olympic

It’s no secret that the Winter games will be hosted in wonderful, beautiful Vancouver, British Columbia in 2010. Everywhere you turn in Vancouver these days seems to be dripping in Olympic logos, sponsorships, or news stories. It promises to be a thrilling experience to be in the city as the event is actually going on. A lot of tourists, athletes, and press will be in town taking it all in.

I remember about a year ago there was a huge call for volunteers. I recall reading that the Olympics were going to need roughly 10,000 people to help make the events a success by donating their time and skill sets. Not having much in the way of skills, but still eager to take part I filled out my form with my preferences for what I would like to take part in and just sort of forgot about it.

To be honest, I can’t even remember what I put down as what I would be willing to help with (I don’t think hockey team towel boy was available). That’s why it came as a bit of a surprise to me when I received a phone call a couple of weeks ago letting me know that I had been selected to audition to be in the opening and closing ceremonies. Gasp! The call came after I knew that I didn’t win the ticket lottery for any of the athletic events I applied for, so I was ecstatic to know that I was going to have another chance to catch some of the action. And what better seats could you ask for, than being right in the middle of the performance!?

The caller told me when and where the audition would be, what I should wear, and what I should bring. I wasn’t allowed to bring a camera unfortunately as they want to keep as much of it secret as possible. Which also means I can’t go into too much detail of what actually happened either. You’ll just have to wait and see like the rest of the world :)

When I got to where the audition was held, there was a big line of people waiting to be processed. After you signed in and got your number, you sat and waited for everyone else to get signed in. It took about an hour, and they were playing clips from previous ceremonies on a huge projection screen in a waiting room. Viewing these clips is where the epic-ness of what I was auditioning for really set in. It was awe inspiring. I don’t usually watch them on T.V., so I was a little unprepared for what I ended up seeing. This thing’s a big deal! The synchronization in the clips for some of the performers was mind boggling, the costumes were super elaborate (people’s heads were on fire!) and the grandiose music was beautiful.

closing

When everyone was ready, they explained the schedule to us, and what would be expected of us time wise if we were selected. They also let us know that since this was being televised to about 3 billion people around the world they were looking for people in the show to express how much fun they were having, so Smile! Smile! SMILE! Not exactly the easiest task for a cynic like me to hold a smile for over an hour straight (especially since I had just had my two front teeth bonded, and I wasn’t used to how they felt yet). If years of watching America’s Next Top Model has taught me anything though (it hasn’t), it’s that if you can’t do something, you fake it. And that’s what I did.

Now, I’m no dancer and I have no training or skills that would make me a superior choice over the next Average Joe, but I thought “Hey, this is a once in a lifetime opportunity. Just go for it!” So I smiled, I clapped, I followed the choreographers instructions and I had a blast!

I really hope that I’m selected to do something, anything, in the ceremonies. It seems like it would be an event that I would be telling people for the rest of my life. Heck, just being at one audition has given me something to share over the past few days. I can’t stop thinking or talking about it.

Say what you will about the Olympics, good or bad, it’s one of the largest gathering of people of all nations, religions, creeds, and races on the planet. I think that’s something special and I can’t wait to take part, either as a “performer” or an armchair spectator.

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