Beijing Olympics Opening Ceremony 2008 . Review on Beijing 2008 Olympic Games

First of all I want to keep this piece of writing completely out of the politics surrounding the Beijing Olympics 2008. The only point of discussion here is the opening ceremony of Beijing Olympics 2008. I have seen opening ceremonies for other Olympics, World Cups, French Open and events like that. But, this one was completely a shocker. I mean the reactions as the evening unfolded was "Oh! My God" and "Wow". If watching on television had that kind of effect on me. I can't imagine the excitement and energy level in the stadium. The responsibility of putting together a grand opening ceremony in the state of the art stadium called "Birds Nest" was given to two brilliant artists,  renowned Chinese motion picture director "Zhang Yimou" and Master of Motion Pictures "Steven Spielberg".

Steven Spielberg was in disagreement with China's political stand with reference to Tibet and Sudan and decided to pull out of Olympics in Feb 2008. Now the entire show was on Zhang Yimou's shoulder. One can only imagine the pressure; he would have gone thru to direct a show

that would display his country's history and talent with 15000 performers on a grand stadium and the entire world watching it. And boy did he deliver. To say that the job was well done would be an understatement.

I am not sure if any other events of this scale were ever put together by a movie director. You could see the artistic angle in every corner of the floor and every inch of the stadium. The screens surrounding the stadium at the top displayed images and video footage completely in sync with the performers and LCD screen displays on the ground, sometimes taking the audience into the ocean and at times high up into the skies. I was holding my breath as the count down drum beats

started and it was only after the fireworks started, I took a deep breath. It's almost like being injected by a dose of excitement. And I completely lost it, when I saw the Olympic rings rising from the

ground and floating in the air. I just couldn't believe my eyes. It was insane. Seriously that's the best reaction I could give to what was unfolding in front of me. And just when you think it doesn't get

better than this. There's another surprise waiting for you. The block thing, where thousands of blocks were being raised up and down creating waves, Chinese symbols and all kind of things related to Chinese history was very interesting. And I was thinking some high-fi computer technique must have been incorporated to put together these block movements. But, I was in a state of shock when I found out that it was real people inside those blocks doing all this in complete

synchronization. They were almost like robots inside those blocks. And I must say what Zhang Yimou had accomplished with the blocks was nothing short of multi million block buster movie.

The Olympics torch rely made it back to the ceremony after traveling 5 months around the globe. The final athlete who was suppose to light the flame was holding the torch and I was wondering what next, as I didn't see anything around him. Suddenly the athlete is lifted in the air and once again you go "Wow". He's carried all the way to the top of the stadium. He starts running in the air holding the torch. Of course he has these ropes holding him, but still the site of a torch bearer running around the stadium high up in the air was some moment.

People might have different opinions when it comes to China's policies and trading of athletes among countries. But, if we talk about the opening ceremony, I don't think there's anyone who saw this and was not taken aback by the grand show they witnessed. As I was watching this event unfold in front of me, there were these 2 simultaneous voices in my head. One said "Can you believe this?" and other said "Think about the amount of hard work that has gone into this

production to make the artistic dream of Zhang Yimou a reality". The Opening ceremony had proved that for an artist like Zhang Yimou, the 70 mm screen or state of art Soccer stadium are not the limits. There is no place that could hold his creativity. I have to say when it comes to imagination of a truly gifted artist, sky is the limit

Zhang Yimou production was not only technically sound and visually spell bounding, but he also made sure he incorporates the traditional costumes, the ancient instruments, the culture, the art forms and the growth of their nation thru centuries. It was a very proud moment for

all Chinese to display their history, growth and technical brilliance to the world. I am sure it must have been the moment of a lifetime for Zhang Yimou.

Coming to me, from now on, the mere mention of the word "Olympic" would take me straight back to the memories of Beijing 2008 Opening Ceremony. Finally, a question that came to my mind as the opening ceremony came to an end. Our nation India stands tall right there with China when it comes to population. Could we ever put together an event of this scale for the world to see? I hope we do….