Olympic Opening: Joy, a Little Sorrow, Bjork
Published August 13, 2004
And there is nothing like the Opening Ceremonies, amid pomp and spectacle and the parade of athletes, circling the track and filing up the infield with the prime athletic flesh of the entire earth, each participant full of hopes and dreams and alive with the pride of representing their people, their nation, their family, their sport, themselves.
Speaking of the Opening Ceremonies, Bjork will be performing to an anticipated worldwide audience of 4.5 billion. Her performance will take place immediately after the parade of athletes has finished, when all 14,000 participants are gathered together in the center field.
Bjork will perform "Oceania," a song she wrote for the event, which will appear on her new album Medulla to be released by Elektra/Atlantic Records on August 31st.
"Björk's "Oceania" track will be available through RealNetworks' Rhapsody music service, NBC's Olympic site, and for purchase through the RealPlayer Music Store until Medulla's nationwide release on August 31st. Real is offering U.S. consumers free access to the Rhapsody service between August 11th and the close of competition on August 29th.
Of her appearance Bjork said, "Bjork is incredibly honoured to have been asked to write a song and sing it at the Olympics. The song is written from the point of view of the ocean that surrounds all the land and watches over the humans to see how they are doing after millions of years of evolution. It sees no border, different races or religion which has always been at the core of these games."
No one ever said she isn't weird - I wonder if she'll be wearing the swan this time.
Let the Games begin!
Check out Temple Stark's review of the official Athens Olympics Unity CD here.
- Olympic Opening: Joy, a Little Sorrow, Bjork
- Published: August 13, 2004
- Type:
- Section: Sports
- Filed Under: Music: News, Video: Music, Video: Sports, Video: Television
- Writer: Eric Olsen
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- Eric Olsen's personal site
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Comments on this articleComments
i thought the ceremonies were quite moving.
the flyaway sculptures were very impressive.
bjork woulda been cool if goddamned costas and couric had kept their mouths shut for more than 5 seconds.
re: Mark's comment -
Alas -- should I do it here, or vent my overtaxed spleen in a complete blog entry?
Hmmm... maybe Katie Couric (aka Satan Incarnate) deserves her own entry.
I'll be bock...
they did babble as is their custom, Bjork's song was a little amorphous, but i loved the cover-the-earth dress, that was conceptually brilliant and it unfolded (pun intended) flawlessly as did the rest of the ceremony.
You could feel Costas fighting the urge to be flippant and sarcastic, at which he was largely successful, but the jibes did sometimes sour the mood.
It's a pretty good sign that it was a success as Lily and I watched the whole thing (with the Indians on the radio - they fucking rule!!) and she never once got bored. She found the parade of athletes fascinating, as I always do - some erious geography going on there.
oh shark...we NEED a block entry on it.
puleeeze!!
yeah, i was quite disappointed that they kept blabbing during the song.
Of course, sports commentators have no concept of music...
Yeah, the opening olympic cellebrations were wonderful. Nevertheless, it somewhat reflects a wrong idea of Athens and Greece as a whole. Athens is not a tecnological advanced and modern city. It really is a dirty, overpopulated, lazy and poluted city. The olympic sport centre, the new Athens International airport and the new subway are among the few things that make Athens comparable to a few european cities. Besides that it is rather a undeveloped, poor city full of problems. The greegs however, I believe, are the most kind and hospetable europeans I´ve ever met. along with the portuguese.
interesting Paulo, I'd say the front that Athens is presenting is an image of what they want to be - that's okay too.
i thought the opening was by far the best i have ever seen. it was great theater. however, i found katie aka satan and bob aka bob, really annoying. i could really care less what bob costas thinks of bjork's sense of fashion.
i thought those people walking on air was really cool. it made me want to take acid again.
jack e. jett
jack e. jett
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To truely celebrate the Athens Olympics, you only need four things my friend:
"Cheeseburger, Cheeseburger, Cheeseburger, Pepsi!"
However, neither Cheeseburger nor Pepsi are official sponsors. So I just have to make do going to the Vesta Lunch on Dupont.