'Va' is the name of the official song for the games, written by the famous singer / songwriter (at least in Italy...) Claudio Baglioni. 'Va' in Italian basically means Go! and the upcoming English version will not surprisingly be titled 'Go'. According to the Toroc, the Torino organizing committee, the song will play a central part in the opening ceremony on the 10th February where the Maestro Baglioni will conducta symphonic orchestra and a choir of 120 singers performing his anthem. He has previously also written the anthem for the Swimming World Championship in 1994 with the song 'Acqua nell'Acqua' (something like 'Water in water') and the Football World Championship in 1998 'Da me a te' ('From me to you').
The question remains though, if the Italians need more than a song to evoke the somewhat lacking passion for the upcoming games. At least they now have an anthem to be inspired by.


VA'
COME MUSICA
CHE CI ILLUMINA
FUOCO DELLA VITA
BAGNA L'ANIMA
LUNGO LA SALITA

Go,
like the music
which illuminates us,
The fire of life
touches the soul
along the climbing road.

As the observant reader may have discovered the song is not particularly revolutionising, but fits nicely into the genre of Olympic Anthems. (I think however, that it lacks clear references to Torino and the Games here, and thus could basically fit any Olympic game!)

You can find the full lyrics after the jump:


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If you're really into the Olympic spirit and can't wait until the BIG torch is lit in Turin in February, at least you cant count down the days by following the Torch Relay. So for your sporting pleasure, find the torch route below with dates:

Olympic Torch Relay Route

Press on the link above to see a popup image where the flame is right now.

Translation key for those of you whose Italian is a bit rusty:
Lunedi - Monday
Martedi - Tuesday
Miercoledi - Wednesday
Giovedi - Thursday
Venerdi - Friday
Sabato - Saturday
Domenica - Sunday

I think many in the organizing committee is releaved now that the Olympic Village is complete and delivered. Many people feared that it wouldn't be finished in time and that we would have Athens 2004 panic spreading all over the city. Though Torino doesn't lack construction sites, where frenetic hammering can be heard from early morning to late night, at least the village is finished and I have to say it looks very nice. In the centre of the city it stretches 90.000 sq.m, and consists of 750 apartments and service buildings in a colourful play with shapes and structures. A walkway will connect the village to the main centre of town, and also be useful after the games when the area will be converted into a ordinary residential area and apartments, and student flats.

For Italians it's the most natural thing in the world. Turin is Torino, Milan is Milano, Rome is Roma, and Naples is Napoli and the list goes on. In general I think it's a good custom to use the local names for places, after all it's the official name. So when Torino 2006 decided to stick with the Torino name and not go for the englishified Turin, I was actually very pleased. In a country where they have adapted so many English words into to language, it was a surprise.

Not that they have a lack of words. They are here in an abundance, in all shapes and forms and Italians love to use them. But as a some kind of twisted tribute to what is considered the efficient English language of international business a lot of words have been replaced. Words like 'part time', 'meeting room', 'manager', 'a must','partnership', 'consultant', 'network', 'magazine', 'pullover', 'travel agency', 'shop' are just a few of the English words used in daily language. All these words have Italian equivalents which for foreign ears have a much better ring to them. 'Tempo parziale', 'sala riunioni', 'direttore', 'un dovere', 'relazioni commerciali' etc. ! I mean WHY? Just the joy and poetivc ring you get by saying these words out loud make the former translations dull like the English weather.

So needless to say, I was astonished (and very happy) to say the least that they ended up with Torino, and not had to caugh up a version for the English language like Athens 2004 did. Enough about this ranting - if you want to read some more about this, have a look at SF Gate's amusing article "You say Torino, I say Turin" (although I completely disagree in what they're saying.)

Rejoice all sports fans - today President Ciampi handed over the torch to the first bearer Stefano Baldini. He's one of the 10.000 torch bearers which will pass through more than 600 towns in the next 64 days leading up to the opening ceremony in Torino the 10th February. It will also make detours into neighbouring countries of San Marino, Slovenia, Austria, Switzerland and France.

The Olympic flame arrived today from Greece and will begin its long journey towards Torino Thursday 8 December at 10.30 local time. In Rome the Olympic Torch will be lit by President Carlo Ciampi and hand it to Stefano Baldini, the winner of the Athens 2004 marathon and one of the 10.000 torchbearers that will carry the flame for the next 64 days and 11.000 kilometres.

The official website for the torch relay has also started a online diary which will follow the journey with a new entry every day for the next two months. Nice!

Finished in the sense that the renovation process at least is said to be done. The stadium, which is from the thirties and in good Italian social spirit was originally called the Stadio Communale, has been host of great football clubs like Torino Calcio and lately Juventus, the leader of the Italian league. This time it will play host to the opening ceremony the 10th and the closing cermony on the 26nd of February.

The renovation includes a new roof and a third ring suspended from the new structure, and addition of more seats (35.000 in total) and stage area. The whole process has taken more than two years and 40 million Euros to complete. Anyway, Torino still looks like a construction site, so in this context I can just say, 1 down and a lot more to go...

The design for the new medals is unveiled and evil tounges have already started to attack the design. According to the organizers the shape is supposed to represent the famous Italian town square, The Piazza, around which Italian city life and culture is revolving. A very nice idea hadn't it been for that this is probably the last image that comes me in mind when I see them.

On the positive side is that they're creative, but pretty? I don' know, and maybe that's not the idea either, but at least they could have tried to transform the Olympic ideal to something different than a bagel.

Olympic Bagels
Olympic Bagels 2

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