* Badminton: First Double Gold is Possible in Sydney
* Baseball: No Surprises on Veteran Cuban Team
* Basketball: Russian Coach Loses Patience with Mikhailov
* Cycling: Zuelle Wins Opening Stage of the Tour of Spain
* Cycling: Dekker Wins Tour of Netherlands
* Football: Injuries Strike Australian Team
* Football: Kanu and Babayaro in Nigeria's Squad
* Hockey: Pakistan Bid to Regain Hockey Glory
* Rowing: Weather Well Tracked in Sydney
* Swimming: Popov Flexes his Muscles in Olympic Warm-up
* Tennis: Venus Williams Wins Fourth Straight
* Tennis: U.S. Open Survivor Sweepstakes up for Grabs
* Tennis: Swedes Norman and Enqvist Reach Final
* Tennis: Williams, Hingis, Sampras Advance in US Open
* Athletics: Johnson Out to Prove He's Unbeatable
* Athletics: Greene and Jones Stay on Course for Olympic Glory
* Athletics: Sotomayer Injured at Italy Meeting
* Table Tennis: March in Sydney May Lead to Joint Korean Teams
* Triathlon: World's Best set to Make Splash on Debut
* Weightlifting: Despondent Bulgaria sees Gold Only in Lifting
* Wrestling: Controversy over Greco-Roman Coach

Subscribe for your own Olympic newsletter:
http://www.olympics.com/eng/

Arts festivals for the games.

Arts festivals

1997 — The Festival of the Dreaming

Artistic Director: Rhoda Roberts
When: 14 September to 6 October 1997
Location: Sydney
The Festival of the Dreaming, the first of its kind in Australia, celebrated the world's indigenous cultures, especially those of the Australian Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders. This was one of the largest and most representative indigenous arts festivals yet to be held in the world.
The Festival of the Dreaming promoted a greater awareness and appreciation of Australian indigenous heritage. This is one of the oldest known to man, but a culture which is constantly developing and evolving. The festival had 30 exhibitions, 14 dance and theatre productions, eight performance troupes, 50 films, a literature program, three concerts and a number of special commissions.
Most of the content was Australian, with additional representation from indigenous cultures from around the world, including the United States of America, Canada, Greenland, Korea, New Zealand, Western Samoa and Papua New Guinea. The festival explored the experience of indigenous people from its earliest origins to the impact of other cultures.
Many of the projects from The Festival of the Dreaming will tour nationally in 1998 and / or internationally in 1999 in subsequent Olympic Arts Festivals.

Hemispheres festival

Global Diva announced for Hemispheres festival

28 July 2000

The sensational international performer, Angelique Kidjo is set to join the line-up of Hemispheres, the Sydney 2000 Olympic Arts Festival's two-day celebration of music from around the globe at Centennial Park on Saturday 9 and Sydney 10 September, Festival Artistic Director, Leo Schofield announced today.
An international phenomenon known for her unforgettable live performances, Angelique Kidjo and her band, with their distinctive blend of Afro-American rhythms, moves and grooves, will headline the bill on Saturday September 9. Having performed many sell out tours here, the most recent to promote the release of her fifth album to date 'Oremi', Angelique Kidjo is well known to Australian audiences.
Mr Schofield also announced the addition of two impressive local acts — David Bridie and iOTA to the Hemispheres line-up.
After 15 years in the business David Bridie's recent debut album Act Of Free Choice received critical acclaim. Bridie, is renowned as a producer, soundtrack composer and central figure in local Melbourne acts Not Drowning Waving and My Friend The Chocolate Cake.
"An intoxicating sensory experience that transcends music. To call it a concert hardly seems adequate... The world is ready for you now Mr. Bridie."(The Australian — 26/6/00)
iOTA rose to prominence last year with Triple J airplay of Change the lead track from his eclectic debut album The Hip Bone Connection. iOTA has performed two sell out tours of the country and is a rising star in the local music scene.
"Sydney's iOTA has created one of the most assured, eclectic and unusual debut albums of the year...cross reference: Lenny Kravitz, Dave Matthews Band, Tom Jones, The Truth." 8/10 (Sun Herald 8/8/99)
Hemispheres will be staged at the beautiful Mackay and Mission Fields areas of Centennial Park on Saturday 9 and Sunday 10 September, the weekend prior to the Opening Ceremony of the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games.

Sensational international line-up for Arts Festival's Hemispheres

16 June 2000

Juan de Marcos' Afro-Cuban All Stars, Natacha Atlas and Transglobal Underground to head all-star line-up at festival's biggest event.
Sydney 2000 Olympic Arts Festival Artistic Director Leo Schofield has announced details of Hemispheres, the festival's two-day celebration of music from around the globe.
The event, the biggest in the festival program, will be staged at the beautiful Mackay and Mission Fields areas of Centennial Park on Saturday 9 and Sunday 10 September, the weekend prior to the Opening Ceremony of the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games. Click here to buy Hemispheres tickets.
Sixty thousand people are expected to attend this landmark concert event which will star more than 40 contemporary, Latin, world, funk, dance and blues acts from Australia and overseas performing simultaneously on two stages, with some of the world's best-known DJs and dance acts appearing under a huge big top.
Included in the extraordinary line-up of talent from around the world are Juan de Marcos' Afro-Cuban All Stars, featuring members of the band from the Oscar-nominated film and record Buena Vista Social Club. This extraordinary gathering of some of Cuba's most brilliant musicians appears in Australia for the first time for the Sydney 2000 Olympic Arts Festival.
Their Hemispheres appearance kicks off an Australian tour presented by Andrew McKinnon which includes Brisbane, Adelaide, Melbourne and a return to Sydney to perform at the Sydney Opera House Concert Hall on 18 September.
"Hemispheres once again demonstrates that the Olympic Games are a magnificent draw-card, a unique and potent magnet for performers", Mr Schofield said. "Hemispheres superbly complements and further strengthens our entire festival program and reflects the truly international nature of this once-in-a-lifetime global celebration".
The full Hemispheres line-up:
Juan de Marcos' Afro-Cuban Allstars
Ali Farka Toure
Asian Dub Foudation
Natacha Atlas
The Creatures
Transglobal Underground
Dimitri from Paris
Shooglenifty
Paul Kelly
Alex Lloyd
Christine Anu
Telek
Samullori
Endorphin
Jimmy Little
Nokturnl
Karma County
Wicked Beat Sound System
Mara ! & Martensia Choir
Gondwana
Friendly
Soma Rasa
Full Fathom Five
Passi Jo, Tchico Tchicaya & Warako Musica
Systa BB & Sam G
Cafe of the Gate of Salvation
Stiff Gins
Stella One Eleven
Epizo Bangoura & African Express
DJ Akaash
Psycho Zydeco
Dwight "Chocolate" Escobar
Kaha
Kavisha Mazzella

Olympic Arts Festival opens

20 August 2000

SYDNEY — In the chill before day break, a crowd assembled on the beach of La Perouse near Botany Bay. At first light, they witnessed the performance of Tubowgule (pronounced ty-bah-gule) or The Meeting of the Waters.
This was the first of three performances in a day-long indigenous Australian welcoming ceremony, ushering in the Sydney 2000 Olympic Arts Festival.
The historic beach, steeped in significance as the first point of contact for Australia's original inhabitants and European settlers, provided a stage for Aboriginal singer and actor Deborah Cheetham.
Local indigenous musicians playing traditional instruments around a campfire accompanied her haunting tones. A raft fashioned from branches and leaves was ceremoniously lit offshore signalling a dramatic end to the first performance.
The second took place at noon in the Botanical Gardens of central Sydney. The gardens were once a place of male initiation for the Kayimai (now known as Manly) people.
Treated to a lively display of ceremonial dance, spectators were submerged in the magical rhythms of painted performers and the raw sounds of indigenous Australian instruments. This ceremony paid respect to the ancestral traditions in ceremonial performance of dance, body painting, storytelling and sculpture.
As dusk set in, the third and most spectacular of the welcoming ceremonies came alive on the steps of the Sydney Opera House at Bennelong Point.
In the presence of Aboriginal elders, the air reverberated with the deep, melodic dirge of the didgeridoo and was permeated with the sweet aroma of burning eucalyptus from 44 gallon drums.
This performance of Tubowgule fused ancient and modern indigenous cultures in a banquet of dreamlike dance, music and traditional singing, as different saltwater clans came together in the Opera House forecourt.
Stephen Page, the artistic director and choreographer of Sydney's Bangarra Dance Theatre directed the fabulous, climactic finale, echoing the traditions of Sydney's original saltwater people.
The three welcoming ceremonies showcased the spiritual richness of Australia's indigenous culture, a perfect way to usher in what promises to be a unique and electric Arts Festival.
Consider the Sydney 2000 Olympic Arts Festival welcomed.