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This is no ordinary Olympic season. Postponed because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 Tokyo Olympics were rescheduled for July 2021 and are now scheduled to kick off with the Opening Ceremony on July 23.
As the day has drawn closer, a pandemic surge in Japan has forced organizers to hold the events without spectators (remember the NBA bubble season?). But the show must go on, so we can still tune in to that opening ceremony (and you know we will — there's even a live morning broadcast on NBC starting at 6:55 a.m. on July 23). Here's how to watch because these extravaganzas have always been a showcase for a host nation to celebrate international unity and — quite frankly — show off a bit.
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These days, the blockbuster spectacles are equal parts Super Bowl halftime show, Broadway musical and Cirque du Soleil, complete with thousands of performers, award-winning creative directors, and budgets that could fund a small army. So while we wait to see what comes of the Tokyo Opening Ceremonies, we've got a winner's stand of the very best Opening Ceremonies, ranked from number 10 to number 1. Which show takes home the gold? Read on!
10th place: Tokyo, 1964
Notable performers: None
Why it was great: This year's Summer Olympics are the second to be held in the Japanese capital, which, in 1964, became the first host city in Asia. These were also the first Olympic Games to be broadcast live (and in color!) via satellite. The result was that viewers from as far away as Europe and North America could see such highlights as the release of thousands of colorful balloons and 8,000 pigeons into the sky and five jets skywriting the Olympic rings above the crowd.
Memorable moment: When the Olympic cauldron was lit by Yoshinori Sakai, or “the Hiroshima Baby,” who was born in Hiroshima on the day of the atomic bombing 19 years earlier.
Watch it: Tokyo 1964 Opening Ceremony, on YouTube
9th place: Atlanta, 1996
Notable performers: Gladys Knight (77), Celine Dion (53), John Williams (89)
Why it was great: To celebrate the first — and thus far only — Olympics to be hosted by a city in the American South, the event was filled with regional nods, including teams of marching bands, cheerleaders and steppers, and Atlanta native Knight singing “Georgia on My Mind.” James Earl Jones, 90, read quotes from famous writers such as Zora Neale Hurston and William Faulkner, followed by a dramatic interpretive dance about rebirth after the Civil War. Going against the theme, a Canadian, Dion, closed out the show, but her “The Power of the Dream” was one of the best Olympic anthems in recent memory, so we'll allow it!
Memorable moment: When gold medalist Muhammad Ali, visibly stricken with Parkinson's disease, lit the Olympic cauldron after more than 10,000 torchbearers had carried the flame to Atlanta.
Watch it: Atlanta 1996 Opening Ceremony, on YouTube
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8th place: Torino, 2006
Notable performers: Luciano Pavarotti, Sophia Loren (86), Yoko Ono (88), Peter Gabriel (71)
Why it was great: Italy's message to the world was that it's a leader in every form of art and design — and it has been for hundreds of years. This triumphant display of national pride included costumes by Giorgio Armani (87) and Moschino, music by Luciano Pavarotti and even an automotive display by a Ferrari F2005. An art-themed section whisked viewers through centuries of culture, from Dante to Botticelli (with Czech-Italian supermodel Eva Herzigová emerging from a shell like The Birth of Venus) to the Futurist movement to the greatest Italian export of the 20th century, Sophia Loren, who was one of eight women carrying the Olympic flag.
Memorable moment: When Pavarotti sang the aria “Nessun Dorma” from Puccini's Turandot, in what would prove to be his final public performance.
Watch it: Torino 2006 Opening Ceremony, on YouTube
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