Canada certainly didn't have to worry about "living up to" the Opening Ceremonies in China! These Opening Ceremonies were incredible. Loved every minute of it!! I'm especially glad that the athletes were brought in BEFORE all of the pagentry began, so that they could participate in it and enjoy it.

Well done, Canada!

I agree..it was nice the athletes could be there to watch all the spectacular goings on. Love ,love ,love, the winter Olympics.

june

I thought some of it was interesting but for the most part I thought it missed the "WOW" factor. I stayed up and watched the whole thing waiting for something really spectacular to happen and it didn't. Too bad about the "technical difficulty" when they were trying to light the torch. Wonder what happened?

Linda

I thought they were great and the use of the floor for visual effects was just genius. The whales? OMG, that was amazing. And the leaves. The fields of grasses..... I was dazzled. It may not have been on the scale of the China opening ceremony, but why would anyone want to do that, anyway? I think Canada hit a home run with that opening.

The dancers were great, the use of the Aboriginal tribes was touching and colorful and nice. And I learned so much last night, too. I didn't realize that 90% of the population of Canada lives so close to the border. That was a shocker to me.

absolutely GORGEOUS!!!!!!!!!!!!!
amazing
beautiful

DID you see the BING photo yesterday? that was a GREAT shot
of Vancouver! and the one today is very cool!

I'm watching the end of it this morning. up at 520..
but I know I missed some. darn NBC> lol

Anne Murray, Bobby Orr look GREAT! Donald Sutherland
looks smashing in that white suit! Nice to see the
Canadian astronaut, car racer, humanitarian award winner, and that beautiful little gold medal ice skater that was half the size of Sutherland! lol A beautiful job,
Canada!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

they have the torch ceremony on right now!

(CBUT you've let me down! lolo)

wow.. the torch lighting was way cool!

Wonderful show..I won the bet in our house for who would light the torch - just knew it had to be Gretzky(we have an autographed picture of him from his rookie year).

here is a negative remark from moi....
The USA team should have left those ugly
white pants at home! LOL

are you watching any of the sports? short track is on today

I loved it! Great job Canada!
I liked the USA teams hats. I want one.

We had friends over so I only saw the end. But I taped it off and will skip through it today.

Fantastic!

Congrat to Canada!

Donna (^_^)

I watched every minute of it, loving the grace and style. I was glad to see human elements, rather than dazzle for dazzle's sake. Lovely. Charming.

I don't think any host should feel they have to 'outdo' any previous host.

I really love how the hosting countries use this time to educate the rest of the world about their country, and find it extremely interesting the things they choose to highlight.

Last night's ceremony was just beautiful. The highlights, the special effects, were breathtaking. I, too, appreciated that the athletes were brought out in the beginning so they could see the ceremony first-hand. Canada certainly did herself proud in my opinion.

Like Flamey, I had no idea that 90% of the Canadian population lives within 100 miles of the US border. But I guess that makes sense, since it's so danged cold up there!! LOL! And there was a comparison with, I believe, China ... there, the population is 15,000 per square mile and in Canada it's 10.

I loved kd lang singing Hallelujah ... even tho the words don't make sense (reminds me of American Pie in that respect) the music itself is haunting and I love it. Also loved Sarah McLaughlin.

It was all just wonderful, to me.

The teenage girl who sang "Oh Canada" was terrific. Also enjoyed seeing Wayne Gretzky, and the standing ovation for the dead (Soviet) Georgian luger.

Fantastic! Thanks, Canada!!

Well, on my "small" screen TV it wasn't terrific. But, that's my darn small screen, plus I need new glasses. All I saw was a bunch of colors. LOL!

The Soviet Luger was such a sad beginning to the event. What a dangerous sport. Just heart breaking.

Pure class!

Awww. Your wonderful comments about the Olympic opening ceremonies, brought a tear to my eye. I thought there were freaking amazing, but I am Canadian and very biased. ;~)

It was a very emotional event for many! So much history so many very incredible and wonderful atheletes - including the "Wayner" aka the boy next door!

I lost it totally when Rick Hansen (the Man in Motion) appeared in his wheelchair! He is a symbol of tenancity, sportsmanship and an icon of "you can do anything"!

Terry Fox's Mom carrying the flag and assiting in the lighting of the torch was the cherry on top. Many believe that Terry Fox was/is the greatest Canadian of all time. I am eternally grateful that Terry's legacy lives on and will go on forever in our history books and hearts.

And if I may continue bragging :~) ... this ceremony was a testimonial of how we, as Canadians somehow manage to hold on to our culture and independence despite living right next door to the most powerful nation in the world. There are times we struggle to not get swallowed up or over shawdowed by the USA, our big brother, and now it is our time to shine!!!!!!

Now, look out - we are going to kick your red, white and blue butts in hockey -- again! LOL j/k kinda. :-)

The thing I love about the Olympics is that it gives us all a time to shine and to "come together" and to display our national pride and to put petty differences aside!

The Soviet Luger was a tragically horrible, unfortunate, devastating accident. My heart goes out to his family, his country, his fellow atheletes.

Okay, I'm still on a "high" from the opening ceremonies, that and way too much coffee! lol

Back to being "Just Mom, Taxi and Cleaning Services" and to take the teenage DD shopping and to struggle for my idependence as a person. NOT a human ATM! :-)

BJ

Reading all your positive posts, makes my heart swell and brings a teeny tear to my eye. Just makes me love the KT more and more!

Oh, and the snowboarding down that incredible peak/opening? Unbelievably cool and such wonderful photography! And then when he came into the stadium, down the fake snow ramp? Perfect! No pressure, buddy! Incredible.

I loved the Opening Ceremonies and watched it twice. I had to watch the NBC station because I don't have cable and I can't pick up the Canadian CTV broadcast.

I loved the pre ceremony show on NBC talking about the unique relationship Canada and the United States have. That piece was excellent. I was going to post right after that asking if any of you learned anything about Canada you didn't already know. I loved how my hometown of Windsor was mentioned and the showing of the Ambassador Bridge that bridges our 2 countries together.

The special effects of the ceremony were breathtaking. The whales,the maple leaves and the doves and the skiers and snowboarders high wire acts. Spectacular!

I have one tiny complaint. Even thought he girl who sang our national anthem has a beautiful voice I didn't like how she sang it. Our anthem shoudn't be messed with - the arrangement of it made me cringe. You couldn't sing along with it like I am sure every Canadian wanted to do.

My cousin in Toronto must have called me 20 times during the ceremony asking "did you see that" LOL We should have just stayed on the line during the entire show.

Very sad about the athlete that was killed. Terrible it was shown multiple times on television.

I think every Canadian knew Wayne Gretsky was going to be to be the one to light the torch but it was a nice surprise to see the others that were there. Too bad about the malfunction. Gretsky said today the producers were talking in their ear pieces telling them to keep smiling and stand by. LOL

When I watched the Opening Ceremonies for the 2nd time last night on NBC they left out the entire part video part about the grassy prairies. They went right from the fiddlers right to the Rockies. LOL

The performers were all great.

Despite what our Prime Minister says I am one Canadian that has no problem waving our flag and have always done so.

Anne

We enjoyed it too, let the kids stay up until the torch was lit, which was midnight on our end of the country.

For Canadians reading out there, your ceremonies were marvelous. You had our two kids glued to the set, wide-eyed in amazement at the First Nations ceremonial dances and welcome, the giant polar bear made of "ice" and the orcas swimming across the floor of the stadium.

When the Georgia team marched in, I was crying. I felt so sorry for them, having to deal with such a tragedy when everyone else is celebrating. Such an awful tragedy.

And I had no idea Donald Sutherland was a Canuck, so also thank you for him, he's one of my favorite actors of all time.

I absolutely loved the whales, how they flipped their tails and blew water through their blow holes. I TIVOed it so we could run out to dinner. Geesh, the dang thing quit recording just as the 3 totem poles arose and I never saw the flame lit. How did they do it? Too bad about the technical difficulties.

The announcer explained that at the Winter Olympics, the entertainment is planned as an entertainment for the athletes. As a result, the athletes are ALWAYS seated first, but just at the Winter Olympics.

Fizz, I'm glad you mentioned your anthem. I am not familiar enough with yours to be able to judge the singer's version, but last night I was mentioning to Woody that I wondered how her version was going over with the crowd, it seemed a little difficult, her range was all over the place and I kept wondering if she was botching it up and how all the Canadians felt about it!

The singer in the tight blue dress? I thought that dress was just not right for her.... it didn't flatter her at all. And those tall high heels, I'm so glad she and the other singer (the anthem singer) didn't either one tip over forward or fall, those shoes looked dangerous!

I agree, that Canada's National Anthem sounded a little um, "strained". Not sing-a-long material like Cherry Fizz said. I think Simon would say that it was quite painful. But, DH loved it.

The singer in the tight blue dress, Nelly Furtado? I can't remember who wore what.

I'm exhausted today, couldn't sleep last night because of adreline overload. It's an early night for me. Right after I fetch DD from her party.

BJ

I agree, that Canada's National Anthem sounded a little um, "strained". Not sing-a-long material like Cherry Fizz said. I think Simon would say that it was quite painful. But, DH loved it.

The singer in the tight blue dress, Nelly Furtado? I can't remember who wore what.

I'm exhausted today, couldn't sleep last night because of adreline overload. It's an early night for me. Right after I fetch DD from her party.

BJ

Yes, it was Nelly Furtado in the blue dress. I also thought it was a poor choice for her. Made her look "broad across the beam." The color was good, though.

Although I have never been to Canada, I have heard the Canadian National Anthem many, many times. Our local baseball team - the Sacramento RiverCats (Triple A team for the Oakland Athletics) - used to be in Vancouver, Canada (where they were known as the Vancouver Canadians), before being purchased by Art Savage, who moved the team to Sacramento starting with the 2000 season. The Edmonton Trappers (at the time affiliated with the Montreal Expos) used to come to Raley Field to play and the Canadian National Anthem would always be played in addition to our National Anthem.

And, of course, I have heard it played at various Olympics medal ceremonies. :-)

As soon as that girl started singing, my husband looked at me, and said, "Oh, no..." But, that happens with our anthem a lot, too. I don't know why singers think that they have to make an anthem "their own." It was written a certain way - sing it that way!

Ditto, Lindsey!

I love the Canadian anthem! And I have never heard it sung quite so slowly! lol
I thought Sara Sarah McLaughlin was wonderful AND BEAUTIFUL!

The beautiful young lady who sang "O Canada", Nikki Yanofsky from Montreal, just turned 16 years old. Poor kid has been taking the heat all day. She said she was told to sing it that way (by the Olympic Committee).

Another forum I go to (a Canadian coupon forum of all things lol) has a very heated discussion going on about it. Geesh. At least you people are gracious about it! A year from now no one will even remember it!

I think we (Canucks) need to get over "O Canada" and start singing GO CANADA and win some serious medals!

BJ

Poor kid! I TOLD dh she looked like she was in high school! lol

BJ where in Canada are you from? I never hear that term "Canucks" used down here to refer to ourselves. Canadian's yes but rarely "Canucks" I don't know why but I would never refer to myself as a Canuck. I don't like it but that is just me. LOL Just like when I hear people say "eh" I cringe. You will never hear me saying it. LOL

Anne

Add me to the list of those resenting how the Canadian anthem was sung. It wasn`t Nikki`s fault but some traditions just shouldn`t be changed.

Anne, really? I live near Toronto. I say "eh" way too much and kind of like being called Canuck. As a matter of fact, one of my favourite forums is www.smartcanucks.ca it's a money saving / coupon collecting forum. It's great you might enjoy it, lot's of great deals!

I guess some expressions are regional?