They symbolized a Green Olympics (to protect the world). [57][58] Although the names of both Lin Miaoke and Yang Peiyi appeared in the programme notes,[59] the vast majority who watched the broadcast did not realise Yang Peiyi's role until several days later when music director Chen Qigang acknowledged it. if (flag == 'play') { Despite her not performing in the ceremony proper, deputy director Zhang Jigang ensured Liu's name was written in the programme as the lead dancer. There was a short dance presentation, followed by bright yellow fireworks – representing the release of doves of peace. The Olympic Hymn (Greek: Ολυμπιακός Ύμνος, Olympiakós Ýmnos), also known informally as the Olympic Anthem, is a choral cantata by opera composer Spyridon Samaras (1861-1917), with lyrics by Greek poet Kostis Palamas.Both poet and composer were the choice of the Greek Demetrius Vikelas, who was the first President of the International Olympic Committee [7] The stadium was full to its 91,000 capacity according to organizers. if (flg == 'play') { Hein Verbruggen, IOC Member and Chairman of the Coordination Commission for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad, called the ceremony "a night to remember", "a breathtaking culmination of seven years of planning and preparation" and "an unprecedented and grand success" that exceeded all his expectations. I am going to need the romanised lyrics if at all possible (although I have found a good youtube clip that teaches the phonetics) – any help would be very much appreciated. Australia (Chinese: 澳大利亚) marched 202nd, just ahead of Zambia (Chinese: 赞比亚), which was the last country to march before China. [101], In the United States, NBC concluded its broadcast with a message saying that their coverage of the opening ceremony was dedicated in memory of Jim McKay, longtime Olympics broadcaster with rival ABC, who died on 7 June. The BBC invited Elbow to present ideas for the 2012 Olympic theme, on the strength of their 2008 song " One Day Like This ", which had been used during the Beijing Olympics and televising of subsequent sporting events. The collection also sports the famed "Bugler's Dream" Olympic theme music ... 2008, the same date that the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China, began. }, The source for musical scores and reviews, AhDoe – Music as an International Language, The 2008 Beijing Olympic Theme Song – You and Me (我和你), 2021 Chinese New Year Special: Kiss On My Face by Spring Breeze (春风吻上我的脸) Piano Sheet, Moonlit Night(月夜) from The Romance of Tiger and Rose (传闻中的陈芊芊) Drama Piano Sheet, Next: Moonlit Night(月夜) from The Romance of Tiger and Rose (传闻中的陈芊芊) Drama Piano Sheet. I blame myself for that. } U.S. President George W. Bush described the ceremony as "spectacular and successful". "[82], While praise for the opening ceremony was widespread amongst the world's media,[14] the Singaporean newspaper The Straits Times described some western media reactions as "cynical" and "hostile". For example, Bosnia and Herzegovina (波斯尼亚和黑塞哥维那) entered as 波黑 Bohei in Chinese, while Saudi Arabia (沙特阿拉伯) entered as simply 沙特 Shate. This piano sheet/ music score is in original key. [9] The director of music for the ceremony was composer Chen Qigang. The athletes taking part in the XXIX Olympiad parade of nations marched out to the centre of the stadium. [45] Chinese filmmaker Ang Lee was also part of the team creating the opening and closing ceremonies of the Games.[46]. The next segment saw ancient terracotta soldiers and Chinese opera,[27] followed by a Beijing opera puppetry performance. [36][37], 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. As he ran along the upper wall of the stadium, the projection displayed a scroll opening ahead of him, on which was beamed footage of the entire torch relay. The 2,008 drummers play the bronze Fou drums and sing the quote from The Analects of Confucius written 2000 years ago: "Isn’t it delightful to have friends coming from afar?” to welcome friends from all over the world. your site is wonderful and provides a much-needed service to musicians! Traditionally nations are ordered in alphabetic order of the national language of the host country (or if there is more than one, the more dominant of the languages of the host city); as Chinese writing is not alphabetic, the teams paraded by stroke order of the first character of their respective countries' names in Simplified Chinese.[4]. "[49], The South Korean Seoul Broadcasting System (SBS) secretly filmed rehearsals of the opening ceremony and leaked parts of it, violating a prohibition by the Organizing Committee. var inputs = document.getElementsByTagName("input"); Saved by Claudia Tatum. { Attention was then turned to 56 young children representing the 56 ethnic groups of modern China, and donning respective costumes. The groups included Chinese orchestra, Scottish bagpipers Mains of Fintry Pipe Band (Fintry Pipe Band), Aboriginal musicians and dancers from Australia (William Barton),[32] South African drummers (Drum Cafe),[33] and North American mariachi group Mariachi Mujer 2000. I love it very much. [19][20][21] It was also the largest gathering of world leaders for a sporting event in world history (also until 2012). } and Comments (RSS). [87], Estimates of the global television audience varied: "around one billion" (Reuters);[88] "experts estimated ... more than two billion" (The Wall Street Journal);[89] "2.3 billion" (MindShare);[90] "Billions ... probably the largest live television audience in history" (Bloomberg);[91] "3 billion" (Sky News);[92] "nearly 4 billion" (Xinhua);[93] "as many as 4 billion" (The Washington Post);[94] "estimated 4 billion" (McClatchy). The giant scroll was then moved aside to show a fluid array 897 movable type blocks that formed three variations of the character 和 (Hé "harmony"), representing the third great Chinese invention: the movable type press. These were the same children representing the 56 ethnic groups of China. The 2008 Summer Olympics opening ceremony was held at the Beijing National Stadium, also known as the Bird's Nest. 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 her partner, Charlene Choi (not involved in the photo incident) with PRC C-pop act A-One. A colossal torch situated at the top of the stadium was lit by a proportionately large fuse.[41]. Beijing Olympics official theme song – You and Me MV Posted on August 9, 2008 - Topics: Entertainment Music video for “You and Me”, the Beijing Olympics official theme song which was revealed at the opening ceremony on Friday night, sang by Chinese singer Liu Huan and British singer Sarah Brightman… "[70] The BBC and The Times concurred by calling it a dazzling and spectacular show in Beijing. Lets hear some of them! [34], Unlike in previous years, North and South Korea did not send a unified team; their athletes marched in separately as Republic of Korea (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). They marched in the flag of the People's Republic of China as a young girl in red, 9-year-old Lin Miaoke (林妙可 Lín Miàokě), was seen performing "Ode to the Motherland", while miming to the voice of Yang Peiyi. window.setTimeout(function() { Those who have watched the olympic opening ceremony should know the theme song. Thus Great Britain entered before British Virgin Islands. Thanks! People's Liberation Army Navy Band performed the "Welcome March" song to welcome IOC members and Hu Jintao . volume: volume, Welcome 2021. This was followed by a procession of men, in blue costumes, who with huge oars formed formations of junks, symbolizing the expeditions of Zheng He. In 2006, the Beijing Organizing Committee (BOCOG) initially chose American filmmaker Steven Spielberg, Yves Pepin, head of the French entertainment group ECA2, and Sydney Games opening ceremony director Ric Birch as special consultants.[43]. The representatives from the 56 ethnic groups danced a vigorous folk dance. [95] This included an estimated 842 million viewers watching on host Chinese broadcaster China Central Television (CCTV), with polls ranging from 63 and 69 percent of the Chinese viewing population, exceeding that of the 51–58 percent who watch the network's annual Chinese New Year gala. The Wusheng type of Beijing opera performers was also enacted. mp3url = new Array(mp3file, oggfile); [75] Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times commented that "the scope, precision and beauty of the production was, you will agree, astonishing. Afterward, the Olympic flag was carried in by eight former athletes from China. My latest craziest move was to spend more than $20 to buy kiddo’s McD Happy Meals in order to collect all five of them! It was a last-minute decision to use lip-synching, following a Politburo member's objection to Lin's voice.