The opening ceremony of the 1996 Summer Olympics took place in the evening on Friday, July 19 at 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 Games were officially opened by President of the United States of AmericaBill Clinton.
The ceremony began with a countdown at the screen coming from 22 to 1. Starting at 22, footage from previous games appeared with Atlanta at the end complete with an image of fireworks, with a few seconds fireworks display along with numbers between 22 and 1 being from previous games until 0 from the current games.
The segment began by airing a flashback from the Barcelona 1992 Summer Olympics closing ceremony in August 1992 which showed International Olympic Committee President Juan Antonio Samaranch inviting the athletes to compete in Atlanta before the announcers welcomed the world to the ceremony in French and English.
Allegoric spirits then rose from the northwest corner of the stadium in response to the President's invitation. Representing the Olympic colors of Red (Americas), Green (Oceania), Black (Africa), Yellow (Asia), and Blue (Europe), they each rose to the beat of their own percussion. They summoned tribes out to the stadium floor with their own color and the percussion began to mix. Meanwhile, US Army Paratroopers rappelled down from the stadium roof trailing long colorful papers representing the colors while the tribes formed the Rings of the Olympic flag and the Children of Atlanta, dressed in white, formed the number 100 representing the Centennial of the Olympic Games.
Then the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, under the direction of famed film composer John Williams, played "Summon the Heroes", which was the official song of the 1996 Olympics. (This was actually his second piece of music for the Olympics with the first being Olympic Fanfare and Theme from the 1984 games.) As the song started, the children formed a flying dove, which is a symbol of the Olympic movement as doves symbolize peace. As the music continued, the five tribes intermingled until there was a huge mixture of humanity at the center of the stadium with the tribes all mingled together as one to symbolize the gathering of nations at the Olympics.
The Artistic portion of the ceremony began and first up was a rousing number called "Welcome to the World." This was an over the top number featuring cheerleaders, marching bands, and steppers, as all activities originated in the United States. They performed a montage of southern culture in the deep south including the college sporting culture as well as performing an all-American party. The audience also participated as they performed the wave. Assisting the cast were chromed Chevrolet pick-up trucks a nod the U.S. auto industry with spotlights in the beds. The segment ends with a fireworks display.
This was the longest artistic segment of the ceremony. Entitled "Summertime: The Beauty of the South," the focus was on Atlanta and the Old South with a placement on its beauty, spirit, music, history, culture, and rebirth after the American Civil War. During the segment, James Earl Jones quotes famous American writers Zora Neale Hurston, William Faulkner, Mark Twain, and Thomas Rorke.
The segment began with two people each dressed in large butterfly type wingspans. One butterfly as the Moon and the other as the Sun on opposite ends of the stadium. They meet in the center and create the "American Southern Spirit" The American Southern Spirit is a female operatic singer dressed all in white with large butterfly wingspans. The southern spirit butterfly along with other performers dressed as butterflies and fireflies dance to southern music. They welcome the spring with Jazz and Gospel music. Songs include Ol' Man River, Skip to My Lou and When the Saints Go Marching In. This was meant to represent the American south during the antebellum period of American history.
During the celebration a large mechanical thunderbird appears from the north end of the stadium and engulfs all the butterflies and fireflies on the stadium floor with a large grey cover. The large creature represents the American Civil War and the damage caused by Sherman's March to the Sea to the city, the American south and the nation as a whole. The performers and the southern spirit butterfly are left ravaged, in shock and saddened. The southern spirit butterfly is devastated but she slowly brings the other butterflies and creatures back to life with her operatic voice. She re-awakens the creatures. Fifty southern spirit dressed butterflies re-appear and are all dressed with a multi colored wingspan. They represent a new and reborn south. The entire stadium is relit with colored flash lights provided to the audience and the music begins to play Alleluyah, Glory, Glory (Lay My Burden Down) in gospel music and a reprisal of When the Saints Go Marching In. The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and the Atlanta Centennial Choir (Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Chorus, Morehouse College Glee Club & Spelman College Glee Club) performed all the music.[5] The segment ends with a large fireworks display.
Temple of Zeus
The stadium is then darkened and a temple is produced at the center of the stadium. This represents the ancient Greek Olympics. This is a large temple dedicated to Zeus and featured eight pillars weighing 2,500 pounds each and arranged in an octagonal shape at the center of the stadium. A procession of Greek athletes and Greek priestesses walk towards the pillars and simulate preparation for athletic competition. Each manually adjustable cable of the eight pillars simultaneously hoists up an upper-perimeter of the large screen until the screen forms its upright 360° octagonal shape. Once hoisted, each of eight to sixteen actors/dancers located between the interior of the screen and a central 20,000 watt arc light casts a body-shadow or silhouette portraying an athlete or goddess, at times reaching nearly 50 feet in height. They strike the poses of the classic events of the ancient Olympics: archery, the discus, wrestling and running. The goddess of victory then appears to honor the champions.[6][7] The music used during this segment was called "The Tradition of the Games" composed by Basil Poledouris. The segment ends with everything going dark signifying the end of the ancient Olympics. Behind the scenes, workers remove the tarp from the track.
A tribute to Barron Pierre commences, his voice surrounds the stadium proclaiming the rebirth of the modern Olympics. Then there is a reprisal of the Call of the Nations. Once again the five Olympic spirits rise, this time calling for the rebirth of the modern games.
Then the stadium lights up and reveals the track and a stage where the temple was standing. One by one, runners representing the previous Olympics starting with Athens and continuing to Barcelona appear and run around the track. Following Barcelona is the Atlanta flag-barer. She is a woman and overtakes her fellow Olympics. She runs up a ramp in the northwest portion of the stadium and waves in celebrating before disappearing into the night. After a brief moment, the Greek delegation emerges marking the start of the Parade of Nations. Then 195 nations march in alphabetical order according to the English language. Nation 197, by tradition, is the host nation, and the United States enters last. Though not all athletes appeared at the opening ceremony, over 10,000 athletes were scheduled to partake in the competition.
Olympic Speeches, the Olympic Flag, and the symbolic release of Doves
Following the parade, ACOG President Billy Payne and IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch delivered opening remarks welcoming everybody to the Games. Then U.S. President Bill Clinton opened the games by saying.
"I declare open the Games of Atlanta, celebrating the XXVI Olympiad of the modern era."
— Bill Clinton, President of the United States of America
Then the Olympic flag made its entrance. It was carried by 8 American Olympians from the past while the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra performed the tune "Simple Gifts." Then the Olympic flag was raised while the Olympic Hymn was played by the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and sung by the Centennial Olympic Choir.
Following the flag raising, 100 kids ran paper-maiche doves around the stadium symbolizing the peaceful gathering of athletes from across the world. This was followed by a playing of portions of Atlanta native son, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s I Have a Dream speech which he delivered in 1963 with a gospel choir.
Finally, Olympic heroes from the past were honored including Leon Štukelj who was then the oldest living gold medalist having earned his first gold in the 1924 Paris Olympics.
The Olympic flame and oaths
Al Oerter carried the torch to the stadium and was the last to hold the torch outside of the stadium. He passed the torch to Evander Holyfield who ran with it through a network of tunnels and then made his appearance inside the stadium to a thunderous ovation on the stage in the middle of the field. Beethoven's Ninth Symphony (Ode to Joy) was played in the background. Holyfield ran with the torch down to the track and was joined by Greek athlete Voula Patoulidou. They both held the torch and made a lap around the track. This symbolized the relationship between the first and current Olympic Games. The pair then passed the torch to American swimmer Janet Evans, the penultimate torchbearer, who carried it around a lap of the track and up a long ramp leading towards the northern end of the stadium. After more than 10,000 torch bearers, Muhammad Ali, who suffered from Parkinson's disease, dramatically lit the Olympic cauldron.
Then the oaths were given. US Basketball athlete Teresa Edwards gave the Athletes' Oath on behalf of all athletes. Then diving official Hobie Billingsley delivered the officials' oath.
