Olympics Get Off to a Dazzling Start
Fireworks go off during the Opening Ceremony. Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images
One World. One Dream. One astonishing opening-night show. Friday's spectacular curtain-raising opening ceremonies for the Beijing Olympics more than lived up to the hype, and NBC gave us a stunning bird's-eye view of all of the razzle-dazzle inside the so-called "bird's nest" of the gargantuan Olympic soccer stadium.
Feeling at times as if it were the greatest Vegas or half-time show in history, everything was scaled to overwhelm, from the fireworks that lit up the sky like a month's worth of 4ths of July, to the scrim that ringed the top of the stadium with evocative cinematic montages, to the thousands of drummers and dancers and performers wowing the crowd, many of them lit up in garish colors like fanciful beacons of joy.
To emphasize the fact that this display of cultural pride was being beamed to a global audience, a highlight of the extravaganza involved a giant globe rising from the floor, with dancers skimming around the surface suspended by wires. It was just one of scores of magical sights that I've been replaying in my head- and replaying on my DVR, because I often couldn't believe my eyes the first time around.
To their credit, the NBC anchors for the event- Olympics frontman Bob Costas, aided by
Today's Matt Lauer (mostly superfluous) and designated "China analyst" Joshua Cooper Ramo- kept their commentary to a refreshing minimum, following an introductory news segment led by Tom Brokaw, putting the events of the next two weeks into historical, social and political context. The point being that China is and always will be a lightning rod for world controversy, but from now until the closing ceremonies on August 24, harmony and sportsmanlike competition will attempt to take center stage.
The celebratory afterglow was dimmed significantly early Saturday when news broke that a Chinese man had attacked two Americans, relatives of a U.S. indoor men's volleyball coach, killing one of them with a knife at the popular Drum Tower tourist site before killing himself by throwing himself off the tower. When NBC resumed its coverage of the Olympics mid-Saturday morning, studio anchor Jim Lampley opened with a news report on the tragedy before handing it over to live coverage of, ironically, an indoor volleyball game (featuring the U.S. women's team).
The games go on, in time-honored tradition, and so far NBC and its cable siblings (which Saturday morning were offering coverage of dressage, soccer and team handball, a sport new to me- one reason I love the Olympics) are showing that they're in more than capable hands.
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