Why is opening ceremony so late

If you had a mind to or were assigned to, you could stay up late or get up early Friday to watch the opening ceremony of the delayed 32nd Olympic Games — the Olympics — streamed live from Tokyo , beginning at 4 a. They loved it. It replays Friday at p.

The run-up was fraught. The composer for the ceremonies also had been dismissed, having confessed in an interview back in the 20th century that he used to bully disabled students. Given the lateness of the departures, it was hard to figure what might have been changed, and perhaps nothing was. The music was good, in any case.

Protesters outside the stadium called for the ceremony to stop and the Games to be canceled. None of this was mentioned by the hosts, unless it was when I had the sound down during the Parade of Nations, which I did at times because there is only so much orchestral parade music one can take.

It did look very cool. Singer-songwriter Misia sang the national anthem, wearing a kind of Olympic-colored upside-down-flower dress that Bjork might want to borrow.

People of the world were invited to participate. It suggested at times a mix of Robert Wilson, Cirque du Soleil and a culture-appropriating Madonna video. When the camera moved in close, it was clear that all involved were in character, as in a crowd scene in a Broadway musical. So too Japanese tennis superstar Naomi Osaka who was given the honour of firing up the hydrogen-fuelled Olympic cauldron. Outside, the protests in the streets continued among those still vehemently against the Games taking place while Tokyo remains in a state of COVID emergency.

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Krystina Tsimanouskaya: Two Belarus team coaches removed from Olympics over involvement in trying to send sprinter home. There were also people outside who just felt drawn to the Olympic stadium - to come and wave to the very select numbers of VIPs and media going inside. Trepidations throughout Japan have threatened for months to drown out the usual packaged glitz of the opening. Inside the stadium after dusk Friday, however, a precisely calibrated ceremony sought to portray that the Games — and their spirit — are going on.

Early in the ceremony, an ethereal blue light bathed the empty seats as loud music muted the shouts of scattered protesters outside calling for the Games to be canceled. Mostly masked athletes waved enthusiastically to thousands of empty seats and to a world hungry to watch them compete but surely wondering what to make of it all.

Organizers held a moment of silence for those who had died in the pandemic; as it ticked off and the music paused, the sounds of the protests echoed in the distance.

Time and again, previous opening ceremonies have pulled off something that approaches magic. Scandals — bribery in Salt Lake City, censorship and pollution in Beijing, doping in Sochi — fade into the background when the sports begin.

Japanese Emperor Naruhito declared the Games open, with fireworks bursting over the stadium after he spoke. And that lack of fulfillment spilled over to the television audience, who also witnessed a far more subdued affair than in years past. The stadium floor served as a stage, and the clapping from the few people here had that polite theater vibe. When the public address announcer asked for a moment to remember all who died in the pandemic , the place felt downright funereal.

The day before the ceremonies, their creative director, Kentaro Kobayashi, was fired because of a joke he made about the Holocaust in the s.

This development somehow fit the moment: it was yet another blow to the already-reeling Tokyo Games. On Monday, a composer for the opening ceremony resigned because he bullied childhood classmates, including those with disabilities.

And earlier this year, the head of the Tokyo organizing committee, Yoshimoro Mori, made sexist comments and was forced to resign. The show still provided some memories.

Tap dancers on the wooden tables, for example, gave the night a catchy rhythm. Essential workers carrying the Olympic flag was a welcome touch. Naomi Osaka lit the Olympic cauldron.