'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)