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Shelley Osterloh reporting On Friday, Torino, Italy will be the focus of the world as the 2006 Winter Olympics get underway.
The big event kicks off with Opening ceremonies.
The Olympic Opening ceremony is perhaps the greatest show on earth, with an expected audience of over 2 Billion viewers.
The show is filled with special Olympic protocol that you will remember from the Salt Lake City games; like the athlete parade, entry of the Olympic flag, oath of the athletes and lighting the cauldron.
But each Olympic Host city adds its own flavor, personality and charm.
The man in charge of the event says he learned a lot from the Salt Lake ceremonies. He tried, as SLOC organizers did, to create something unique and full of spectacle.
Andrea Varnier, TOROC Managing Dir. Image and Events: "Well opening ceremony is a very important task adn we know it gives the pace and rhythm of the games so what we are trying to achieve is to make the concept of passion be alive also in the ceremony. So make it very very contemporary with an international language but very Italian showing all the passion, our history, but also our future."
The Italians say they want the center stage area to be much like a piazza- the center of gathering for all Italians.
Our visit to the Stadium in December showed crews still hard at work.
The stadium was built in the 1930's and was used as a soccer stadium until the 1980's. Crews have added seating to accommodate about 35-thousand spectators, fewer than at Rice Eccles which seats about 50-thousand.
Still it promises to be an amazing show, with 6,000 volunteers who have been rehearsing for months.
One interesting challenge for special effects designers: A propulsion system that produces trails of fire from the helmets of a group of fast skaters in a line. They are to be the "Sparks of Passion" of the Torino Games
You can watch the 2006 Winter Games Opening Ceremonies right here on KSL 5 on Friday night beginning at 7.
Be sure to tune in to Eyewitness News at 4. Samantha Hayes will show us some of the last minute preparations that are going on in Torino.
