Producer Angy Hwang (left), executive director Apollo Yang (middle) and executive producer Jace Oh of the opening ceremony for the Winter Youth Olympics in Gangwon-do Province on the evening of Jan. 11 hold a news conference on the preparation progress for the opening ceremony at Seamarq Hotel in Gangneung, Gangwon-do Province.
By Xu Aiying
Photos = Xu Aiying
Apollo Yang, executive director of the opening ceremony for the Gangwon Winter Youth Olympics (Gangwon 2024), on the evening of Jan. 11 said this at a news conference held at Seamarq Hotel in Gangneung, Gangwon-do Province. He was accompanied by the ceremony's executive producer Jace Oh and producer Angy Hwang.
The ceremony will emphasize an unpretentious and youth-like atmosphere and storyline, unlike flashy productions usually seen at a regular Olympics.
"The theme of the opening ceremony is 'Let Us Shine' and the concept is 'Universe,'" Yang said. "We are trying to send the message that all youth are a shining microcosm in the hyperscale universe."
Apollo Yang, executive director of the opening ceremony for Gangwon 2024, on the evening of Jan. 11 answers questions at a news conference held at Seamarq Hotel in Gangneung, Gangwon-do Province.
Youth will also star in performances at the ceremony. K-pop acts popular among youth worldwide such as tripleS and LUN8, both of whom debuted last year, will take to the stage.
Yang said, "Because this is a youth Olympics, we mainly invited new talent instead of known stars."
"To reflect the concept that all youth are protagonists, we created 'seats within seats' in a straight line distance of 400 m on an oval-shaped speed skating track," he added. "We hope that each national team while sitting here shines like the protagonist."
The Gangneung Oval is the venue for Gangwon 2024's opening ceremony on Jan. 19.
Visitors can watch an innovative lighting of the Olympic torch as a highlight of the opening ceremony.
"Given our deep consideration of the environment, we prepared the world's first digital Olympic torch that doesn't use gas after ignition," Yang said. "The outer digital torch will be lit by LED images when the actual flame is lit."
The digital torch will also show real-time weather data by using cloud computing technology. The background video shows snow if it falls and the flame sways when wind blows.
The opening ceremony of Gangwon 2024 will be jointly opened on Jan. 19 at both the Gangneung Oval and Pyeongchang Dome at 8 p.m.
xuaiy@korea.kr
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