Glitz before glory
Let Pan Am Games begin

WINNIPEG -- Forget Ricky Martin or Celine Dion. Winnipeg chanteuse Chantal Kreviazuk will open the 1999 Pan American Games with the singing of O Canada.

Games organizers were still playing coy yesterday about Kreviazuk's performance -- continuing weeks of speculation about big-name stars such as Martin and Dion -- but the 26-year-old Kreviazuk confirmed she will sing the national anthem at tomorrow's opening ceremonies at Winnipeg Stadium, which also include appearances by Princess Anne, the Snowbirds, Broadway star Jeremy Kushnier and prima ballerina Evelyn Hart.

"I am excited," says Kreviazuk, who's back in her hometown for a couple of weeks and will give a free concert Aug. 7 at The Forks. "It's really special that the city thought of me and feels that I'm the best person to open the games on that level. I'm really, really honored. I wouldn't have missed it for the world."

Kreviazuk made headlines more than three years ago when Sony Music signed the then-unknown singer/songwriter to one of the largest initial recording contracts in Canadian history. The result was her successful debut album Under These Rocks And Stones, which produced such hit singles as God Made Me and Surrounded.

Kreviazuk says she isn't entirely sure of what's expected from her tomorrow, only that "it sounds pretty elaborate."

"I'm going down to rehearsal (today) and I'll see what it's all about. I know that I'm singing the anthem, but apparently it's going to be quite a to-do, so I'm going to have to go and find out where I belong in the whole situation," she adds, with a laugh.

Here's a look at tomorrow's Pan Am extravaganza, designed to "welcome the world" to the prairie city where the Americas have finally come to play.

* The Arrival: It's not nearly as Twilight Zone as it sounds. It's the start of the show, the first of four "segments" in which Princess Anne and other dignitaries will be seated in the stadium, followed by 5,000 athletes parading with the flags and colours of their respective countries.

* The Welcome: Featuring about 900 local performers, including the Royal Winnipeg Ballet and Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, this section features a major music-and-dance production number titled Heart Of The Continent, a work that celebrates Manitoba's changing seasons.

This segment also includes Kreviazuk singing O Canada, a "fly-by" by the Snowbirds, an address by games chair Sandy Reilly and greetings from Buckingham Palace delivered by Princess Anne. Whether Kreviazuk sings the anthem by herself or with others, one thing is certain: she won't be asked to perform any of her own songs.

"There isn't really a place for an artist to do their own material," executive producer Larry Desrochers explains. "It didn't fit in with the theme we were trying to achieve."

* The Games: Delving into the "sporting aspect" of Pan Am, the third component features the raising of the PASO flag (Pan American Sports Organization) and another production number titled Go For Gold. Employing several singers, a gospel choir and 600 performers, the Victor Davies composition chronicles a young athlete's struggle for excellence in sport.

* The Flame: Here's where office poolies can settle those contests about the "top-secret mystery" guest who'll light the Pan Am torch. But before his or her identity is revealed, more than two dozen Winnipeg folk arts groups will perform City Of The Plains, a tribute to the people who built River City. The number is followed by the arrival of the torch -- to fire up a gigantic bronze cauldron which will burn 24 hours a day for the entire games.

Desrochers says games organizers are also enjoying all the speculation surrounding the lighting of the torch.

"It's great. It's so funny. We have lots of running gags around here," he says, with a chuckle, refusing to give odds on suggested participants, including hockey hero Wayne Gretzky. "We can't breathe a word to anyone."

Performing throughout the ceremonies will be Kushnier, who is filling the Kevin Bacon movie role in the Broadway production of Footloose, Jennifer Lyon, who starred in The Who's Tommy and, more recently, in Prairie Theatre Exchange's Jacques Brel Is Alive And Well And Living In Paris and singers Marcel Soulodre, Jennifer Villaverde and Rosalie Rattai.

By: Riva Harrison