Sochi Opening Ceremony

Russia is cold, that's what I got out of the trailer sequence that opened the ceremony. No matter what they offer, they are all cold.

First, I want to talk about the choice of Sochi as well as what Russia has offered to the Winter Games. Russia may be a global player but they routinely act like a teenager that wants to sit at the adult table.   The Russian government has attempted to give this as a gift to the world. Its trying to tell the world that its a new Russia, not the same Cold War Russia that the world knows. As Meredith Viera said in the start of the opening broadcast, they have been dubbed Putin's Games, because he went after the games personally to bring them to Russia. The Olympics not only bring jobs to the country that host, but it also gives them a huge tourism boost, both during the ceremony and for years later. Some of the things people have thought were reasons for the games to not be held in Russia has to do with terror threats and human rights.

Secondly, I take issue with NBC holding exclusive rights to the broadcast of the Olympiad. They have for numerous years, but it has been the past few years that NBC has cause some turbulence with holding the rights.  In England the BBC holds the rights, in Canada the CBC holds the rights, and globally the International Olympic Committee holds its own rights. Elsewhere, all over the globe any person can watch the Olympics anytime, online or on TV.  Some of the international theatre people that I follow set my feed on fire today because at 11am today the Opening Ceremony was aired LIVE on TV. Because NBC hold exclusive rights to the broadcast, and want to get the highest ratings and most bang for the buck in advertising revenue they have held the broadcast to be aired in prime-time only (it does re-air at 1am). During the London Games, NBC took a segment dedicated to the London Bombings, and instead of airing this dance segment, they aired an interview with Michael Phelps. I want NBC to stop messing with the airing of the games. If I want to watch an event online, with the NBC Olympic website or app, I am required to have cable access, and access to my cable providers account number.  Alright, that's fine, but lets say I live in the dorms on campus, I don't have access to that live access. However, throughout the ceremony I just wanted to tell Matt and Meredith that this was not the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade and they needed to stop talking.

Back in September I was talking with a theatre friend who had come in to see one of my shows, he was working on some of the pieces for this opening. All he would tell me that he was working on were "Giant Inflatables". I think I am now starting to see what he was talking about with the first set pieces.

If you would live to know more about some of my thoughts on the opening ceremonies, go follow me on twitter. I am making and tweeting my snap judgments now.