'RCTI' carries Olympic torch with special lineup
'RCTI' carries Olympic torch with special lineup
JAKARTA (JP): In the next five days, all eyes will turn to
Sydney for the biggest sports event in the world. Olympic fever
is set to take hold.
Sports fans are waiting with baited breath to see how the
Games turns out. Who will stand on the podium as the fastest man
and woman on Earth? Who will be the king and queen of the pool?
Are the Williams sisters in high gear to power past the
opposition on the tennis court? Is boy wonder Taufik Hidayat of
Indonesia ready for gold in badminton? Can the Chinese
contingent, already depleted by the loss of many athletes for
suspected doping, save face?
And which country will finish atop the medal standings?
The answers may be found on private television station RCTI,
which holds the exclusive rights to the Games in the country.
The station is putting on special programs during the Olympics
to meet local viewers' demands to find out how all their
favorites, from Taufik to Marion Jones and Alexander Popov, are
doing.
It started its pre-Olympics programs on Aug. 15. It is also
broadcasting Dari Melbourne ke Sydney (From Melbourne to Sydney),
replacing the regularly scheduled Raket Mania every Sunday at 1
p.m. (Melbourne was the host of the 1956 Olympics).
Seputar Olahraga, usually shown at 1 p.m. on Saturday, has
been temporarily replaced by Indonesia and the Olympics.
Major highlights of the Games will be the opening and closing
ceremonies.
Who can forget the spectacular opening of the 1992 Olympics in
Barcelona when the cauldron was lit by an archer from a distance
of more than 100 meters? Or will it be done by a famous sportsman
like Muhammad Ali who, despite his debilitating Parkinson's
disease, opened the Games in Atlanta four years ago?
The Sydney Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games (SOCOG)
has kept mum on who will light the cauldron. However, singers
Olivia Newton John, Julie Anthony and Tina Arena have been given
the honor of performing at the opening ceremony, which will be
aired live beginning at 1 p.m. on Sept. 15.
A special 30-minute program about the Indonesia contingent
during the Olympics, Indonesiana, will be broadcast from Monday
to Friday at 8:30 a.m., from Sept. 15 to Oct. 1.
Hosted by the well-known comic duo of Edwin and Jodi, the show
will look at the condition of Indonesian athletes during the
event.
Sydney 2000 will air live events daily from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m.,
continued by a second session from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. and from 5
p.m. to 6:30 p.m.
Hosted jointly by Ari Sudarsono, Dian Purba and Olan Fatah,
the programming will start 30 minutes earlier on Saturday.
The station's assistant producer, Herti Purba, told The
Jakarta Post that favorites sports, especially track and field,
swimming and badminton, will have top priority in the
programming.
For events which cannot be included in Sydney 2000, the
station will feature them in a special tape-delayed show,
Pertandingan Pilihan (Select Events), to be broadcast at 12:30
a.m.
There is also Buletin Sydney 2000, presenting a round-up of
results from the 34 sports. The program will be aired from Monday
to Friday from 10 a.m. to 10:30 p.m.
"We also have one-minute segments including 'golden moments',
'new record', 'medal tally' and 'unforgettable moments' that will
be broadcast daily and repeatedly," Herti said.
RCTI will also invite competing athletes' family and former
athletes to join its Warna Warni program, where they can
communicate directly with the athletes in Sydney via satellite
linkup. (yan)