17th Asiad opens in South Korea on 19 Sept
The 2014 Asian Games, officially known as the 17th Asiad, is the largest sporting event in Asia governed by the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA). It is scheduled to take place in South Korea’s Incheon City from 19 September to 4 October.
It will be the 3rd time that South Korea has hosted the OCA’s showpiece event, after it was held in Seoul in 1986 and Pusan in 2002. Approximately 13,000 athletes and team officials from 45 National Olympic Committees will be participating, and there will be 7,000 media representatives. The slogan for the event is “Diversity Shines Here”.
The athletes will compete in 36 sports, including the 28 Olympic Games sports on the programme for Rio de Janeiro 2016.
 |
| Incheon Asiad Main Stadium (photo courtesy of the Incheon Asian Games Organising Committee) (Source: korea.net) |
The main theme of the opening and closing ceremonies, "Unity in Asia – Dream of 45 Million People", will be expressed in brilliant ways including unique dance choreography to various genres of music, using elements within Korea which represent Asian culture, and performances which people can empathise with as the main theme of the ceremonies is delivered.
Talented K-Pop stars will perform on stage – Sista, JYJ, Psy, EXO, Big Bang and others. One of the official goodwill ambassadors, JYJ, will be singing the 2014 Incheon Asian Games theme song "Only One" at the opening ceremony, and Sista will be the opening act of the closing ceremony. A collaborative performance by K-Pop stars and the famous Chinese pianist Lang Lang will be one of the highlight performances.
For the opening ceremony, Kim Sung-ju and Yoon Soo-young (anchors with the Korea Broadcasting Station) will take on the role of Masters of Ceremony. For the closing ceremony the Masters of Ceremony will be voice actor Ahn Ji-hwan and Emcee Jo Joo-yun. "Song of Asiad", with words from a poem that poet Go Eun has dedicated to 2014 Incheon Asian Games, will be sung by soprano Jo Su-mi along with the 919-member Incheon Citizens Choir. Cultural performances will feature musical actresses Ok Joo-hyun, Yang Joon-mo and others. Famous Korean classical artists, such as violinist Richard Yongjae O’Neill and Shin Ji-ah, will provide beautiful classical music for all.
(Source: Incheon Asia Games Organising Committee (IAGOC)/ ocasia.org/ Korea.net/ Danang Today)