2000 Summer Olympics Opening Ceremony
The Opening Ceremony of the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games was described by IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch as the most beautiful ceremony he had ever seen. Held on the evening of Friday 15th September 2000, the Opening Ceremony represented everything Australian, from sea creatures and flora/fauna to lawn mowers and other Australian cultural icons.
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Segments
Prelude
Hosted by Channel Seven's newsreader Chris Bath, while seven months pregnant with her first child, live on stage in the stadium. Featured various performances, including "Waltzing Matilda" with John Williamson.
Welcome
The Opening Ceremony began with a tribute to the heritage of the Australian Stock Horse, with the arrival of a lone rider, Steve Jefferys, whose Australian Stock Horse, Ammo, reared. Steve Jefferys then cracked his stockwhip and a further 120 riders and their Stock Horses entered the Stadium and performed intricate steps, including forming the five Olympic Rings, to the music of Bruce Rowland who composed a special Olympics version of the main theme which he had composed for the 1982 film The Man from Snowy River.A giant banner, painted by Sydney artist Ken Done, said "G'Day" to the world.
Anthem
The Australian National Anthem, Advance Australia Fair, was sung by both Human Nature and Julie Anthony. The performance is still regarded by many worldwide as the greatest rendition of a National Anthem at any Olympic Ceremony.
Deep Sea Dreaming
With this segment celebrating Australia's affinity with the sea, the arena was turned into a beach setting. Nikki Webster arrived in beachwear, complete with a bucket and spade, sunscreen and a beach towel. After being hauled up high above the arena by wires, she was joined by huge sea creatures, as well as by swimmers who were being coached (on a large screen) by Australian swimming coach Laurie Lawrence.
Awakening
This segment commemorated Australia's Aboriginal past, which dates back thousands of years. A special welcome was made to countries competing at the Games. An Aboriginal elder guided Nikki Webster through the segment. Narration for the segment was by Australian Indigenous actor Ernie Dingo.
Nature
This segment began with the country's bushfires, followed by Australia's native flora, including Australia's national floral symbol, the Golden Wattle and the Waratah (the flora symbol of New South Wales).
Tin Symphony
This segment was about European settlement in Australia, and the development of Australia into a rural and civic country.
This segment began with the arrival of Captain James Cook and crew, with bicycles to represent his ship, HM Bark Endeavour, during Captain Cook's exploration of the Australian east coast.
This was followed by a multitude of the Australian bushranger Ned Kelly (with costumes based on a painting of Ned Kelly by artist Sir Sidney Nolan).
Thousands of tap dancers then tap danced on metal plates, and built a rural homestead (out of corrugated iron sheeting), and also built windmill (among other things). The segment also included lawn mowers. The Australian Aboriginal elder and Nikki Webster watched this activity from the sidelines.
Arrivals
The Arrivals segment of the ceremony celebrated Australia's multiculturalism aspects introducing each continent with a float and costumes symbolising each continent. The five floats symbolised the Olympic rings, while also in the colours of the Olympic Rings.
Eternity
The word "Eternity" was draped across the Sydney Harbour Bridge (now a tradition).
Sydney 2000 Olympic Band
A massed Millennium Marching Band of 2000 musicians performed both Australian and international classics. 1000 Australian musicians, with the remaining 1000 musicians being from other countries around the world (the massed band was so large that six conductors were required for the segment).There was much controversy over this in the leadup to the Games.
Parade of Nations
Once the Sydney 2000 Olympic Band made their grand introduction, the Parade of Nations began.A record 199 nations entered the stadium, the only missing IOC member being Afghanistan (which was suspended due to the Taliban regime's prohibition against practicing any kind of sports). Most remarkable was the entering of North and South Korea as one team, using a specially designed unification flag: a white background flag with a blue map of the Korea peninsula; the two teams would compete separately, however. Four athletes from East Timor also marched in the parade of nations. Although the country-to-be had no National Olympic Committee then, they were allowed to compete under the Olympic Flag.
Dare To Dream
John Farnham and Olivia Newton-John walked among the Olympic competitors and sang the song "Dare to Dream", which was especially written for the occasion.
Opening Addresses
President of Sydney 2000 (SOCOG) - Michael Knight.President of the International Olympic Committee - Juan Antonio SamaranchThe Governor-General, Sir William Deane, opened the games.
The Olympic Flag
The Olympic Flag was carried around the arena by eight former Australian Olympic champions: Bill Roycroft, Murray Rose, Liane Tooth, Gillian Rolton, Marjorie Jackson, Lorraine Crapp, Michael Wenden and Nick Green. During the raising of the Olympics Flag, the Olympic Hymn was sung by the Millennium Choir of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia.
Cauldron
The opening ceremony concluded with the lighting of the Olympic Flame. Former Australian Olympic champion Herb Elliott brought the Olympic Flame into the stadium. Then, celebrating 100 years of women's participation in the Olympic Games, former Australian women Olympic champions: Betty Cuthbert and Raelene Boyle, Dawn Fraser, Shirley Strickland (later Shirley Strickland de la Hunty), Shane Gould and Debbie Flintoff-King brought the torch through the stadium, handing it over to Cathy Freeman, who lit the flame in the cauldron within a circle of fire. This was followed by a fireworks display.
General Information
Executive Producer: Ric Birch
2000 Summer Olympics. (CD cover)
The stadium's English-language announcer for the Opening Ceremony was Australia actor John Stanton.The wife of Juan Antonio Samaranch, the IOC President, was seriously ill and was not able to accompany her husband to the Olympics (she died the following day, from cancer). Therefore, Samaranch invited former Australian Olympic Champion swimmer, Dawn Fraser, to accompany him at the ceremony. Dawn Fraser also explained some of the cultural references in the display section to him.The young girl singer, who featured throughout much of the early part of the opening ceremony, was Nikki Webster. Other musical performers taking part during the opening ceremony were Olivia Newton-John and John Farnham (who sang the duet "Dare to Dream" while walking among the athletes), Vanessa Amorosi (who sang "Heroes" while a huge cloth was lowered down to cover the athletes - with sporting images and the image of a white dove of peace then being displayed on the cloth) and Tina Arena (who sang "The Flame").
Television Coverage
Seven Network: Australia
Seven Network Australia's live and exclusive broadcast of the Opening Ceremony began at 6.30pm (AEDST) with half an hour of preparations live at the stadium. The official countdown concluded at exactly 7.00pm. Hosts and commentators included Bruce McAvaney, Gary Wilkinson and Sandy Roberts. Commentator for the Indigenous segment "Awakening" was Australian Indigenous actor and TV personality Ernie Dingo.
NBC: United States
NBC cut the Tin Symphony segment out of its broadcast, plus the James Morrison portion of the Anthem segment.
TVNZ: New Zealand
New Zealand viewers experienced a technical problem with their satellite feed during the "Prelude" and "Welcome" segments and therefore did not see the Countdown live.
See also
Categories
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