Cardboard Mounties and hockey gold end 2010 Games
Disneyland end to 2010 Games - with paper Mounties
By Craig McCulloch
VANCOUVER – The party continued into the early morning hours of Monday on the streets of downtown Vancouver as the 2010 Olympic Winter Games closed on a high note with Sidney Crosby bringing home the first host nation hockey gold in three decades.
While the official closing ceremonies were taking place inside BC Place Stadium, tens of thousands of revellers took to the streets outside, celebrating Sidney Crosby’s overtime goal – and victory – over the United States.
Like the opening on February 12th, spectators at the closing ceremony were each given a box. Inside: a blue cloth poncho to wear throughout the ceremony, coloured cardboard cards to raise on cue, and illuminated snow globes courtesy of Sochi, Russia, which is home of the next Olympic Winter Games.
Also like the opening, CTV personalities Ben Mulroney and Tamara Taggert lead the audience through a one-hour rehearsal immediately before the televised ceremony.
The two-and-a-half hour ordeal saw appearances from famous Canadian actors like William Shatner, Catherine O’Hara, and local kid Michael J. Fox. Musical performances included Neil Young, Michael Buble, Nickelback, Avril Lavinge, and Hedley. And there was more in French than the opening ceremonies – with cultural acts from Quebec.
In a self-effacing reference to the opening ceremony, when part of the Olympic cauldron failed to unfold, the ceremony itself started with an actor pretending to coach the wayward prop into position.
Then Catriona Le May Doan, a former Olympian who was left doing nothing during the opening, re-lit the indoor cauldron for the ceremony.
In an effort to make fun of Canadian stereotypes, Buble sang “Maple Leaf Forever” as dancing and giant cardboard mounties were dragged around the floor, accompanied by huge renditions of Canadian Beavers, balloons of moose, and dancing canoes.
Sochi’s eight minute presentation happened immediately after the Olympic flag was handed over from Vancouver’s Mayor to his counterpart from Russia.
Ballerinas and other performers took to the stage as the latest in projection technology allowed the future host city to project images of an orchestra and the region around Sochi, enticing viewers to visit the region near the Black Sea in 2014.
The evening ended after the musical performances and illuminated inflatable balls floated over the heads of athletes who were on the elevated floor of BC Place, which will play host to the opening ceremonies of the Paralympic Winter Games on March 12th.
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Posted by News Editor
on Mar 1 2010. Filed under Featured.
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