ITALY: OLYMPIC GAMES - Spectators say Turin's opening ceremony for the Winter Olympics was among the best ever

Record ID: 332070

  • Title: ITALY: OLYMPIC GAMES - Spectators say Turin's opening ceremony for the Winter Olympics was among the best ever
  • Date: 12th February 2006
  • Summary: TURIN, ITALY (FEBRUARY 10, 2006) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) (NIGHT SHOTS) EXTERIOR OF OLYMPIC STADIUM WITH POLICE CARS OUTSIDE FLAME COMING UP OUT OF OLYMPIC CAULDRON VARIOUS OF FLAME PEOPLE COMING OUT OF OLYMPIC STADIUM (SOUNDBITE) (English) SPECTATOR FROM RUSSIA, SAYING: "It was amazing like a fairytale. I've never seen this kind of an opening ceremony before. It was really one of the best ceremonies ever." EXTERIOR OF STADIUM WITH OLYMPIC TORCH (SOUNDBITE) (English) SPECTATOR SAYING: "I thought it was absolutely superb. It was colourful and absolutely brilliant. And noisy. And noisy. And very, very noisy. Excellent! Super! Thoroughly enjoyed it." VARIOUS OF FIREWORKS (SOUNDBITE) (English) SPECTATOR SAYING: "It was a lot about passion and spirit and togetherness. So, quite exciting in the end, after all." MORE PEOPLE EXITING STADIUM (SOUNDBITE) (English) SPECTATOR SAYING: "We went to Australia for the Summer Olympics and this was twice as good. It was really well done. Italy did a great job." MORE FIREWORKS FIREWORKS OVER OLYMPIC STADIUM
  • Embargoed: 27th February 2006 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Italy
  • Country: Italy
  • Topics: Sports
  • Reuters ID: LVAAZVKMUC4OF59JWV4RV9RJYVKB
  • Story Text: From techno beats to string quartets, Turin's Winter Olympics opened on Friday (February 10) with hundreds of dancers drawing spectators on a glitzy trip through Italian history, with a nod to Botticelli, Fellini and Ferraris.
    Rollerbladers, red flames shooting from their helmets, sped across a stage. Cows danced and men in lederhosen played alpenhorns while the Stadio Olimpico built by Italian dictator Benito Mussolini in 1933 rocked to modern beats.
    But it was a red Ferrari, symbol of Italy's postwar industrial power, that stole the show, screaming on to the stage completing five tight turns as fireworks shot into the sky.
    Italian President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi opened the Games and IOC President Jacques Rogge encouraged athletes to play fair.
    The crowd included U.S. first lady Laura Bush and Cherie Booth, wife of British Prime Minister Tony Blair who sat side-by-side among monarchs, heads of state and other dignitaries.
    For the first time, eight women carried the Olympic flag.
    Oscar-winning actress Sophia Loren, the epitome of Italian beauty and style, was joined by Chilean writer and activist Isabel Allende and Wangari Maathai Kenya, the winner of the 2004 Nobel Peace prize for her environmental work to promote peace.
    Marco Balich, executive producer, said: "We worked around the passionate way the Italians approach things, good and bad. The way they drive, the way they eat, the way they dress."
    It was passionate -- certainly when Kenya's one competitor and Italy's team entered to all but a standing ovation -- and a celebration of sport and all things Italian. Hundreds danced in their seats, rang cow bells and waved torches as athletes marched to 70s and 80s music on to the stage.
    Some spectators called the ceremony "the best ever" and lauded Italy for its organisation.
    "It was amazing like a fairytale. I've never seen this kind of an opening ceremony before. It was really one of the best ceremonies ever," one spectator said.
    "I thought it was absolutely superb. It was colourful and absolutely brilliant," said another.
    Many spectators who had been to previous Olympics were quick to compare, but most said Turin's ceremony had been a success.
    "We went to Australia for the Summer Olympics and this was twice as good. It was really well done. Italy did a great job," one spectator said.
    During the ceremony the audience within the Olympic stadium gasped when volunteers dressed in blue, green, yellow and pink, formed the shape of a ski jumper, equipped with jet-black skis. Inching across the stage, the volunteers made the jumper hunch up, jump and then slowly open up on landing.
    The Italian theme, racing through Dante to futuristic art, heralded the entrance of eight past Italian Winter Olympic champions, who relayed the torch between each other.
    It was a surprise choice to send Italian former cross country skier Stefania Belmondo to light the flame.
    The athlete, who recently gave up competitive sport to have a family, carried the torch to spark a volley of fireworks that travelled up a spire to light the Olympic cauldron.
    That followed a reading of Dante's "Divine Comedy" and a gilded fairytale scene of opulent dining and fanciful characters in carriages reminiscent of Italian director Federico Fellini.
    Men and women in powdered wigs ambled around Renaissance-style geometric gardens. Tall princesses in huge skirts surrounded the stage, their skirts lifted to reveal girls swaying on small swings.
    Soft music accompanied the portrayal of Sandro Botticelli's "Birth of Venus", when Roberto Bolle of La Scala Ballet School burst on the stage to a techno soundtrack.
    Bolle, more used to portraying princes in the "Nutcracker" or "Swan Lake", wore a white bodysuit and an orange Mohican and danced with the statue of Futuristic Man by Umberto Boccioni.
    Acrobats in silver climbed a vertical net to form a dove. Yoko Ono called on all to spread the word of peace before Peter Gabriel sang her husband John Lennon's "Imagine".
    Only showman tenor Luciano Pavarotti could finish it all off with a flourish, singing "Nessun Dorma" before massive curtains fell to draw the ceremony to a close. SPTS/JRC
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2014. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register