If the 2010 Olympics has brought one good free event to Vancouver so far, this was it. Stephen Colbert, host of The Colbert Report, taped his first Olympics-themed episode today in Creekside Park, Vancouver, just minutes away from the Athlete’s Village.
Colbert was greeted by a sea of red mittens and both American and Canadian flags.
Advertised to start at 9:15 am, the show didn’t begin taping until 10:30. And while the line-up began well before 6 am, the shoddy queue management (by Colbert’s security, park rangers, and, for some reason, the VANOC smurfs) meant that audience members who arrived late got much closer to the stage than those who (in their very orderly Canadian-way) waited their turn in the self-formed line. My advice for tomorrow is, unless there is a major change in how they handle the crowd, you shouldn’t bother showing up too early.
Before the show began, Mr. Colbert joked around with the audience and even had his own Olympic torch handoff from an audience member. He deadpanned, “you’re never going to see this thing again”.
His first guest was Michael Buble (Celine Dion without the white jumpsuit, he called Buble). They sang a duet consisting of the words of the Canadian national anthem set to the music of the American national anthem.
His second guest was Mike Eruzione, who scored the winning goal against Russia in the ’86 hockey finals.
The final guest was Bob Costas. They shared a few roasted marshmallows and after the interview, at the crowd’s request, Mr. Costas rode the moose.
