The 2014 Winter Olympics Closing Ceremony.

Yesterday (23/2/14) the 2014 Winter Olympics drew to a close in Sochi, Russia with the traditional closing ceremony. In the opening ceremony the Russian hosts tackled the issue of gay rights in Russia head on. The main narrative of that ceremony was an adorable little girl called Lubov (Russian for "Love") making a journey through Russia's history. The story ended with Russia reaching its modern age following the fall of the Communist Soviet Union and we were all left to ponder what would happen to Lubov next.

The closing ceremony continued this theme. However rather then bringing back Lubov the story of the closing ceremony was centred around two pre-pubescent girls and one pre-pubescent boy. This change seemed intended to promote discussion about what had happened to Lubov and by extension the debate about gay-rights in Russia which although getting off to a strong start was violently eclipsed by other events. However the change was also meant to represent Russian youth as a whole rather then one specific Russian child. That's because while it is often lazily described as an anti-gay propaganda law Russia's laws more accurately prevent people from promoting non-traditional relationships to children under the age of 18. As such it is often argued that rather then attacking gay rights the laws actually protect children from paedophiles. The perceived link between homosexuality and paedophilia in Russia is one of the specific issues that need to be challenged in order for gay rights to improve.

Before the closing ceremony could get on to address its main theme of gay rights it first had to address the political issue that stifled the gay rights issue  - the ongoing unrest and instability in Sochi's Black Sea neighbour Ukraine. As such the ceremony opened with the children accompanied by the clown who acted as their guide throughout travelling in a small sail/rowing boat that was suspended from the ceiling. Beneath them dancers flooded the arena clearly meant to represent the water. However the costumes the dancers were wearing coupled with the lighting effects gave them more or a black or metallic grey appearance rather then the traditional blue of water. This was obviously meant to represent the Black Sea on which Sochi sits which in turn highlights just how close Sochi actually is to Ukraine. The metallic grey meant that the dancers could also have been interpreted as a sort of poisonous or radioactive cloud. Even before I started using the term a lot of competing nations have been comparing the situation in Ukraine to a poisonous cloud that has been threatening to engulf the games.

Despite representing something of a poisonous cloud the dancers routine was rather amusing. At one point they formed the shape of the Taoist Ying Yang symbol. Although often mistaken as representing masculinity and femininity the Ying Yang symbol actually encapsulates how opposing forces with in nature (light/dark, hot/cold etc) are in fact interconnected and dependent on each other. As such this sequence was very much an attempt to call on the opposing forces in Ukraine to unite and co-operate with each other.

Later on the dancers took the form of four arrows approaching from the north-west, north-east, south-east and the south-west. This looked remarkably similar to the opening titles of classic British TV Show "Dads Army" and rather then fully converging the arrows stopped forming a shape similar to Britain's Union flag. Throughout the games the UK has been trying to use the Curling event to draw eveyone's attention to the upcoming referendum on Scottish independence so this was a little reference to that. However the dancers then next formed up to resemble the lemniscate symbol which is used in mathematics to represent the concept of infinity and in popular culture to represent the concept of eternity. That seemed to be a jokey reference to the fact that no-one really believes that Scotland is going to break away and instead they believe that the British Kingdom shall remain United for eternity. After all politically speaking the British Olympic team have been getting some very poor reviews at the Sochi games. The use of the lemniscate symbol could also have been interpreted as a reminder to the former Soviet/new European nations that the old European nations led by the UK are tightly linked together and have a reputation for being infinitely brutal.

Finally the dancers formed up in the shape of the Olympic rings. However the dancers who should have formed the red Olympic ring refused to participate instead remaining clustered together. This was a clear reference to the mechanical red Olympic ring that failed to open during the the opening ceremony. This of course could have been the Russians showing that they've got a sense of humour and are prepared to laugh at their mistakes. However it could also have been Russia gently teasing the way people reacted to the opening ceremony because if the Russian hosts did that on purpose as a trick it certainly fooled a lot of people.

Throughout this sequence music was provided by the soundtrack to the classic American film "It's a Wonderful Life." The composer of the film's score and four time Oscar winner was Dimitri Tiomkin who was, of course, Russian by birth. Also a large part of the plot to It's a Wonderful Life centres around the Bailey Building and Loan Association which is essentially a bank providing loans to the poor. Following a run on the bank that leaves it on the verge of collapse the central characters have to use the money they'd set aside for their honeymoon to save the bank and the town. That seems to be a very direct reference to the situation in Ukraine because while there are a range of complex ethnic and cultural issues at play what has brought all those issues to the fore is the fact that Ukraine much like Bailey Building and Loan Association Ukraine is flat broke so it seems unlikely its new quasi-government is going to enjoy much of a honeymoon period.

Once this opening act had drawn to a close it was time for official International Olympic Committee (IOC) business with the VIPs taking to their seats, the playing of the national anthem of the host nation and the taking down of the Olympic flag. The Olympic flag was carried out of the arena by children from a Russian youth sports club or something similar. This was in direct contrast to the way in which the Olympic flag had been brought into the arena during the opening ceremony by adults all whom had some sort of political significance. It seemed like a deliberate attempt to keep this section as non-political as possible but it did also help support the ceremonies main theme of Russian children as they relate to the debate about gay-rights.

Following hot on the heels of the Ukraine dominated opening act I thought the timing of this was rather good. That's because the full version of the Russian national anthem that was used is very powerful and very long. It was rapidly followed up by a military marching drum band. Military bands and drummers are very much part of the tradition of Olympic ceremonies. However here the reference to Russian military power provided an opportunity for discussion about Russia's response to the situation in Ukraine or perhaps more accurately provide the Russians with a little joke at the USA's expense. While the Ukrainian insurgents and their backers in US intelligence view the current situation as an almost Cold War struggle between the Russian east and the western European Union (EU) they seem to be badly mistaken. Certainly for the last week Russia has had little to no involvement in Ukraine and rather then offering a bailout package to keep Ukraine in its sphere of influence Russia is more simply acting to prevent an economic collapse in its neighbouring state after the EU refused to offer Yanukovych a similar deal.

So despite the strange statements that have been coming out the US government over the past couple of days Russia seems to have absolutely no interest in sending troops into Ukraine. Even if that will did exist there seems to be no reason for Russia to have to use its military. Although while this is certainly up for debate while I write it seems that the EU's position on Ukraine has not changed and it will not be allowing Ukraine to become a member state or providing an economic bailout. This is due to a number of factors including worries about immigration within the EU and the EU struggling to provide economic support for nations within the Eurozone let alone non-member states. As a result it seems the best EU offer to Ukraine at the moment is that the EU will host a donor conference for nations and international bodies such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) that may wish to offer financial support to Ukraine. Therefore it seems that Ukraine's best hope to avoid economic collapse is to take the Russians up on their offer if that offer is still on the table.

The flag ceremony was followed by the parade of national flags and the athletes entering the stadium so at 17:30 on 24/2/14 (UK date) this seems a natural point for me to pause.

Edited at around 20:05 on 24/2/14 (UK date) to add;

The only thing of note during the parade of the national flags and the athletes entrance is that reflective strips of metal were hung from the ceiling. These were supposed to represent icicles and were also used to reflect lighting effects. However they also slightly resemble the 52 metal columns that make up the memorial in London's Hyde Park to the victims of the July 7th 2005 terrorist attacks on the UK. This seemed to be a little reminder that if the Russian hosts had really wanted to put the boot in over the situation in Ukraine they could have included a period of reflection for all those members of the Olympic family who had died since the last staging of the games just as the UK did during their 2012 opening ceremony. It would of course have been all too easy to mistake such a period of reflection as a reference to all the people Ukraine who had been killed as part of the USA's efforts to ruin the games.

With the athletes in the arena it was time for the medal ceremony. It is traditional that all of the medals that are won on the final day of the games to be presented during that evening's closing ceremony. However at the Sochi games two of the three events that took place on the final day - men's four man bobsleigh and men's ice hockey - were team events so it would have taken far too long to hand out all the gold, silver and bronze medals. For example ice hockey squads have 20 members each. As a result in order to save time only the medals from one event were handed out during the ceremony. Choosing which one no doubt led to a lot of discussion between the Russian hosts and the IOC.

The hosts would obviously have wanted the ice hockey medals handed out because the USA would have been noticeable by their absence. The hosts second choice was probably the men's four man bobsleigh firstly because the USA would be forced to appear to collect their bronze. Also though Latvia won silver while Russia won gold. The sight of Latvia and Russia standing next to each other on the podium would have highlighted the fact that Latvia and Russia are indeed separate countries. That would have made a point to members of the British gay community who boycotted Latvian vodka in order to protest Russia's anti-gay propaganda laws indicating that they perhaps didn't have the best understanding of Russian politics.

In the end it seems that the IOC won out and the medals for the men's cross-country skiing were handed out. Possibly in an effort to justify this the women's cross-country skiing medals were also handed out in order to make a statement about gender equality within the Olympic movement. Fortunately though Russia managed to get a clean sweep in the men's event while Norway managed the same thing in the women's event making it look like team medals were actually being handed out which perhaps indicated that the IOC's decision was not a popular one.

With those IOC formalities out of the way the second act was free to begin. This started with teenage dancers in zombie-style make rise up as if controlled by the music of the violinist. The fact that the dancer were very reminiscent of the Micheal Jackson "Thriller" video which has been copied by thousands of people across the world in Internet videos contrasted with the classical violinist who was pure high culture introduced the other recurring theme of the ceremony. While Russia is clearly very capable and accomplished in the high culture of classical music, ballet, classical theatre and literature it seems to lack the ability to produce performers with the mass appeal of popular culture stars such as Jessie J or Rihanna. This makes it quite hard for Russia to project soft-power across the world because while Rachmaninoff is clearly a much more accomplished musician then Rihanna teenagers just buy his records in the same way. This has a specific reference to the anti-gay propaganda laws because if Russians are not allowed to talk teenagers about homosexuality they will simply turn to foreigners on the Internet. This leaves the door open to foreign interference which creates a security problem for Russia. For example the protests that surrounded Putin's re-election as Russia's President seemed heavily influenced by the US "Occupy" protest movement which essentially began life as an Internet meme.

Furthermore the image of the zombie teenagers being roused by the music acted as a reference to the Communist-era practise of banning great works of Russian art and culture for being subversive or bourgeois. The reason why the Communists banned so much art is that at its best art conveys emotion and ideas in such a way as to force you to change the way you think and feel about the world. Communists and other authoritarians absolutely hate people thinking for themselves instead preferring them to exist in a zombie-like state doing whatever the government tells them is in the best interests of the nation. I suspect what the ceremony was trying to convey was the similarity between the Communists banning of arts and culture and the anti-gay propaganda laws. For example is it possible to talk about the work of Peter Tchaikovsky without mentioning his homosexuality which is so central to Swan Lake? Despite what many in the west still believe being compared to a Communist is probably one of the biggest insults going in modern Russia.

The next sequence ushered in a near life-sized model of a Russian village in the style of Marc Chagall a very famous Russian born artist in the avant-garde, modernist school. To highlight the often surrealist nature of Chagall's work this model village was hung upside down from the ceiling. The classical violin music was replaced by Russian Polka music while stilt-walkers and acrobats performed tricks. Apart from showing off traditional Russian culture Polka music can be very bizarre so this sequence seemed to be making the point that if the Russians had wanted to put on weird closing ceremony they certainly had the capacity to make it very weird indeed.

The Chagall village was followed across the ceiling by sky furniture representing angels, the sun and clouds that eventually released snow. This was all a reference to the climate change debate that had been a major topic of conversation during the games not least because of the hosts decision to hold the games in an area of Russia with a sub-tropical climate. However lighting effects gave the clouds something of a blueish tinge while the sun burned yellow. As a result whenever the sun passed by one of the clouds it resembled the yellow and blue colour scheme of the Ukrainian flag. In that context the presence of angels alluded to the film It's a Wonderful Life and its reference to Ukraine's dire economic problems.

This sequence ended with the arena being plunged into darkness with just a faint glow of reddish light. This was a clear reference to the Communist practise of banning great works of art and culture.

The next sequence began with a reddish tinged spotlight dramatically illuminating a single pianist in the centre of the arena. This pianist was playing famed Russian composer Sergei Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto number 2 in C minor which is such a famous piece of classical music I'm sure you've heard it before even if you may not realise it. Rachmaninoff was actually forced to flee Russia for the USA following the Communist revolution because his work was absolutely despised by Russia's new elite. As such he is the perfect way to promote discussion about the censorship of art and ideas. Here the ceremony again drew comparisons between Communist censorship and the anti-gay propaganda laws because suddenly the arena was full of countless pianists. In English "Pianist" is a word you have to be very careful pronouncing because one slip of the tongue and suddenly you are saying "Penis." By filling the arena with Pianists/Penises the ceremony was making a joke about the giant penis that the lighting director drew on the stage during the opening ceremony.

There was though a more serious point to this quite bad pun because the three children who were at the centre of the story immediately started sitting on the Pianists/Penises which is a pretty obvious sexual reference. The pre-pubescent girls sitting on Pianists/Penises was a quite clear reference to paedophilia but the sight of a pre-pubescent boy also sitting on a Pianist/Penis could also be interpreted as a reference to homosexuality. The intention being to explore the perceived link between homosexuality and paedophilia by pointing out that there are also a large number of paedophiles who abuse children of the opposite gender and many who abuse both boys and girls because unlike homosexuality paedophilia is a psychological disorder.

Throughout this sequence the overwhelming colour scheme was red. In part this was to address the issue of Communist censorship but it was also a reference to HIV/AIDS. This is another central force behind Russian homophobia because that if homosexuals are allowed to live openly everyone will turn gay, catch AIDS. Towards the end of the sequence dancers took to the stage and formed the shape of a triangle/diamond that was bathed in golden light. Apart from being a subtle little dig at Rihanna's pretty poor efforts with the HIV/AIDS charity VivaGlam this was meant to be a reference to the so-called 'Golden Triangle' where most of South-East Asia's heroin production comes from. The point being made was that while there is a high risk of HIV transmission through gay male sex gay women actually have the lowest risk of sexual HIV transmission of any group including heterosexuals. Also there are other significant methods of HIV transmission including injecting drugs such as heroin and pretty poor infection control procedures at some Russian hospitals. These routes of HIV infection are of course in no way affected by a ban on people talking about homosexuality and it's pretty well established that driving homosexuality underground actually tends to increase HIV infection rates.

Edited at around 16:25 on 25/2/14 (UK date) to add;

The next sequence centred around dancers from the Bolshoi and Kirov (St Petersburg) ballet schools performing a routine that had been specially choreographed.. This is because ballet is extremely difficult and something that Russians are extremely good at. The main twist was that although the dancers were using all of the arena as their stage there was a piece of scenery in the centre that resembled a theatre's traditional ornate stage frontage. This could have been a reference to the way in which high culture such as ballet or Rachmaninoff just don't attract the same sort of large audience as pop stars like Rihanna. A possible barrier to young people getting into things like ballet is that a trip to the ballet usually involves visiting an expensive and grand theatre where you are surrounded by people dressed in formal black tie all keen to show off how much more intelligent and cultured they are then you. All of that can obviously be quite intimidating to a newcomer.

The stage structure could also have been a reference to a recent (2012) UK film production of famed Russian author Leo Tolstoy's "Anna Karenina" which starred Keira Knightely amongst others. This production of Anna Karenina also played around with the barriers to culture question being filmed as if it was a stage production taking place in one of the grand Russian theatres of the time. This film received a lot of critical success and was considered a triumph of the British creative industries. As such the Russians couldn't miss the opportunity to remind everyone where the original source material came from.

In what might have come as a surprise to some suddenly a dancer appeared in the traditional Arabian/Persian costume of a belly dancer. Again this was to remind people what an absolutely vast country Russia is. However it was also a reference to Rihanna's efforts to have herself included in the Winter Olympics specifically how she was photographed during the games leaving a restaurant wearing essentially a bathing costume and a large, ornate flowing robe. Those in the media who are still prepared to cut Rihanna some slack tactfully described this robe as being Oriental in style. I of course described it as Arabian in style. The truth is that it was actually a mixture of both those influence which in fact reflects the reality of the situation because Arabian culture doesn't suddenly stop at the Iraqi border and Oriental culture doesn't suddenly begin at the Chinese border. Instead the two styles gradually blend into each other across many nations including Southern Russia and the "-istan" nations such as Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan. These of course all made up part of the Soviet Union. So apart from reminding everyone how big Russia is the ceremony was again pointing out that the US' Rihanna operation has not got anyone troubled in the slightest.

Events in Ukraine have meant that this has actually been a very relevant time to remind the US of the shortcomings of it's Rihanna operation. Unlike in Syria where the US knows full well that it is lying about what is going on the US did appear to genuinely believe that the EU was ready to welcome Ukraine with open arms and the only thing stopping that from happening was Russia putting pressure on Ukrainian President Yanukovych. That shows a worrying lack of understanding about the intricacies of EU internal politics on the part of the US. The European leg of Rihanna's Diamonds World Tour was of course supposed to make the US the expert in EU politics.

Obviously having been presented with such a glaring failure most people would have considered changing tactics but not the US of course who are instead pressing on regardless. For example on the day of the ceremony Rihanna was making her way to France for another 'date' with Drake and Chris Brown was being very noisy on social media with some cock and bull story about his ex-manager leaking some song her recorded with Rihanna a couple of years ago. Admittedly this did provide everyone with a bit of light relief from the horrors of Ukraine but some are also worried because if the US continues to behave this stupidly there will be global consequences.

At one point during the sequence the dancers surrounded the children and their guide completely overwhelming them and causing them to totally disappear from view. This was obviously quite dramatic and alarming and was supposed to represent the fear of youngsters being consumed by the culture the Communists feared or the homosexuality that some modern Russians fear. It was also a reference to the fact that high culture can be very overwhelming to the novice. Fortunately though the dancers opened like a giant white flower to reveal the children to be safe and unharmed.

This spectacle of a white flower suddenly bursting open into bloom was another reference to the situation in Ukraine - specifically the anthem of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UIA). This portrays Ukraine as the Viburnum shrub which has to endure a period of carrying red berries before bursting out as a triumphant white flower. This has an obvious anti-Communist message but the celebration of the white bloom has significant overtones of racial purity. In their current form the UIA and the similar groups that have been waging war against the Ukrainian government in the streets of Kiev recently are hardcore Neo-Nazi groups. So while the hope is that calmer heads will eventually gain the upper hand no rational person should be celebrating victories by these groups.

Although there wasn't anything specific that I can point to as an example the general tone of this sequence with references to South-East Asia's 'Golden Triangle' and Oriental culture also drew attention to Russia's relationship with China. Mainly due to their work on the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) in the west Russia and China are often treated as if they are the same country. This of course dates back to the Communist-era in which the two nations were ideological allies but even then the two nations weren't that close with Russian Communism and Chinese Communism remaining very different. Now that the Soviet Union has collapsed and modern Russia is about as far away from Communist ideology as it is possible to get the two nations now have even less in common. In fact these days them seem only united by the fact that they occasionally have to come together in an effort to stop the other permanent members of the UNSC (US, UK, France) doing something extremely stupid as is currently happening in Syria.

The next sequence continued the main theme of Russia's anti-gay propaganda laws being compared and contrasted with the Commuist-era ban on subversive art and culture with the youngsters at the centre of the story being led into a giant library by their clown guide. In this giant library stood six great Russian authors who to my discredit I did not catch the names of. The question being posed was whether the Russian youngsters be harmed by being exposed to the words and ideas these great men and at least one woman?

The only other thing that I did note in this sequence was that to help emphasise that the children were in a library papers - representing pages from books - were thrown across the floor of the arena. As was the case in the opening ceremony most of the scene setting was done with overhead lighting projecting complex images onto the floor below. This was a great technical accomplishment that looked great on TV however for people in the arena who lacked the birds-eye view this made things quite hard to follow. Perhaps reflecting the fact that most of the criticism in this area had come from the UK at the end of the sequence the papers were swept away using what looked like Curling brooms. Curling of course was the Olympic event where the UK had been dedicating a lot of effort to promote discussion about the upcoming referendum on Scottish independence without much success.

The next sequence saw the children being taken to a traditional Russian travelling circus. On the face of it this was intended to highlight the fact that Russia has a long history of and is globally respected in field of highly technical and difficult circus skills such as acrobatics. However the fact that it was a travelling circus was supposed to highlight the role of Travellers such as Roma Gypsies in Russia and eastern Europe. This of course again also reminded us how big a country Russia is because the Roma originated in Northern India and it has been the way they have travelled across southern Russian and beyond that has helped Oriental culture blend with Arabian and European culture.

Unfortunately Joesph Stalin took the same approach to Roma Gypsies as Adolf Hitler - they are sub-human and deserve to be exterminated. So through much of the Communist-era the Soviet Union's Roma population were frequently persecuted with that persecution justified by outlandish stories about them stealing people's children - the Child Catcher character from the film "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" has very strong anti-Roma overtones. Sadly these attitudes persist in parts of Russia, the former Soviet states and even parts of the traditional western European such as Italy and Greece. As such this sequence - especially the bit where the clown urgently and comically ushered the children away from the gypsies - was supposed to promote discussion about anti-Roma sentiment in eastern Europe which in turn serves as a reminder to the west that not all of these anti-Russian nationalist groups in eastern European are as warm and cuddly as people like to pretend.

This sequence ended with the circus/gypsy tent being destroyed by rocket fire. This was another little reminder to the west that these eastern European nationalist groups have caused some very brutal wars since the fall of the Soviet Union particularly in the former Yugoslavia. The red glare of these rockets as they were being fired into the circus/gypsy camp were a specific reference to the US national anthem which makes proud reference to "the rockets red glare and bombs bursting in the air."

And with that the second act ended. So at around 18:50 on 25/2/14 (UK date) I will move on to cover the official IOC business in part two.