Beijing Olympics 2008

BEIJING, Dec. 5 (Xinhua) — “Forever Friends,” a song written by famed musicians Giorgio Moroder, Kong Xiangdong and Michael Kunze, is bidding to become the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games theme, sources said. An English version of the song’s music video finished shooting last month in Beijing and was expected to be on television and the Internet by the beginning of next year.

“The song meets the requirements of the Beijing Olympic Games,” said Zhao Dongming, the culture department director of the Beijing Organizing Committee of Olympic Games (BOCOG). “It is heartwarming and has broad appeal.”
“We hope to impress people the world over who come to the Olympic Games with this beautiful song at the opening ceremony.”
The lyrics go “You’ve tasted bitter defeat and the sweet success/ You want it all and you settle for nothing less/ You’ve tried harder than the rest/ You’ve become one of the best/ This is the time you’ll remember for all your life”.
However, BOCOG officials said it was still too early to say if the tune had become the Olympic theme song as the solicitation campaign ends in March.
Moroder wrote the official theme songs “Reach out” for the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics and “Hand in Hand” for the 1988 Seoul Olympics. The Italian, who produced Donna Summer’s disco classic “Love to Love You Baby” and many other pop hits, said he wanted to show “determination to act hand-in-hand and heart-to-heart” in “Forever Friends”.
The father of Euro disco said he had used some rhythms of the folk song “Liuyanghe” and traditional Chinese musical instruments in “Forever Friends” to bring Chinese features into it.
Kong, the famed Chinese pianist, said listeners would feel harmony, enthusiasm, devotion and joy in the song and he hoped it would become the Games theme.
The lyrics were written by Germany’s Kunze, while popular singers Coco Lee and Sun Nan performed the song in the music video.

The worldwide solicitation for a Games theme song will conclude on March 10. A prize of 20,000 yuan (about 2,700 U.S. dollars) is being offered to each of the 25 winners selected by a panel of professional musicians.
The theme will be unveiled 100 days before the Games opening ceremony, the BOCOG said.
The Beijing Olympics take place from August 8 to 24.

from: xinhuanet.com 

To Beijing, to the Olympics 2008. An event that brings all people together to become friends in the true spirit of the olympic games.
When “Friends” and “Olympic Spirit” turn to music then it’s called “Forever Friends“.
The Dream Team of Giorgio Moroder witch include top star Coco Lee and Sun Nan, producer Kong Xiangdong and Yang Dongsheng and german lyricist Michael Kunze produced what should become the Beijing 2008 Olympic Theme. The music video is scheduled for release before the year is over. In addition, a Chinese version of the song is in the works now and will be ready for release early next year.

At work for the Music Video release

Sun Nan, Coco Lee film “Forever Friends” music video

BEIJING, Nov. 30 — Coco Lee and Sun Nan were in Beijing Thursday to film the final scenes for the music video of the Beijing Olympic song “Forever Friends.”

“This is a multinational family arts group. we come from different cultural backgrounds and have become a close-knit family because of the Olympics. We are a true reflection of “Forever Friends,” said producer Kong Xiangdong.

Two-time Grammy Award-winning composer Giorgio Moroder headed the song’s music composition. Moroder has experience in producing Olympic hits — he composed the Los Angeles 1984 Olympic theme song “Reach Out” and the Seoul 1988 Olympic theme song “Hand in Hand.”

German lyricist Michael Kunze, whose achievements include successfully translating the hit musicals “Cats” and “Phantom of the Opera” into German, penned the English lyrics to “Forever Friends.”

The three members of the creative team for the song represent a multi-ethnic, boundary-free world. They truly represent the theme of “Forever Friends.”

Following the debut performance of “Forever Friends” during the one-year countdown celebration for the Beijing Olympic Games last August, Moroder and Kong decided to do a new recording of the song.

That’s when singers Sun Nan and Coco Lee got involved. In addition, CCTV host, Yang Dongsheng, was invited to join the production team. Coco Lee and Sun Nan are both honored to perform “Forever Friends” and hope to pass the song’s message along to the rest of the world.

The “Forever Friends” music video is scheduled for release before the year is over. In addition, a Chinese version of the song is in the works now and will be ready for release early next year.

Moroder (1st, R) is full of praise for the two singers (Source: BOCOG)

Moroder and Kong Xiangdong reminisce about the past (Source: BOCOG)

Coco Lee and Sun Nan film a scene on the Great Wall (Source: BOCOG)

from: xinhuanet.com