Winter Games open with a glitch but romp on through Russian history

[NewWorldRecord]

Winter Games open with a glitch but romp on through Russian history

By Mike Collett-White and Alissa de Carbonnel
SOCHI, Russia Fri Feb 7, 2014 9:17pm GMT

(Reuters) - Russia's Winter Games got off to a shaky start on Friday when one of the five Olympic rings failed to unfurl, but ballet dancers, stirring music and huge mechanical props tracing the host nation's history propelled the opening ceremony forward.

Only four of the five giant Olympic rings formed from snowflake-shaped structures suspended from the roof of the 40,000-capacity Fisht Stadium in Sochi, meaning the symbol could not be illuminated with fireworks as planned.

The showboat start to a Games that President Vladimir Putin hopes will burnish Russia's image on the world stage went on without further interruption, with cosmonaut Sergei Krikalev, who has spent more days in space than anyone, hoisting the Russian flag.

Putin officially opened the February 7-23 Games to a burst of fireworks that lit up the clear night sky outside the gleaming new stadium located on the shores of the Black Sea.

"I declare the 22nd Winter Olympic Games open," said Putin, launching an event he has personally championed.

Before the rings hiccup, a young girl in a white dress soared into the air, lifted by a harness, and sang as floating islands featuring folktale Russian landscapes drifted dreamlike across the stadium.

Cartoonish giant inflatable church domes and mascots were less well received, but the crowd saved some of its biggest cheers for the athletes as they emerged from beneath the stage.

In an innovative twist, huge satellite images of each nation taken from space were projected onto the floor as the teams entered.

The Russians, outfitted in white fur-trimmed hats and coats, drew loud applause from the audience, and light boxes on seats in the stands created a dazzling visual backdrop.

"WAR AND PEACE"

Among the most eye-catching scenes was a graceful waltz led by stars of Russian ballet as towering columns rose from the floor to set a scene echoing Leo Tolstoy's masterpiece "War and Peace".

The twirling dancers were chased away by stark red lights, jarring music and a giant train embodying the upheaval of the 1917 Russian revolution and the importance of the avant-garde art movement at around that time.

Soviet symbols rendered in a socialist realist style - including a huge hammer and sickle - took the audience through decades portrayed as a time of industrial progress; the thaw of the 1950s to present day.

Roller skaters, their costumes glowing in a darkened arena, sped across the floor, and "constellations" in the shape of winter athletes twinkled in the cavernous space above. A lightning bolt shot from an ice hockey player's stick.

In one of the final scenes, the honour of lighting the Sochi Olympic flame went jointly to triple Olympic champions Vladislav Tretyak and Irina Rodnina.

The state-of-the-art Fisht Stadium is one of several construction projects that have swelled the budget of the Winter Games to a record $50 billion.

The run-up to the Games was marred by threats from Islamist militants based in nearby Chechnya and neighbouring southern Russian regions to launch attacks, and by international criticism of Russia's new "gay propaganda" law.

Organisers have also been under fire for the huge costs involved, unfinished accommodation and amenities, and even the treatment of stray dogs in and around Sochi.

But Putin will hope the opening ceremony signals an end to the griping, as athletes, who have been largely complimentary about the facilities and organisation so far, get the chance to provide thrills and spills on ice and snow.

(additional reporting by Keith Weir; Editing by Peter Rutherford)

 

[NewWorldRecord]

Opening ceremony fails to follow Putin's script

By Timothy Heritage
SOCHI, Russia Fri Feb 7, 2014 11:32pm GMT

Russian President Vladimir Putin stands during the opening ceremony of the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics, February 7, 2014. REUTERS-Phil Noble

(Reuters) - The opening of the Winter Olympics was supposed to be a triumph for Vladimir Putin that ended months of criticism of the Russian president over gay rights and talk of corruption surrounding the Games.

But a technical glitch and the choice of an athlete who tweeted what was widely seen as a racist photo of U.S. President Barack Obama to light the Olympic flame meant it ended up stoking controversy.

Efforts by state television to conceal from viewers the moment when one of the five rings that make up the Olympic Games symbol failed to light up, and complaints by a singer that her music was used without permission, made matters even worse.

The event's creative director, Konstantin Ernst, tried to portray it as business as usual after the technical fault meant the ring could not be illuminated by fireworks and a snowflake appeared instead. But his efforts fell flat.

"No normal person would get distracted by one snowflake that did not open from the story that is being told over two and half hours," said Ernst, who also runs a state television channel.

"Zen Buddhists have a saying that if you have the perfectly polished ball, leave a nick in it so you can understand just how perfectly it is polished. The (opening of the) rings was the simplest technical thing. That came first and everything else went off, and this was that nick."

Ernst also shrugged off a question from a reporter about state television's decision to switch to a recording of the rehearsal of the opening ceremony when it became clear the fifth ring would not be illuminated.

The decision was natural and unexceptional, he said, because the most important thing was to present the world with a good performance.

Putin may not be quite so zen. He has staked his reputation on staging a safe and successful Games, despite threats from Islamist militants to disrupt them, and wants to use the Olympics to show how far Russia has come since Soviet times.

His hopes that the international criticism - particularly over a law banning the spread of "gay propaganda" among minors - will end when the sporting action begins may now be unfounded.

DOCTORED PHOTO OF OBAMA

The choice of former figure skater Irina Rodnina as one of two people to light the Olympic flame, a great honour and sign of respect, might once have seemed straightforward.

Three times an Olympic champion, she is a national hero. Rodnina is also a member of parliament who is loyal to Putin.

But she caused an outcry in the United States last September by re-tweeting a photoshopped picture that showed Obama chewing and a hand waving a banana in front of him.

The U.S. ambassador to Moscow, Michael McFaul, accused Rodnina at the time of "outrageous behaviour, which only brings shame to her parliament and country".

Rodnina said she had been sent the picture by friends in the United States and added: "Freedom of speech is freedom of speech, and you should answer for your own hang-ups."

Ernst deflected criticism of the choice of Rodnina by saying she was a great sportswoman and said he had not read the tweet.

He also defended the choice of the other five people who carried the Olympic torch at the ceremony. They included Alina Kabayeva, a gold medallist in rhythmic gymnastics whom Russian media have linked with Putin so often that the Kremlin last year issued a denial that he had secretly married her.

Also among the stars who carried the torch in the state-of-the-art Fisht stadium was Yelena Isinbayeva, whose comments defending the "gay propaganda" law last summer prompted accusations abroad that she was homophobic.

Because both have been the cause of controversy so recently, the choice of Isinbayeva and Rodnina could be seen in Washington as a snub to Obama, who is not attending the Games and sent a delegation including officials who are gay.

Although much criticised abroad, the "gay propaganda" law is popular among Russians and was part of Putin's efforts to rally support among socially conservative voters after protests.

Standing up to the West goes down well with voters and is a trump card which the former KGB spy plays often.

The other sour note was sounded by Zemfira, a popular Russian singer who said one of her songs had been used without her agreement.

"It was a really great ceremony... But what is this crap? Do you do whatever you want?" she asked of Ernst.

In Russia, the ceremony is likely to be hailed as a success and the Western media coverage seen as exaggerated.

"In my opinion, to me as a journalist, it is even insulting because it is not how journalists should do their job," veteran television journalist Vladimir Pozner told Reuters. "It is almost like Soviet propaganda."

(Additional reporting by Alissa de Carbonnel; Editing by Ken Ferris)

 

[NewWorldRecord]

Director plays down Sochi ceremony glitch

By Patrick Johnston
SOCHI, Russia Fri Feb 7, 2014 9:17pm GMT

(Reuters) - The creative director of the Winter Olympics opening ceremony played down the significance of a technical hitch during the lavish show on Friday, where one of the five rings that make up the Games' symbol failed to open.

The apparent failure meant the ring could not be illuminated by fireworks as had happened during rehearsals.

Five giant snowflake-shaped structures suspended from the roof of the Fisht Stadium on the shores of the Black Sea in Sochi were supposed to open into circles and then light up with pyrotechnics.

Only four opened, and that particular feature, near the very start of the 2-1/2-hour opening ceremony, was abandoned.

"Zen buddhists have a saying that if you have the perfectly polished ball, leave a nick in it so you can understand just how perfectly it is polished," Konstantin Ernst, head of Russia's biggest television station, told reporters.

"The (opening of the) rings was the simplest technical thing. That came first and everything else went off, and this was that nick."

Asked if he thought the glitch may have detracted from the show, Ernst was unwavering.

"No normal person would get distracted by one snowflake that did not open from the story that is being told over two and half hours," he said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has staked his reputation on staging a safe and successful Games, despite threats from Islamist militants to disrupt them.

(Additional reporting by Mike Collett-White, Editing by Ossian Shine)