Up to four billion people around the world are preparing to watch the 2008 Olympics explode into life.

Final preparations are being made for a spectacular opening ceremony to the most eagerly-anticipated moment in China’s modern history, when 35,000 fireworks will light up the sky above 10,000 dancers and performers in the stunning Bird’s Nest stadium.

The Games, which will open at precisely 8.08pm on Friday, on the date 08.08.08, come as the culmination of seven years in which the Olympics have dominated China’s politics, culture and industry, with £20 billion spent on venues and infrastructure in a desperate bid to improve the country’s image internationally.

Protests over Tibet, human rights and free speech have overshadowed the build-up to the Games and made them the most controversial since Moscow in 1980, but the Communist Party hopes politics will be temporarily forgotten during a 90-minute display which has been in rehearsal for months.

China will come to a standstill during the ceremony, as there has been overwhelming support for the Games from the Chinese public, many of whom see it as the most exciting event of their lifetime.

The timing has been chosen to coincide with the luckiest possible minute this millennium. In a nation where eight is a lucky number, 8.08pm on the eighth day of the eighth month of the eighth year is as auspicious as is possible.

In truth, luck will play no part in the success of the opening ceremony. A security detail of 110,000 police and soldiers will be on duty in Beijing, where tension has been high following a terrorist attack by regional separatists earlier this week which killed 16 policemen in northern China.

The Chinese air force also has a fleet of 74 fighter jets and 48 helicopters on standby, with surface-to-air missiles at nearby military bases ready to shoot down hijacked aircraft in the worst case scenario.

Another feared enemy is the weather, along with its ally, pollution. Forecasters were optimistic yesterday, saying that they expected light drizzle at worst during the ceremony, despite the intense heat and humidity yesterday when temperatures rose to 85 degrees F and humidity above 90 per cent.

The air pollution index for the city was 95, close to the 100 maximum set by the government as a target and way above the accepted international standard of 50.

Predictions by a Cambridge-based company that is providing advice to the Beijing Environmental Protection Bureau suggested that the air on the Olympic Green will fail the government’s own safe standards for air quality.

Although details of the opening ceremony have been shrouded in secrecy, with film crews and journalists banned from all rehearsals, officials have advised TV viewers to “fit seat belts to their sofas, because it’s going to be a spectacular ride”.

They have hired China’s most successful film director, Zhang Yimou, to choreograph the show, which will be on the same epic scale as his blockbusters Hero and House of Flying Daggers.

Brief film clips released to the media show endless ranks of performers dressed in lavish costumes from different imperial dynasties of China’s 5,000-year history. There will be exactly 2008 drummers beating out a rhythm for acrobats and trapeze artists ‘flying’ over the arena from wires, hundreds of kung fu fighters and a human pyramid forming the shape of the Bird’s Nest stadium.

The country which invented fireworks has promised a pyrotechnic display like no other, with rockets fired from 1,800 locations around Beijing, from the Great Wall to Tiananmen Square, making pictures in the sky of dragons, flowers and children’s faces.

It will be followed by the procession of athletes from the 205 competing nations, who will arrive not in alphabetical order but in the order of how many brush strokes it takes to write the country’s name in Chinese, meaning Team GB is 115th and Australia is third last. The Chinese, as usual for the host country, will enter the stadium at the end.

The identity of the torchbearer is still unknown, though there have been reports that a Chinese dragon or an athlete dressed as a phoenix will light the Olympic flame, which, it is rumoured, will then ‘float’ high above the stadium supported by tethered helium balloons.

source: telegraph.co.uk

Beijing Olympic Games

Powered by Cisco, NBC to Provide Olympic Experience Anywhere, Anyplace, Anytime to Multiple Delivery Platforms

Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) announced today it has been selected to provide Internet Protocol (IP) video network infrastructure and video-encoding solutions to NBC during the network’s coverage of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, Aug. 8-24. Cisco’s IP video infrastructure will enable NBC personnel in New York and Los Angeles to edit video as it is captured in Beijing and deliver it to three screens: TV, PC and smartphone.

Described as one of the most demanding network environments in the world, the groundbreaking trans-ocean network powered by Cisco will enable the transfer of gigabyte-sized files between Beijing, New York and Los Angeles. In previous Olympics, NBC staff had to work from videotapes to add graphics and captions to event shots. In one of the single most ambitious media projects in history, NBC will present more than 3,600 hours of broadcast coverage during the 17-day event. It would be impossible to use a tape library to replicate enough video copies for use at eight different networks as well as NBCOlympics.com. Using a file-based workflow for shot selection, the network can select shots and distribute them to affiliates even before an event is finished.

“With the Cisco network solution, we’ve achieved the Holy Grail of digital video, which is the ability to perform shot selections on low-resolution files and extract high-resolution material from those files even as they are being recorded. That is a huge accomplishment,” said Craig Lau, vice president for Information Technology, NBC Olympics. “Cisco is a trusted partner, and in the demanding IT environment of the Olympic Games, we depend on trusted relationships. We have absolute deadlines for when Olympics coverage begins and ends. Cisco technologies help us exceed expectations and meet our timetables in an unforgiving environment.”

Viewers of NBC’s coverage of the Beijing Olympic Games will be able to use their PCs and laptops to access 2,200 hours of video that they can play back on demand, as well as 3,000 hours of highlights, rewinds, encores and scoring results. Individuals will also be able to watch video and view results on their smartphones.

“We are making broadcast history, executing the creation, management and distribution of digital video in a way that’s never been achieved before,” said Tony Bates, senior vice president and general manager, Cisco Service Provider Group. “We are entering the visual-networking era where video changes everything, especially the way people connect with the Olympic Games. The Olympics is all about the experience. The next best thing to being in Beijing is to be able to see the event coverage. This year, not only are thousands of hours of Olympic coverage being transmitted in real time, but Cisco’s IP video network and encoding technologies are also giving people the ability to access hundreds of event videos on demand using their PCs, laptops and mobile devices for an unprecedented Olympic experience anywhere, anyplace, anytime.”

Through the comprehensive Cisco IP video network infrastructure and video-encoding solutions, NBC was able to address the following technical challenges:

– Creating a high-bandwidth, high-performance connection between Beijing
and NBC studios in New York and Los Angeles to give shot selectors and
editors in the United States the ability to edit video as it is being
captured in Beijing.
– Providing the quality of service (QoS) required to assign priority to
real-time Olympic Games video footage over the trans-ocean network.
– Encoding and transmitting low-resolution (low-res) video from Olympic
venues for broadband viewing. Low-res video uses far less bandwidth, which
enables NBC to provide Internet coverage of more Olympic sports.
– Using a single, converged IP infrastructure for a wide spectrum of
services ranging from the video delivery to data-intensive logistics
applications.

About NBC Olympics

NBC, “America’s Olympic Network,” owns the exclusive U.S. media rights to the Olympic Games, television’s most powerful property, through 2012, which includes Beijing in 2008, Vancouver in 2010 and London in 2012. From August 8-24, 2008 NBC Universal will present an unprecedented 3,600 hours of coverage, highlighted by NBC in primetime with live swimming, gymnastics and beach volleyball. In August 2004, 203 million viewers watched s the networks of NBC Universal — NBC, MSNBC, CNBC, USA, Bravo, Telemundo, and NBC’s HD affiliates — offered a then record 1,210 hours of Olympic coverage from Athens. For additional information, go to NBCOlympics.com, a year-round destination for fans of Olympic sports, featuring news, Beijing previews, athlete features, expert blogs, photos, Olympic video from the NBC archives and social tools enabling users to build communities around their favorite sports, post comments and blogs.

About Cisco Systems

Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) is the worldwide leader in networking that transforms how people connect, communicate and collaborate. Information about Cisco can be found at http://www.cisco.com. For ongoing news, please go to http://newsroom.cisco.com.

Cisco, the Cisco logo, and Cisco Systems are registered trademarks or trademarks of Cisco Systems, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the United States and certain other countries. All other trademarks mentioned in this document are the property of their respective owners. The use of the word partner does not imply a partnership relationship between Cisco and any other company. This document is Cisco Public Information.

For direct RSS Feeds of all Cisco news, please visit “News@Cisco” at the following link:

http://newsroom.cisco.com/dlls/rss.html

George W Bush used a speech given on the eve of the opening of the Beijing Olympics to call on the Chinese government to respect the human rights of its people.

“America stands in firm opposition to China’s detention of political dissidents and human rights advocates and religious activists,” Mr Bush said in Bangkok in what was almost certainly his last major policy address in Asia.
Given before setting off for Beijing, where he will attend the Games’ opening ceremony, the speech was intended to balance the very public symbol of support for Beijing that his presence will provide.
“We press for openness and justice not to impose our beliefs, but to allow the Chinese people to express theirs,” he said.
Mr Bush was one of the first world leaders to say he would attend the Games, and has resisted calls for any boycott over human rights, China’s rule over Tibet or its support for the Sudanese government. He has said the Games are a sporting spectacle.
On what is the last Asian tour of his presidency, he has been keen to shore up key American allies in troubled times. The right-wing President Lee Myung-bak of South Korea, his first stop, has so far proved unpopular since taking office in February, while democracy in Thailand is deeply embattled.
Mr Bush was careful to balance his praise of democratic Asian nations and his rebuke to China for not following suit with enthusiasm for the material progress that China has made in recent decades. When he first came to China in 1975, he said, where his father George Bush senior was head of the American liaison office in Beijing, it was a poor city with few cars and most people dressed identically.
Now it was increasingly prosperous, and its young people, as they grew used to trading goods, would press for greater freedom to trade ideas.
“Change in China will arrive on its own terms and in keeping with its own history and its own traditions,” he said. “Yet change will arrive.
“And it will be clear for all to see that those who aspire to speak their conscience and worship their God are no threat to the future of China. They are the people who will make China a great nation in the 21st century.”
The authorities in Beijing will reject Mr Bush’s message, and have already attacked his decision to meet five Chinese dissidents and religious activists in Washington before setting off for Asia.
But their reaction will be tempered by the decision by the White House not to “spoil the show” by making a critical speech in China itself. Mr Bush will however make a symbolic gesture of support for China’s Christian community by attending a protestant church on Sunday in Beijing, albeit one that is part of the state-backed official church.
A request for him to attend a “house church” – illegal because not approved by the official church – was turned down.

from: telegraph.co.uk

The Beijing 2008 Wushu Tournament will be held from Aug. 21 to 24 during the Olympic Games, a Wushu official announced here Tuesday afternoon.

Wang Xiaolin, Secretary General of International Wushu Federation (IWUF) and President of Chinese Wushu Association, said at a press conference at the Olympic main press center that 128 athletes from 43 countries and regions will attend the tournament.

He elaborated that 28 athletes are from Europe, 14 from America, seven from Africa, two from Oceania and 77 from Asia.

Fifteen gold medals are at stake in taolu and sanshou. According to the tournament’s regulation, every delegation is entitled to dispatch athletes to attend at most eight of 15 competition events.

Wang said the Chinese delegation will have eight athletes to compete in eight events.

The tournament is hosted by the Beijing Organizing Committee of the 29th Olympic Games (BOCOG), IWUF and Chinese Wushu Association.

The IOC usually rules that no competitions for non-Olympic sports should be held in the Olympics-hosting cities during the Olympics Games, but obviously it has opened a special door to the traditional Chinese sports event.

Wushu, or martial arts, is neither an official event nor an exhibition event of the Olympic Games, although the IWUF has tried hard in the past decade to put it on the Olympic program.

“Wushu has thousands year-long history in China and its core essence is harmony. Except the Wushu tournament during the Beijing Olympic Games, some Chinese Wushu athletes will give performance in the Olympic Village for athletes from all over the world, so as to deepen people’s understanding on the traditional Chinese sports event,” said Wang.

In responding to the question on when Wushu can be accepted as a medal event in the Olympic Games, Wang said “we appreciated the International Olympic Committee that they have given us very positive assessment. But there is still a long way to go, as IOC is trying to trim down the scale of the Games.”

recensioni blog

source: xinhuanet.com

China has imposed restrictions on the access of Chinese and foreign media to Beijing’s sensitive Tiananmen Square, requiring them to apply in advance to film or conduct interviews there, the city government said on Tuesday.

“To maintain a good order of reporting activities at the square, Chinese and foreign journalists are advised to make telephone appointments with the Administration Committee of Tiananmen Area,” said a notice posted on the official website of the Beijing government.

The notice suggested that the new requirement was introduced because of the use of the square for Olympic-related events expected to draw large crowds.

“During the Beijing Olympic Games, one large-scale cultural event would be held each day at Tiananmen Square,” it said.

“A large number of people would come to the square and enjoy the events,” it said.

China has introduced temporary rules allowing foreign journalists to interview any Chinese citizen who accepts a request before and during the games.

But officials have also warned many Beijing residents to avoid discussing sensitive subjects with foreign media.

Tiananmen Square was the prime site of the 1989 pro-democracy protests, which ended after the ruling Communist Party ordered tanks and troops into the square, in a crackdown that is believed to have cost several hundred lives.

Rights groups and families of victims continue to urge the government to investigate and make a full report of the Tiananmen crackdown.

In recent years, many petitioners from outside Beijing have tried to stage protests in the square.

The government has tightened security and introduced regulations sepcifically for the square in the run-up to the Olympics.

Security guards and paramilitary police check the identities and seach the bags of everyone entering the square.

Members of three to five families staged a small protest near Tiananmen Square on Monday to voice dissatisfaction over housing compensation, state media said.

State media said police ended the protest about 30 minutes after the families began talking to foreign reporters at the redeveloped Qianmen commercial area to the south of the square.

The Beijing Olympic organizing committee, BOCOG, arranged a group tour of the square on Tuesday afternoon for foreign Olympic reporters.

source: bangkokpost.com

This video may be deleted from Youtube so watch it until it’s still here!
Otherwive wait until 08-08-08 for the Opening ceremony for the Beijing Olympic Games 2008.

Beijing has betrayed its Olympic promises of media freedom, with some foreign journalists even facing serious threats to their lives, according to a human rights watchdog.

“Conditions have worsened in some areas over the past year,” says a report recently released by Human Rights Watch.

The 25,000-30,000 journalists expected to cover the Olympics are facing risks greater than those they they were led to expect.

“Nearly all say that journalists today continue to face significant obstacles whenever the issues on which they wish to report are deemed ‘sensitive’ by central or local authorities,” states the 71-page report.

The regime’s bid to host the 2001 was deemed successful in part because of a pledge to improve media freedom, coupled with the belief held by the International Olympic Committee that the international attention of the Games would help improve the human rights situation in China.

Indeed, media freedom in China for foreign journalists appeared to get off to an encouraging start in the run up to the Games, with a new regulation apparently allowing foreign journalists access to the country and any willing people or organisations.

The freedoms were listed in the “Service Guide for Foreign Media” which states “the Regulations on Reporting Activities by Foreign Journalists shall apply to the coverage of the Beijing Olympic Games and the preparation as well as political, economic, social and cultural matters of China by foreign journalists.” The temporary regulations were to be in effect from January 2007 until October 2008.

To find out what the conditions for journalists were actually like, from December 2007 to June 2008, Human Rights Watch interviewed 60 foreign correspondents.

Although some reported greater mobility and access, many recounted obstruction and intimidation by authorities when a story was being pursued, when they tried to dig into corruption, social unrest, public health crises, and China’s large detention system, including prisons, labour camps, mental hospitals, and police stations.

“Most recently, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has declined to investigate death threats made against more than 10 correspondents and their family members in March and April 2008″ say Human Rights Watch

The report takes the example of senior Reuters correspondent Chris Buckley who was beaten and detained by plainclothes thugs in September 2007 after interviewing rural citizens who had come to Beijing seeking redress for abuses committed by local authorities who were held at an illegal detention facility in Beijing.

“The following month, a European television news journalist suffered similar treatment while trying to report on unrest in Hebei province.” states the Human Rights Watch press release.

A spokesperson from international journalist rights group, Reporters Without Borders (RWB), told The Epoch Times: “The occasional good news, such as the unblocking of access to certain foreign websites and the reopening of Tibet, have been eclipsed by a series of outrageous arrests and increased surveillance of human rights activists,” Reporters Without Borders said.

“The Olympic infrastructure is in place, but police controls have been stepped up, the Internet is still censored, international radio stations are jammed and Beijing’s air is still polluted.”

“All these topics are banned in the Chinese press,” said the RWB spokesperson. “And the luxury
of the Olympic Press Centre that was inaugurated today in Beijing will not help foreign journalists to forget how precarious their rights are when they try to probe sensitive issues”

Chinese journalists, have been placed under even stricter constraints prior to the Olympics. They are prohibited from reporting on anything that could generate unfavorable publicity before the games.

According to a June report in the Hong Kong Financial Times, Hu Jintao told the Chinese media to “maintain strict propaganda discipline”.

from: epochtimes.com

Amnesty International has accused the International Olympic Committee (IOC) of caving in to China’s demands on Internet censorship and urged the IOC and Beijing to provide unfettered Internet access as they had promised.

“The International Olympic Committee and the Organizing Committee of the Beijing Olympic Games should fulfil their commitment to full media freedom and provide immediate uncensored internet access at Olympic media venues,” said Mark Allison, East Asia researcher for the London-based rights group, in a statement issued late Wednesday.

“Censorship of the internet at the Games is compromising fundamental human rights and betraying the Olympic values,” Allison said.

The organization was reacting to statements by Kevin Gosper, chair of the IOC’s press committee that “some IOC officials negotiated with the Chinese that some sensitive sites would be blocked on the basis they were not considered Games related.” In Gosper’s statements to the South China Morning Post Wednesday, he also said the IOC could not tell China what to do.

Amnesty, however, noted that on July 17 Jacques Rogge, the IOC’s president, said “there will be no censorship of the internet.”

“This blatant media censorship adds one more broken promise that undermines the claim that the Games would help improve human rights in China,” said Allison.

Beijing authorities have blocked access to internet websites considered politically sensitive or critical of China, including sites for Amnesty and other human rights groups, as well as websites for exiled Tibetan groups and the banned Falungong spiritual group.

Some foreign media websites, such as the BBC’s Chinese-language service, the German public broadcaster Deutsche Welle, the Hong Kong-based Apple Daily and the Taiwan-based Liberty Time, also are blocked.

The IOC said late Wednesday its officials are meeting with Beijing Olympic organisers to try to resolve the problem.

“We’ve learned there are issues accessing some websites and the IOC is talking with the organizers to see what may need to be rectified,” Sandrine Tonge, the IOC’s media relations coordinator said in an email to Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa late Wednesday.

“The IOC has always encouraged the Beijing 2008 organizers to provide media with the fullest access possible to report on the Olympic Games, including access to the internet. BOCOG has said ‘sufficient and convenient’ internet access will be provided for the media to cover the Games,” said Tonge.

The French press freedom organization Reporters Without Borders on Wednesday also condemned the Chinese authorities for restricting journalists’ access to the internet and slammed the inability of the IOC to stop them.

Freedom House, a nonprofit organization which promotes democracy, said earlier this month that China has also put more pressure on Chinese journalists in recent days, banning them from covering sensitive issues.

from: bangkokpost.com

Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda said Monday that he hopes to see the finest performance of Japanese athletes at the upcoming Beijing Olympic Games.

The Olympics, which is of lofty value, will inspirit every Japanese national to cheer for their team, said Fukuda in a send-off ceremony held for the Japanese Olympic delegation.

He expressed the hope that the athletes will recognize the value of the Olympics and put in their finest-ever performance.

He also expected the athletes to make their respective effort to present a vigorous Japan to the audience.

As Japan won a record 37 medals, including 16 golds, at the Athens Olympic Games four years ago, Fukuda said his expectation is that every Japanese athlete will be awarded a medal at the Beijing Olympics.

The Japanese Olympic delegation, composed of 339 athletes and 237 officials, is Japan‘s largest deputation to participate in an Olympics held outside the country.

The delegation is headed by senior Japanese Olympic Committee official Tomiaki Fukuda, who said that the goal for the Japanese Olympic team is to win double digit golds and at least a total 30 medals.

Present at the ceremony was 19-year-old table tennis player Ai Fukuhara, who will lead the delegation as the flag-bearer during the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics on August 8.

Earlier Monday, the Japanese Olympic Committee announced the inauguration of the 576-strong Japanese Olympic delegation, which will head for Beijing in separate batches.

from: jappone.blogspot.com

The Olympic organizing committee has just let the cat out of the bag by revealing how fireworks will be used during the opening ceremony. We now know they can display the five rings in the sky, since a fireworks rehearsal is pretty hard to keep hush-hush.
A theme song, however, can be rehearsed in the privacy of a studio or even a living room. That makes it much more difficult to predict who will sing the all-important tune, which will be guaranteed a zillion air plays in the next year.
The CCTV annual gala might well have given us several clues, though.
The only two singers who consistently get solo chances are Song Zuying and Peng Liyuan, who are both known for their traditional Chinese image and their so-called “Chinese bel canto” style of singing. But who is the likelier choice? They’ve never sung a duet and picking one over the other seems unfair. Besides, Forever Friends, written by perennial Olympic theme song composer Giorgio Moroder, does not seem to suit their style.
Picking from the pop scene is even harder. There are at least half a dozen A-listers, including Liu Huan, Mao Amin, Na Ying and Wei Wei. The national TV station usually abides by the principle of equal opportunity and has them share a song – the latest example is the earthquake relief show. If you push that logic a step further, the theme song may even be sung by a chorus of 100 singers. All the pre-Olympic jingles, including We Are Ready, were recorded this way.
There is little likelihood that popular choices such as Jay Chou and the Super Girls will make the cut. The only known Hong Kong or Taiwan singer with the vocal prowess to deliver a power ballad is Jacky Cheung but he is not exactly Andy Lau or Jackie Chan in terms of his political connections.
What about choosing a foreign singer? That would certainly give the show a touch of “internationalness” and therefore reflect the global aspirations of the host country. Celine Dion would have been ideal – with a song written by Tan Dun and orchestrated by David Foster, such a melody would be a surefire worldwide hit. But the cancellation of her Beijing concert earlier this year pretty much ruled her out of the running. If a foreign singer like Andrea Bocelli or Julio Iglesias were selected, he or she would probably sing with a Chinese partner. Call it the Barcelona way, for which Spaniard Jose Carreras and import Sarah Brightman teamed up for Amigos Para Siempre, a title almost identical to the Beijing theme song.
The last possibility is to have a new face, or more accurately, a new voice. That was more or less the way of the Los Angeles and Sydney Games. The result will catapult the singer to instant fame and it would have a positive spin-off. It would diffuse internal politics by excluding all the A-list stars and it would be the bravest thing organizers could do. So, it is not entirely impossible.
I won’t dwell on the choice of the last torchbearer, who will light the Olympic flame. It has been declared a State secret known to only a few people. Liu Changchun would have been perfect – he was the first Chinese athlete to attend the modern Olympics and he did it in defiance of the puppet government in Japanese-occupied Northeastern China. But he died in 1983.
Liu Xiang’s coach has ruled out the champion hurdler and anyway, he was the first torch-bearer.
And how will the flame be lit? The possibilities are endless! But consider this: The last torchbearer ignites a high-tech fire phoenix, which in turn flies up to kindle the sacred flame.
The phoenix is the feminine counterpart of the dragon, but unlike the dragon, it has more positive connotations in Western mythology. Since the dragon will reportedly keep a low profile, the phoenix might be better for such a high-profile job. A phoenix rising from the ashes is a symbol whose meaning is shared by both East and West. And what image can better capture China’s rise in the last three decades than a phoenix flying up gracefully?
In terms of imagery, the phoenix matches the Bird’s Nest like a glove. As a matter of fact, there is a Peking Opera comedy called Phoenix Returning to its Nest. It was created by the iconic Mei Lanfang, who conveyed Chinese-style feminine beauty better than any modern-day supermodel. The very first place where the torch started the domestic leg of its run was Fiery Phoenix Square in Sanya, Hainan province. Of course, a phoenix flying inside the national stadium, perhaps even above the stadium, would need a high-tech helping hand.
The image of the Bird’s Nest may inspire a great many ideas. Doves symbolizing peace can fly out into the sky, which, on second thoughts, is not something for a night show. What if it’s illuminated? Weather permitting, the shape of the building will not only be a good background, but will be integrated into the artistic concept. A nest is basically home sweet home, but getting in and out of it has Freudian overtones of breaking out and returning to the comfort zone of one’s roots. A person’s life is such a journey, and so is a country’s.

Five opera greats join voices
Five of the world’s most famous opera performers will share the stage in two special concerts to celebrate the upcoming Beijing Olympic Games.
Russian mezzo-soprano Olga Borodina, US soprano Barbara Bonney, US tenor Charles Castronovo, Chinese tenor Dai Yuqiang and Chinese baritone Liao Changyong will join voices in a show entitled Gather Together Under the Five Rings.
The music was inspired by the emblem of the Olympic Games – five interlocking rings of red, blue, yellow, black and green.
On August 5, the eminent quintet will perform at the National Center for the Performing Arts (NCPA). The previous evening, they will give a smaller performance for representatives of the 120th International Olympic Committee Meeting.
These five superstars could each pack a full house. Coordinating their busy schedules to perform together was truly an Olympic feat.
“The concert is special. It was very challenging to have all of these five singers share the stage one night,” says Chen Zuohuang, conductor and artistic director of the NCPA.
“When my friends in US opera scene heard about my idea for the concert, they said ‘Are you crazy?’” He explained that many friends were skeptical that he could pull off the grand vision.
Fortunately, the Olympic spirit of cooperation prevailed. Thanks to Chen’s diligence, the five performers agreed to harmonize.
“The emblem of the five rings represents the five continents of the world, and reinforces the idea that the ‘Olympic Movement’ is international and welcomes all countries of the world to join,” says Chen.
“It’s a pity that we couldn’t get singers from five continents or more different races, due to the consideration of different vocal parts and programs,” he adds.
Leading Chinese composer Xu Peidong wrote the song for which the concert is named. “It’s my honor to be commissioned to write the title song,” says Xu.
Yet, it wasn’t an easy task. “To tell the truth, it’s so hard to create one song featuring two tenors, one soprano, one mezzo-soprano and one baritone. I had to spend quite a few months to do it,” he adds.
“I have enjoyed and suffered from composing it. I must say that every note flows from my heart, and I hope both the singers and listeners will like it.”

source: chinadaily.com.cn

Italian National Olympic Committee (CONI) determined the final squad for Beijing Olympics during its July 23 meeting in Rome.

Three-hundred and forty-seven athletes are on the list — 20 less than the number for Athens Olympics. There are 215 male athletes and 132 female ones, the latter comprising 39% of the total — a larger percentage than 2004. Italy will be sending relatively more athletes to participate in individual events than for team sports. Teams will not be sent to compete in basketball, baseball or softball.

According to the Italian National Olympic Committee website, Italian athletes will participate in events including, track-and-field, swimming, water polo, volleyball, shooting, fencing and football. Forty-nine athletes will be competing in track-and-field, 34 in swimming, 26 in water polo and 24 in volleyball competition. Only one athlete has qualified for the badminton event – the country’s smallest number of competitors for any one event.

CONI President, Giovanni Petrucci, and CONI Secretary-General and head of the Italian delegation to the Beijing Olympics, Raffaele Pagnozzi, told press Wednesday that without teams in basketball, baseball and softball, it would a challenge for the country to attain the same level of achievement as seen at the Athens Games where the country placed second in men’s basketball. In 2004, Italy took home a total of 32 medals – 10 gold, 11 silver and 11 bronze.

The Italian swim team left for Beijing on the evening of July 23 to begin adaptive training and participate in warm-up matches. The remainder of the Italian Olympic team will arrive in stages over the course of the coming week.

from: beijing2008.cn

Swimsuits for the Beijing Olympic Games 2008.
A few sexy swimsuits designed for the upcoming Olympics in Beijing.
A Chinese model walks down the runway at a swim wear show, highlighting the 2008 Olympic Games, during the China International Fashion Week in Beijing. The fashion week highlights the work of Chinese designers as Beijing attempts to push itself as a major international fashion center.

All images contained in this web site were found on the internet – all their rights will be kept. If by anyhow any of them is offensive to you, please, contact us asking for the removal. If you own copyrights over any of them and do not agree with it being shown here, please send us an email with ownership proof and we will remove it.

Fireworks will be set off during the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games on August 8 to create a joyous and festive atmosphere, an official said on Wednesday.

Wang Ning, deputy director of the Opening & Closing Ceremonies Department of BOCOG, said fireworks of different shapes will be displayed above the main stadium of the Games, Olympic Forest Park and the Juyongguan section of the Great Wall.
“For the first time, the shape of the Olympic Rings will be formed in the sky,” said Wang, adding that Olympic symbols and elements will be a part of fireworks’ designs with an aim to promote Olympic ideals.

Firing skills will feature compressive air launches, chamber pressure launches and computerized ignition technologies, employed for the first time in the display of fireworks, he told the media attending a press conference in Beijing.

To reflect the “Green Olympics” concept, some of the fireworks will use less smoking powder to minimize smoke and dust pollution, Wang said.

The designers intend to highlight the fireworks’ effect both on the ceremony’s stadium and larger areas around the facility so that the Olympic central zone will be an extension of the ceremony owing to the splendid fireworks.

Cai Guoqiang, a member of the core creative team in charge of visual & special effects of the opening and closing ceremonies for the Beijing Olympics and Paralympics, updated the press on the implementation of a comprehensive design and production project.

He said he joined the team in 2005 and it took him 2 to 3 years to do preparatory work. “Gunpowder is one of the inventions of China, but the fireworks this time are not only for the sake of pumping up the atmosphere, but also have a goal to achieve – playing the role of storyteller,” he said.

Cai gave an example: Along the dragon-shaped landscape water system of the Olympic Green, the fireworks will be fired up into yellow and red peonies. The computer ignition system will control the fireworks, and within seconds, the fireworks will span 2 to 3 kilometers following the flag raising process.

During the climax of the art performances, the firing squad will display thousands of pictures of smiling faces collected from around the world, according to Cai’s design. At that moment, fireworks will mimic 2008 smiling faces in the sky, said Cai.

from: beijing2008.cn

“Sexy Olympic babes” is one of the most searched keywords related to the upcoming Beijing Olympic games.
Sexy cheerleaders or sexy swim suits, pictures and images are well available on the net.
Here a few I discovered within few minutes.
Beautiful cheer-leaders babes to enjoy: this too is Olympics.

A spokesman for the Beijing Olympic Games Monday dismissed as “groundless” recent accusation by some overseas organizations and figures that China arrested so-called “dissidents” to ensure security of the August Games.
“In order to ensure the hosting of a successful Olympic Games, and to ensure the safety of foreign athletes and visitors, China has indeed taken a series of necessary, legitimate and reasonable security measures.

This falls in line with routines of previous Olympic Games and major international sports events,” the spokesman told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

“lt is unnecessary to arrest so-called ‘dissidents’ for the sake of the Olympic Games. The accusation is untrue,” he said.

from: chinadaily.com.cn

As U.S. congressional leaders disbanded for the July Fourth holiday last week, the White House quietly released travel schedules confirming that President Bush will attend the opening ceremonies of the Beijing Olympic Games.
The careful timing will not mute the impact of the decision. As a rising tide of world leaders boycotts the ceremony, Mr. Bush will lend his imprimatur to a regime that continues to jail dissidents and persecute religious groups, back a criminal junta in Burma and bankroll what Mr. Bush himself has described as genocide in Darfur.
Politicians and human-rights advocates have sharply criticized the decision, with some drawing comparisons to leaders who attended the 1936 Berlin Olympics, which served as a propaganda machine for Hitler’s regime. “If this were 1936,” asked Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R., Calif.), “would President Bush be anxious to sit next to Adolf?”
The White House has insisted that Mr. Bush views the Olympics as an apolitical sporting event. But he has chosen to participate in the one portion of the Games aimed at showcasing the Beijing regime’s political and economic primacy.
A contingent of world leaders is boycotting the ceremony, including British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper and European Parliament President Hans-Gert Poettering. In the U.S., Barack Obama and John McCain have taken strong positions. Sen. McCain has indicated he would not have attended without significant reform on China’s part, while Sen. Obama directly called Mr. Bush to task for his decision. Scores of lawmakers have proposed boycotts, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
China has historically resisted international pressure. But it has jumped to defend the all-important Beijing Olympics. The regime responded to publicity linking Darfur to the Games last year with startling immediacy, hastily placing defensive articles in U.S. newspapers and lifting a longstanding veto threat to allow the U.N. to authorize peacekeepers for Darfur. With the Olympics an unprecedented point of leverage, an opening ceremony boycott may have been one of the few gestures capable of moving Beijing.
Mr. Bush could have declined to attend at little political expense. A boycott limited to the opening ceremony would avoid targeting the athletes competing in the Games. It would send a powerful symbolic message — a clear refusal to endorse mass murder, genocide and religious persecution — without substantively affecting economic or political ties.
Instead, Mr. Bush will stand shoulder-to-shoulder with China’s President Hu Jintao at a time when his regime’s abuses continue unabated.
Mr. Bush has passed up a critical opportunity, but he still has the power to demonstrate moral leadership. How he chooses to frame his decision will have real impact. He should use his attendance as a platform to press China to live up to its reform promises, and join human-rights groups in expressing hope that Beijing will release political prisoners before the opening ceremony. He should reiterate the pleas of other world leaders that China use its unparalleled influence with Sudan to halt the slaughter in Darfur.
Mr. Bush claimed that declining the invitation would be “an affront to the Chinese people.” In fact, not attending would have been a far stronger show of solidarity with individuals across China who have been brutalized by the Beijing regime. Baiqiao Tang, who was imprisoned for participating in the Tiananmen Square protests in 1989, was one of several Chinese dissidents urging leaders not to whitewash Beijing’s image. “I feel so sad,” he said last week at City Hall in Manhattan, “that most of the political leaders are going to go to the opening ceremony of the Games with Chinese Communist Party leaders.”
The U.S. has lost an opportunity to stand up for the people of Darfur and Burma, and for countless Chinese citizens like Mr. Tang. But the Bush administration still has a chance to serve as a moral voice on their behalf, and to make good on its professed commitment to defending democracy and freedom across the world.

from: online.wsj.com

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will attend the closing ceremonies of the Beijing Olympic Games next month, the State Department said on Thursday.
According to department spokesman Sean McCormack, Rice, who just visited China late last month, is also likely to attend some sport games in August.
He did not release other details about Rice’s travel.
Rice’s trip was announced after the White House confirmed earlier this month that President George W. Bush would attend the Beijing Olympics Games’ opening ceremony.

from: xinhuanet.com

Chinese President Hu Jintao on Wednesday thanked US President George W. Bush, who has announced he will attend the Beijing Olympics opening ceremonies, for not “politicising” the Games.

Hu said through an interpreter after talks with Bush on the margin of a rich nations summit in Japan that he “highly appreciated that President Bush has on various occasions expressed his opposition to politicising the Olympic Games.”

“I told the president I was looking forward to coming to the Olympics. I reminded him that not only am I coming, but my wife, my mother and dad will be there and we’re looking forward to your hospitality,” Bush said.

“In this context, the president and I have constantly had discussions about human rights and political freedom. He knows my position and as I told our people, Mister President, I don’t need the Olympics to talk candidly with somebody who I’ve got good relations with,” he said.

Bush said Sunday that skipping the August 8 opening gala, as human rights activists had urged him to do, would have been “an affront” to China’s people, making it harder to engage with China’s leaders.

“So I’m looking forward to your hospitality,” he said. “I’m hoping to get tickets for the US-Chinese basketball game. If you can help me get a ticket, I’d appreciate it.”

The US leader said he and Hu had “candid discussions” on issues like Taiwan, Sudan and trade in their talks on the sidelines of the Group of Eight (G8) industrialised nations in northern Japan.

Hu said their “sincere and friendly” talks also covered diplomatic efforts to convince North Korea to abandon its atomic ambitions and Iran to curb its suspect nuclear programme.

“I also briefed President Bush on the Chinese position on the Taiwan issue and informed President Bush about the current situation in the Taiwan straits,” said Hu.

“We hope that the US side will continue to follow the ‘One-China’ policy,” Hu said, referring to Washington’s policy of recognising only the Beijing government of mainland China, which views Taiwan as a renegade province.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy also announced on the margins of the G8 on Wednesday that he would attend the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympic Games despite an earlier threat to boycott over a crackdown in Tibet.

from: afp.google.com