Talk:2004 Summer Olympics opening ceremony

NPOV
This is lovely:

As a reflection of the unpopularity of the American-led War on Iraq, many audience members protested the entrance of the American delegation into the stadium by making a thumbs-down gesture.

Though I like it, is it NPOV? __earth 23:08, Aug 13, 2004 (UTC)


 * If it actually did happen, I think it's fine, though it could give the impression that it's unpopular in all circles, which is obviously not true. My question is whether or not it really did happen, since I haven't found any sources saying it did.  In fact, all of the articles I've read so far said the opposite happened (case in point, albeit from an American paper).  I'm sure it occured with some people, but did enough do it for it to warrant a mention?  I think it would need to be fairly widespread for it to be included.  Beginning 07:16, Aug 14, 2004 (UTC)
 * Perhaps this should be "As a reflection of the apparent unpopularity"? 195.92.194.16 14:51, 14 Aug 2004 (UTC)


 * I've changed the wording to show that it's the Greeks in this case who disagree with the war, and also included what NBC said about the reaction (that Greeks like Americans while not liking American policy). Also, I've clarified that they protested the war, not the entrace of the Americans.


 * I also cleaned up the following problematic line: "...the Greek crowd reserved their loudest cheers for their fellow Greeks from Cyprus..." Cyprus is disputed and many Cypriots consider themselves to be Turkish.  The crowd didn't say "yay Greek Cypriots, boo Turkish Cypriots!", so how can we say they were cheering for just the Greek ones - or, worse yet, say they're all Greek?  The crowd cheered for Cyprus because Greeks consider the disputed island to be part of their territory.  That's the wording that should be here. Beginning 22:40, Aug 14, 2004 (UTC)


 * The Cypriot Olympic team is all Greek-Cypriot as far as I know, given how the Greek-Cypriot government is the only one officially recognized. If there are Turkish-Cypriot athletes in the Olympics team, I've not heard about it. Aris Katsaris 00:36, 15 Aug 2004 (UTC)


 * And btw, there's noone whatsoever who thinks Cyprus is part of the territory of the Greek state!! All of Greece recognizes that Cyprus has an independent government. Aris Katsaris 02:08, 15 Aug 2004 (UTC)


 * I think the (Australian) telecast I was watching implied that the Cyprus team was opened to both sides this year, so that would mean that there could have been Turkish Cypriot athletes involved. Whether or not I heard it correctly, whether or not the information was correct and whether or not any Turkish Cypriots qualified for the team are three separate issues, of course. BigHaz 02:29, 15 Aug 2004 (UTC)

Continuing with the NPOV discussion, can we actually call Palestine a "country"? Perhaps "nation" would be more appropriate. I know it's a tricky situation, but calling it a "country" seems a bit pro-Palestine, since the majority of world governments do not consider it to be its own country as of now. Beginning 05:49, Aug 19, 2004 (UTC)

TV hype
The TV viewing figures cited in this, until my edit, aren't worthy of Wikipedia. There is simply no way on earth 4.5bn out of a world population of 6bn (that including an estimated 600m babies) actually watched the opening ceremony - that is actually 600m more than the IOC claimed had access to TV coverage, 3.9bn. These figures are the product of marketing hype meeeting the media's love for large figures - and they are just nonsense. Just think of all those people in rural India and China without access to TV who magically managed to watch the Opening Ceremony, if these figures are to be believed. Oh yeah? If you dispute this, read this instructive article from the Wall Street Journal about inflated TV viewing figures: http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB112180840215889963-0heH1LSDovgHdjc0ribnrPO2TbY_20060721.html?mod=tff_main_tff_top Cardicam 22:10, 23 April 2006 (UTC)

Existence
Is there really a point in having a separate encyclopedia article specifically on the opening ceremonies??? Just a question, not meant to cause misunderstanding... Colipon 00:42, 14 Aug 2004 (UTC)


 * The main article was 32 Ks long, so I split something off. And we have full articles on the smallest and weirdest topics these days. [[User:Sverdrup|❝Sverdrup❞ ]] 00:56, 14 Aug 2004 (UTC)


 * I think it's probably worth having articles to mark the details of each opening ceremony -- not to mention that such an article fully expanded would contains links to such diverse matters such as Björk, Costis Stephanopoulos, Centaurs and so forth -- you don't often get to see such diverse issues brought together. :-) Aris Katsaris 00:57, 14 Aug 2004 (UTC)

Afghanistan
Thanks for the factcheck; I missed the start of the opening so I didn't know. I did know that Greece wasn't first, though. Thanks again for checking up on it. --Golbez 03:55, 14 Aug 2004 (UTC)

East Timor and Koreas
East Timor competed in 2000, but hadn't got its own flag (it competed either under the Olympic flag or the UN flag, I can't find my video of the opening ceremony to check it). I also have a sneaking suspicion that the joint-entry thing done by the Koreas was done in 2000 as well as at the 2002 Winter Games - but I won't change that just as yet.

BigHaz 10:21, 14 Aug 2004 (UTC)

Is Zimbabwe penultimate??
It says Zimbabwe is "often the penultimate nation" in alphabetical order. The "penultimate" one is the one immediately before the last one. Why use the one just before the last one as the example, rather than the very last one? Which one is usually the very last one, just after Zimbabwe? Michael Hardy 21:39, 14 Aug 2004 (UTC)

PS: See penultimate. Michael Hardy 21:46, 14 Aug 2004 (UTC)


 * As the paragraph above it states, the host country is always last, with Zimbabwe going right before it as the last country (alphabetically) in the IOC. The word "penultimate" shouldn't be changed, but "often" should be changed to "usually".  Beginning 22:35, Aug 14, 2004 (UTC)


 * Why should "often" be changed to "usually"? To my knowledge, there have only been two other Olympics in which the host country used a different script to the Roman alphabet (Seoul and Moscow). It strikes me, in my sleep-befuddled brain, that we could do with an even stronger word than "usually", since this is only the 3rd occasion it could have happened - and the other two I don't remember well enough to say if it did. BigHaz 22:44, 14 Aug 2004 (UTC)


 * My thinking was that Zimbabwe hasn't actually competed in all that many Olympics now, so historically I don't believe they are the "usual" penultimate nation. However, since they are the usual one now, changing it something stronger seems fine with me.  I was just trying to make it clearer, and I think "usually" does that okay. Beginning 23:04, Aug 14, 2004 (UTC)


 * I disagree. I don't think a NPOV article should assume that Roman alphabets are "usual" and other alphabets are "unusual." Doops 04:21, 15 Aug 2004 (UTC)


 * That the host countries of the Olympics have usually had the Roman alphabet is a statement of fact, not of POV. Aris Katsaris 04:44, 15 Aug 2004 (UTC)


 * For that matter, did Seoul 1988 use Hangul characters or Moscow 1980 use the Cyrillic alphabet to identify countries where "alphabetical order" was important (such as the opening ceremony)? I can't find anything saying that they did, and since they're the only occasions when the Olympics have been held in a non-Latin-alphabet country (and since Zimbabwe has been independent for both of those games), the point would appear to stand. BigHaz 11:37, 15 Aug 2004 (UTC)

Nikolas Kaklamanakis
NBCOlympics.com has his named spelled "Nikolaos Kaklamanakis", with an additional "o" in his first name. Does anyone know what the proper spelling is? Beginning 23:04, Aug 14, 2004 (UTC)


 * Both Nikolas and Nikolaos (and Nikos) are variations of the same name, but "Nikolaos" is the official name, while "Nikolas" (or "Nikos") is the informal form that normal people would use to refer to him. Greek naming has quirks like that. Google gets you 2460 hits for Nikos Kaklamanakis, 511 for Nikolaos Kaklamanakis and 291 for Nikolas Kaklamanakis. Aris Katsaris 00:42, 15 Aug 2004 (UTC)

Similarly, I have been driven mad by arguing over whether various people should be called "Georgos" or "Georgios." Adam 04:33, 15 Aug 2004 (UTC)

I think the general view was that the cheers for Portugal at the opening ceremony were ironic. Adam 04:40, 15 Aug 2004 (UTC)

Greek alphabetical order -- details
Can anyone point me at a web page that lists the participating countries in Greek alphabetical order with the names in Greek letters, with an adjacent list of translations into English? Michael Hardy 00:20, 16 Aug 2004 (UTC)

PS: (There used to be a Wikipedia article titled Greek names of states. It got deleted.  I wish I could refer to it.) Michael Hardy 00:20, 16 Aug 2004 (UTC)

There's a list in Greek, French, and English at the official Athens 2004 web site: http://www.athens2004.com/Files/pdf/NOC_marching_order.pdf. 69.111.190.179 00:51, 18 Aug 2004 (UTC)

How did they do that?
Does anyone know how the heck they projected the DNA figure onto the mist? I would think laser refraction would just result in disks or blobs. How did they project such clear, rotating lines onto mist? Also, does anyone know how the centuar costume worked so smoothly? And how did that face sculpture fall apart so smoothly? What was all this stuff suspended from?

I worked on the Opening Ceremony and took many photos which explain your questions. See the external link I added on the page.

"Ceremonies" vs "Ceremony"
I don't know why all these articles on Wikipedia refer to the Opening "Ceremonies" - this is the only place I have ever heard the Olympic opener as plural ceremonies, rather than "Ceremony". I have changed this article to reflect the more common usage. See the IOC's usage and the GoogleWar on the terms. - Mark 04:03, 20 Aug 2004 (UTC)


 * They say that because the event is frequently called the Opening Ceremonies here in the U.S., and possibly elsewhere. They were called the Opening Ceremonies on NBC here, and a lot of the press articles say that, as well.  I personally have never used anything but "Opening Ceremonies".  It seems to simply be an issue of common usage.  However, since the IOC says "Ceremony", we should go with that.  Thanks for fixing it.  Beginning 06:10, Aug 20, 2004 (UTC)


 * I didn't realise the US called it "ceremonies", usually Google returns the most search results for whatever is commonly used in the US. - Mark 06:52, 20 Aug 2004 (UTC)


 * I don't know if everyone does it, but the commentators certainly do, and everyone in my area (right on the line between the Western New England and Eastern New England dialect regions) says "Ceremonies". I think the reasoning is that there are so many different parts of the event, each ceremonial in a different way, so we don't lump them all together.  I don't know that it's the best reasoning, but hey, it's what we do.  However, like was said before, we should go with what the IOC says. Beginning 08:24, Aug 20, 2004 (UTC)

Centaurs
A centaur &mdash; whose human and animal parts supposedly symbolize the duality of spirit and body...

Is this line saying that centaurs in general symbolize the duality of spirit and body, or that the specific centaur used in the Opening Ceremony was meant to represent spirit and body? In case it makes a difference, the line used to read "symbolized" instead of "symbolize", which is what makes me question it. Past tense would indicate that the centaur used in the ceremony represented spirit and body, while present would indicate that they always mean that. (Also, I don't think the "supposedly" is necessary in either case, but I could be wrong.) Beginning 01:35, Aug 27, 2004 (UTC)


 * The Greek commentator during the opening ceremonie mentioned that symbolism -- and it fits with the theme of the sequence so I thought it made sense and I mentioned it in the article. I used "supposedly" because I think that to some extent we are only pretending to know what (if anything) the ancients "symbolically meant" with the various mythological creatures they had in the stories... And I used the past tense, because I though it'd be better to limit the talk of the centaur symbolism on what was meant in the ceremony, rather than discuss centaurs in general... Aris Katsaris 02:40, 27 Aug 2004 (UTC)

Rings of Fire
At the end of the opening ceremonies of the 2002 Winter Olympics, an ice skater skated across the floor of the stadium and thereby lit Olympic Rings on the ice, leading to a very similar image as to what appeared in Greece two years later. Perhaps a new tradition was started? Or had this been done in earlier Olympic opening ceremeonies?
 * 4.228.102.212 23:59, 12 November 2005 (UTC)

Images removed
Hi, the 3 images I removed are suspected copyright violations and may soon be deleted from the. If you want to keep them, please consider uploading the images locally as fair use. Thank you. pfctdayelise 07:04, 14 February 2006 (UTC)

Jurassic Park
This is 18 months too late, perhaps, but I specifically remember the Jurassic Park theme being played during these ceremonies. Does anyone else remember that, or know why? Am I crazy? -- stillnotelf   has a talk page  04:09, 27 February 2006 (UTC)

Dead link
During several automated bot runs the following external link was found to be unavailable. Please check if the link is in fact down and fix or remove it in that case!


 * http://www.fibreglassgrating.co.uk/installations/other_installations/olympic_brochure.html
 * In 2004 Summer Olympics opening ceremony on 2011-05-25 07:48:39, 404 Not Found
 * In 2004 Summer Olympics opening ceremony on 2011-06-11 12:07:51, 404 Not Found

--JeffGBot (talk) 12:08, 11 June 2011 (UTC)

A Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for deletion
The following Wikimedia Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for deletion: Participate in the deletion discussion at the nomination page. —Community Tech bot (talk) 15:08, 18 November 2020 (UTC)
 * Olympic Stadium 08-2008 - panoramio.jpg

Dignitaries attend the Opening Ceremony 2004 Athens Olympics
I just want to put in the foreign dignitaries who attend the celebration of athletes during the parade of nations in the Opening Ceremony of the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad Athens 2004 Olympic Homecoming. --72.69.243.12 (talk) 23:53, 4 July 2021 (UTC)
 * If you want to put foreign dignitaries and their attendees, back it up with references. Lama12 (talk) 10:37, 19 July 2021 (UTC)

The name of the officer of the Hellenic Air Force accompanied the President of the Hellenic Republic Konstantinos Stephanopoulos to declare open the 2004 Athens Olympics
At the Opening ceremony, who is the Military supporter Colonel of the Hellenic Air Force that accompanied the President of the Hellenic Republic Konstantinos Stephanopoulos to declare open the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad in Athens, Greece, of the modern era along with IOC Members and foreign dignitaries? What's the Air Force Officer's name? A gentleman. 72.69.243.12 (talk) 05:33, 24 November 2021 (UTC)

President's Adjutant Officer Colonel Georgios Dritsakos at the Opening Ceremony Athens 2004 Olympics
President's Adjutant Officer of the Hellenic Air Colonel Georgios Dritsakos accompanied the President of the Hellenic Republic Konstantinos Stephanopoulos to declare open the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad in Athens 2004 of the modern era. 100.2.114.167 (talk) 21:36, 28 September 2022 (UTC)