Saturday, February 13, 2010

Day 1 at the Coke Pavilion and Opening Ceremonies


The XXI Olympic Winter Games have begun!  The day began at the Coca-Cola Happiness House, where I served as emcee during the first half of the day.  One of our special guests during my tenure over the microphone happened to be Beijing 2008 gymnast Shawn Johnson...let's just say that was pretty cool, for sure!

Last night, I had the incredible privilege of watching the Opening Ceremony in person.  I had seen the dress rehearsal on Wednesday night as well, but they wanted to keep certain elements, such as the Olympic flagbearers and the half hour surrounding the lighting of the cauldron a secret.  On Friday, each spectator was given a cardboard box filled with tools to help create special effects around the venue.  Each box was specific to that seat, and included a flashlight, battery-powered candle, mallet, and a blue dental robe to cover your entire upper body.  The cardboard box also acted as a drum and assisted in the countdown at the beginning of the ceremony. The ambience created by these special effects truly floored me, as we had not seen these on Wednesday.  Though they hardly ever matched up with the original intentions of the director and producers (we had a instructional workshop an hour before the Opening Ceremony to practice these effects), it still looked really cool regardless!

Before I head back to LiveCity Yaletown (where the Coke Happiness House is located), check out the video below.  I am featured in it talking about the Coca-Cola and the Olympics about three-and-a-half minutes into the video.  Today, the homepage of vancouver2010.com features a picture of the reporter, the Coke Polar Bear, and myself.  If you get a chance, check out the site!

 

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