jaworski is PHL flag bearer in Asian Games". GMANews.tv. 2010-11-06. Retrieved 2010-11-22.
  31. ↑ "马术选手鲁迈希将担任亚运会卡塔尔代表团旗手". sports.cn. 2010-11-01. Retrieved 2010-11-22.
  32. ↑ "Team Singapore All Set For the 2010 Asiad". teamsingapore.com.sg. Retrieved 2010-11-22.
  33. ↑ "Taiwan has high hopes for Guangzhou Asian Games". The China Post. 2010-11-12. Retrieved 2010-11-22.
  34. ↑ "Olympic rowing champ named as China's flag bearer". China Daily. 2010-11-12. Retrieved 2010-11-22.
  35. ↑ "一曲重逢抒放中國寬廣胸懷 歷屆亞運會主題曲精粹". Sina. 2010-11-13. Retrieved 2010-11-13.
  36. ↑ "李小鹏等八名体坛名将 将出任亚奥理事会会旗执旗手". Dayoo.com. 2010-11-12. Retrieved 2010-11-27.
  37. ↑ "东莞时报：他们是最幸运的火炬手". Sohu. 2010-11-13. Retrieved 2010-11-13.
  38. ↑ "2010 Asian Games launched with spectacular ceremony in China". CNN. 2010-11-12. Retrieved 2010-11-13.
  39. ↑ "点火女孩陈佳雨 总导演之女". yard.cc. 2010-11-14. Retrieved 2010-11-27.
  40. ↑ "宋祖英登场献唱《微笑》 亚运开幕式圆满落幕". QQ.com. 2010-11-12. Retrieved 2010-11-13.
  41. ↑ "亚运开幕式诠释岭南文化内涵 何冲点燃主火炬". QQ. 2010-11-12. Retrieved 2010-11-27.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to 2010 Asian Games opening ceremony.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/28/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.