1996 Summer Olympics opening ceremony
| Date | 19 July 1996 |
|---|---|
| Location | Centennial Olympic Stadium, Atlanta, United States |
| Coordinates | 33°44′08″N 84°23′22″W / 33.73556°N 84.38944°WCoordinates: 33°44′08″N 84°23′22″W / 33.73556°N 84.38944°W |
| Also known as | The Centennial World |
| Filmed by | NBC |
The opening ceremony of the 1996 Summer Olympics took place in the evening on Friday 19 July in the Centennial Olympic Stadium, Atlanta, United States. As mandated by the Olympic Charter, the proceedings combined the formal and ceremonial opening of this international sporting event, including welcoming speeches, hoisting of the flags and the parade of athletes, with an artistic spectacle to showcase the host nation’s culture and history. The ceremony features Award-winning and Grammy Award-time nominated film composer, John Williams, French Canadian singer Celine Dion and American singer Gladys Knight.
The ceremony began with a countdown at the screen coming from 60 to 1. At the length of 26, symbolizing as Games of the XXVI Olympiad, all the previous games are seen including Atlanta with the fireworks.
A flashback from Barcelona 1992 Summer Olympics closing ceremony in August 1992 which showed the then president of the International Olympic Committee Juan Antonio Samaranch asking the athletes to compete in Atlanta in 1996.
The segment began with a colorful long papers of the Olympic symbol, the papers fell into the stadium. Spirits rose in the northwest corner of the stadium, each representing one of the colors in the Olympic rings. They called the tribes of the world which after mixed percussion formed the Olympic rings while the youth of Atlanta formed the number 100 and the shape of a dove. Famed film composer John Williams featuring the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra composed the official overture for the 1996 Olympics, Summon the Heroes, his second overture for an Olympic games (the first being Olympic Fanfare and Theme written for the 1984 Summer Olympics). The tribes formed a sun filled with long colored papers.
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