China has a "first-class" and "very creative" team headed by film director Zhang Yimou preparing the 2008 Beijing Olympics opening ceremony, U.S. events director Don Mischer said in Shanghai on Thursday.
Mischer, who directed the opening ceremony of the Shanghai Special Olympics Summer Games, said the opening ceremonies of the Special Olympics and the Olympic Games needed to make different impressions.
"For the Special Olympics, we expect anyone who watches the opening ceremony to change his opinion about the people that are intellectually disabled," he said.
While the Olympic Games stressed results, competition and excellence, the Special Olympics emphasized the spirit of the intellectually disabled athletes, said Mischer, who directed the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games and 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics ceremonies.
The opening ceremonies of such big events were very complicated, involving lots of people and tremendous potential difficulties, the 13-time Emmy award winner said.
He expected the Beijing Olympics ceremony to reveal the unique spirit of Olympics.
"Zhang (Yimou) and the Beijing Olympics organizing committee came to the Special Olympics ceremony on Tuesday evening, and we welcome them," he said. Sharing experiences was "very helpful" and a good way to improve ideas.
"I believe the Beijing Olympics opening ceremony will be very interesting and successful," said Mischer, who also directed the ceremony that former U.S. President Jimmy Carter held for late Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping when the latter visited the United States in 1979.
The Special Olympics, which opened on Tuesday in Shanghai, will close on Oct. 11. It brings together more than 10,000 athletes and coaches from over 160 countries and regions.
Source: Xinhua
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