The Sound of Victory

The Beijing Olympics got underway a few days back and the opening ceremony was simply outstanding. I'm sure everyone has seen snippets of the ceremony itself, including the air-borne sequence of Olympian great Li Ning.

I was completely blown away with the scale of celebrations for the opening ceremony. The sheer size of the performances indicate that the Chinese take great pride in being hosts for the 2008 Olympics. The show was directed and supervised by Chinese filmmaker Zhang Yimou who is known for his visual artistry, my Chinese friends tell me. Maybe it takes a filmmaker to create a spectacular show that not many will forget anytime soon.

The almost one hour-long opening ceremony featured dancers, musicians and artists who worked together to create a magical experience for those in the stadium, as well as the scores of people who watched the event live on television that day. The overall costs are in the region of more than $100 million, says the CBC in their Olympic coverage.

The title song of the Olympics is a melodic tune called "You and Me." The song has been sung in Chinese and English by Liu Huan and Sarah Brightman, respectively. The video too is artistic and reflects the theme of "One World, One Dream" very accurately. The singer of the song, Liu Huan, said that the song was not typically Chinese but was based on a five-scale register like traditional Chinese music, as opposed to a seven-scale Western register. Take a listen to the song below...