Oh! Canada- Opening Ceremony of the Winter Olympics

No amount of pomp and circumstance could compensate for the tragic death of this young 21 year old Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili.

When I was asked by my editors to cover this event I was thrilled as my childhood had been spent in Canada, in Brantford, Ontario, home of non other than Wayne Gretzky, Canada's iconic ice hockey player and one of the 4 athletes who were to perform the traditional lighting of the flame.

After the graphic footage of this young athlete's death it was the outstanding footage of our wonderful neighbor's landscape and the seemingly unknown statistics of this relatively small number of people who populate this vast territory to our north that really made an impact.

For this writer the traditional march was highlighted by the somber spirit of the Georgian delegation, wearing black arm bands and with a black ribbon tied to their nation's flag .

As to the spectacular itself, there is no doubt that a great deal of creative thought went into making this a truly representative look at Canada and its diverse native and immigrant population. The color white dominated and made a perfect surface to display the amazing graphic depiction of Canada's arctic regions and wildlife.

However 4 years is a relative short time to blot out the memories of China's super spectacular opening ceremonies and again I found myself enthralled by the spasmodic footage of this remarkable country, rather than by the entertainers and staged events as beautiful and creative as they were.

If the goal of the production team and designers was to encourage us to visit this wonderful land of contrast and color their task was masterfully achieved. There would be few if any who would not have been inspired by the grandeur that is Canada.

We wish all the athletes the very best as we sit enthralled at the spectacle that is about to unfold over the next 16 days.