Let the Games begin as CBC, NBC air opening ceremonies

Six months after the end of the Tokyo Summer Olympic Games, the Beijing Winter Games officially kicked off Friday.

Watching the opening ceremonies on both CBC and NBC, the North American broadcasters seemed intent on medaling in diplomacy.

An overdressed Andi Petrillo in a Toronto studio began Friday at 6:30 am ET by welcoming Scott Russell, Andrew Chang, Adrienne Arsenault and Colleen Jones. Only that latter two were actually in Beijing.

Over on NBC, primetime host Mike Tirico was in Bejing and talked about the daily throat swabs he has to take at the international broadcast centre. NBC morning hosts Savanah Guthrie (Stamford, CT) and Hoda Kotb in New York stayed swabless on the home front.

Arsenault did file a China primer off the top, explaining why many officials were boycotting these Games (while still sending athletes) over human rights violations. Two men named Michael in Canada had to have been nodding their heads.

Overall the Canadian coverage was less reserved towards the host nation. Jones noted how many observers felt there was a “need to celebrate something right now.”

On NBC, Tirico was flanked in his stadium perch by two buzz kill commentators viewers will see throughout the Games. Andy Browne, an editorial director at Bloomberg, and Jing Tsu, a Yale professor specializing in Asian studies, brought context to the coverage. They pointed out the sharp contrast from when China held a coming out party on a world stage at their 2008 Summer games. “The world is a chillier place now,” said Tsu, “and it’s not just the weather.”

There was more talk of China’s human rights violations on the American broadcast. US charges of “cultural genocide” have been denied as the “lie of the century” by the Chinese.

Unlike opening ceremonies in America or Canada, there were no celebrities at centre stage. This was a simpler ceremony, even compared to what Beijing presented back in 2008 when they hosted the 2008 Games. “Modest and intimate” is how Adrienne Arseneault described it.

Of course, COVID safety protocols had a lot to do with that. China has imposed a “Zero COVID” policy. Their government has advised citizens to stay home and watch the Games on television. No international spectators were allowed into the stadium.

There were few heads of state in the stands. Many officials are boycotting these Games, including those from Canada and The United States. Russia’s Vladimir Putin, however, sat (distanced) in solidarity and mask-less in the stadium near China’s 68-year-old president Xi Jinping. Should Russian troops invade the Ukraine during these Games, and Xi Jinping has Putin’s back, “we could be living in a very different world by the end of these games,” suggested NBC’s downer prof Andy Browne.

As for the ceremonies themselves: Much of the show inside the stadium was projected onto the massive floor area, about six times the side of an NHL rink according to Tirico. At one point a giant, melting ice block appeared in the stadium. Olympic rings emerged out of the top while images depicting the previous Winter Olympic locales played on a giant ice screen.

Fireworks outside the Bird’s Nest lit the night sky (the ceremony began around 8 p.m. in Beijing) with Chinese letters overhead spelling, “Spring.” These are the 24th Winter Games and China’s 24 seasons were showcased. The flag of the nation was passed along by representatives of China’s various ethnic groups before winding up in the hands of the military.

China may have COVD under control, but the ceremonies were a super spreader of propoganda.

Still, there was no fly past by jets, no flexing of military might. The snowflake motif incorporating the initials of all 91 countries taking part was the most powerful symbol.

All the athletes who marched into the stadium were masked; many with the initials of their country (“CAN” for Canada) and a flag on their face protection.

Countries did not parade in the traditional alphabetic order. That’s because they marched to the Chineese alphabet. Canada walked out 27th out of 91 nationals.

The Canadian contingent was swarmed in oversized red puffer parkas from Lululemon. They were topped with giant scarfs and red winter hats that looked like the kind Eb used to wear on Green Acres. If you stitched together all those giant Canadian parkas I’m pretty sure you could build a new Olympic stadium.

Could have been worse. The Italian team were draped in big puffy Italian flag costumes.

The music throughout was formal and traditional. “Pomp and Circumstance” played as France walked in.

The NBC coverage had their two flag bearers mic’ed so Tirico could talk to them live. NBC also split the screen to show families watching back in the USA. Retired PK Suban girlfriend Lindsay Von also weighed in and will be heard as a commentator throughout the downhill coverage.

The Chinese team got a standing ovation from the flag-waving spectators, all of whom were there as invited guests.

COVID protocols kept the torch relay inside the bubble. Chinese athletes from six different decades carried the torch. The youngest duo — including one strategically-plucked from the sequestered Muslim minority — were framed by a large white snowflake, then surrounded by white-clad dancers who stood in the shape of a heart while a heavenly choir sang. Fireworks in the shape of multi-coloured Olympic rings exploded over the Bird’s Nest stadium.

Give China credit for presenting a muted, tasteful opener with plenty of eye-catching visuals and positive symbols. Everything played to perfection.

All these hearts, doves and snowflakes, however, were in sharp contrast to guns and planes and tanks bordering the Ukraine, as NBC noted. The world is indeed a chillier place right now. Let the Games begin, and hold the ammunition!

The opening ceremonies will be repeated tonight in primetime on both NBC and CBC plus streamable anytime on CBC Gem.