The U.S. director of the Shanghai Special Olympics opening ceremony on Thursday hailed the intellectually disabled performers, saying he "feels so good" about the event.
Veteran event director Don Mischer said each of them worked "so well" to reveal their courage and perseverance to the world.
Mischer said he was "very impressed" with performers, who had overshadowed big name celebrities attending the occasion to become the "real stars" of the show.
More than 40 performers were chosen from about 100 intellectually disabled people from around China. They participated in different aspects of the opening ceremony including the chorus and dancing.
"They were not acting. They were being themselves, being real," said Mischer, a 13-time Emmy award winner who directed the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games and 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics opening ceremonies.
During the ceremony, two intellectually disabled performers climbed over a Great Wall prop to arrive at a "beacon tower". Mischer said the two "were striving and it was never easy for them".
The director's team had prepared a long musical score for this act in case the pair had problems. "We didn't know if they would fall or how long they would take. It is very real," Mischer said.
The three-hour ceremony, involving 5,800 performers, was visually striking with lighting, fireworks, costume performances and music.
The Special Olympics, which opened on Tuesday evening in Shanghai, will run until October 11. They bring together more than 10,000 athletes and coaches from more than 160 countries and regions.
Source: Xinhua
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