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The Opening ceremonies did not go off without a hitch, but were pretty interesting nonetheless, even quite impressive at times. Good visual effects, lighting and pyrotechnics, and the athletes coming up out of the floor onto a night-lit map of the world was pretty cool.
The negatives -- One of the five rings did not materialize out of the snowflake it was supposed to, sort of remeniscient of the glitch in 2010 Vancouver with the one symbolic support not rising from the floor.
Also it was reported there were quite a few empty seats in the stadium, and that the crowd was somewhat subdued and underenthusiastic for the occasion.
The history that was presented was very much cherry-picked leaving out the Stalin years, the world wars, the oppression, etc.
The positives --- Visually stunning, great floor effects much like that of Vancouver 2010. The story the program took you through, through the eyes of the 12 yr old little girl was riveting. Most if not all of that presentation went off flawlessly.
The progression of famous athletes of past games and past times during the lighting of the torch, leading up to the great Tretiak who performed the final lighting, was uber impressive.
The fireworks display that started just as the Olympic flame went up was wild, as was the panoramic night view of Sochi all lit up.
All in all I have to say well done to the Russians. So far it's been pretty impressive. All the venues look to be well done as well. The hills, the slopes, the ice tracks, downhill runs, arenas, the stadium, etc etc. All of it looks awesome, at least from where I sit (which is pretty much in front of my TV).
Looking forward to getting into the meat of the matter tomorrow, and seeing some of these events get rolling. Let's see if Canada can 'own the podium' again like we did in 2010.
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