The opening ceremony of the2018 Asian Games took place on Saturday, 18 August 2018, at theGelora Bung Karno Main Stadium inJakarta,Indonesia. The event commenced at 19:00Indonesia Western Time (UTC+7) and ended at 21:25 local time.Wishnutama Kusubandio (then CEO of Indonesian TV networkNET.) was the creative director of the ceremony.[1] The ceremony featured a stage designed as a 26-meter-high mountain with a waterfall. It weighed 600 tons, was 120 meters long and 30 meters wide, and included a display of Indonesian plants and flowers, as well as a mock volcano.[2][3] The volcano symbolized Indonesia's location in the "Ring of Fire" surrounding thePacific Ocean.[4] Host event broadcasting company International Games Broadcast Services (IGBS) filmed the televised coverage of the ceremony live internationally.[5][6]
Before the ceremony commenced, footage of thePresident of Indonesia,Joko Widodo, leavingBogor Palace forGelora Bung Karno Stadium in amotorcade, was shown. When the motorcade was blocked by a parade of Indonesian supporters, the President exited his car, put on a black helmet and rode aYamaha FZ1 to escape the traffic jam. After performing some stunt maneuvers and helping a group of students and a teacher to cross the road, he was joined by a motorcycle escort and approached the stadium. As the first part of the footage ended, a motorcyclist dressed as the President entered the stadium and headed to the basement. The second part of footage then showed President Widodo riding the motorcycle before reaching an elevator, at which point the real President entered the VVIP seating area.
It was suggested that the motorcyclist who entered the stadium was a stunt double: unlike the President, the motorcyclist did not wear a ring on the left hand.[7] After thegames' closing ceremony, Thai stuntman Withithep Komolhiran (a.k.a. Suddum So) revealed himself onInstagram to be the President's stunt double in the filmed segments.[8] He initially revealed his identity on Instagram after the opening ceremony, but the original post was later deleted.[9] It is unclear whether the motorist performed live in the stadium was the same stuntman or not.
After that, 1,600 high school dancers from 18 senior high schools across Jakarta performed theRatoh Jaroe dance, a traditional dance similar toSaman dance fromAceh, the westernmost province of Indonesia. As their performance progresses, they changed the colors of their costumes and forming different patterns which evolved into the flag of Indonesia in the end. The dance was choreographed by renowned singer and dancer Denny Malik.[10][11]
The onlydangdut song of the album, "Meraih Bintang", was chosen as the theme song for the2018 Asian Games. It was written by Pay and sung by popular dangdut singerVia Vallen. She performed the song after all the athletes participated in the parade took their seat.
"In the name of all the people of Indonesia, we are proud, we are honored, by getting special guests from 45 countries. In the 18th Asian Games, we, the nations of Asia, want to show that we are brothers and sisters, we are united, we want to achieve.And, with sayingBi-smi llāhi r-raḥmāni r-raḥīm, the 18th Asian Games in 2018, I declare [it] open!"– Joko Widodo, President of the Republic of Indonesia, declaring the games open in Indonesian.
Susi Susanti, Indonesia's first ever Olympic gold medalist, lit the flame on the crater.
Soon afterwards was the creative segments, divided into five parts: Water, Earth, Wind, Fire, and Energy of Asia.[18][19] The water, earth, wind and fire depict the natural beauty of Indonesia and also the country's courage and competitive spirit, while Energy of Asia, the final segment named after the games motto, was about how future generations will help build Indonesia into a leader of tomorrow while remembering their guiding principles of respect and equality.
The new cauldron of the GBK carried the Asian Games flame
During the Fire segment, there were Balinese-clad dancers carrying drums and some carried two-end torches. They formed a formation to make way for the final torch relay. The games torch was relayed by Indonesia's former Asian Games gold medalists;Lanny Gumulya (women's 3 metres springboarddiving in 1962), Arief Taufan Syamsuddin (men's kumite 60 kgkarate in 1998),Yustedjo Tarik (men's singlestennis in 1982),Supriyati Sutono (women's 5000 metresathletics in 1998), andOka Sulaksana (men's mistral heavysailing in 2002). Indonesia's first Olympic gold medalistSusi Susanti – who won the coveted title in the1992 badminton women's singles – became the final bearer and lit the volcano's crater.[20][21] It was followed by aerial and ground fireworks bursts which ended on the actual cauldron located on the southeast of the stadium;[22] the flame itself lit up before the ground fireworks reach the end of the cauldron. The lit-up was followed by aerial fireworks bursts and a "Set Your Soul on Fire" song which sung by some singers, including Indonesian gospel singer Sidney Mohede.[23]
The transition from the four elements segment to the "Energy of Asia" segment was filled byIndonesian-bornFrench singerAnggun singing "Pemuda", a 1979 song written by Candra Darusman of Chaseiro band, who is the younger brother of politicianMarzuki Darusman. He was also present during the ceremony.[24] After some modern dances, the ceremony was concluded with the performance of the games' first-released official song "Bright as the Sun" sung by 4 of the song's artists;Ariel,Rian Ekky Pradipta,Sheryl Sheinafia, and Cakra Khan, complete with massive fireworks bursting from the stadium's roof.
All 44 contingents participated in the parade, the order begins with Afghanistan and ended with host Indonesia. Each contingent was led by a representative official that wore a bird-shaped Garuda costume while carrying each country’s name placard. The costume was designed by Dynand Fariz, founder of the annualJember Fashion Carnaval.[31][32]
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
