[5] The opening ceremony was dedicated by the Vancouver Organizing Committee (VANOC) to Nodar Kumaritashvili, a Georgian luger who had died earlier in the day in a training run.

In an interview published on December 15, 2010, John Furlong, the CEO of VANOC revealed that Celine Dion had been contracted to sing the national anthem at the Opening Ceremony.

As a result, the artist refused to allow VANOC access to his music's rights and the organizing committee had to replan the final segment of the cultural part of the ceremony.

At 5:59 (PST), a PA system announced that the opening ceremony would be dedicated in memory of the Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili, who had died in a training accident earlier that day.

[10] Giant video screens[11] showed Canadian snowboarder Johnny Lyall sliding down a mountain slope, with the dates and locations of previous Winter Olympic games were recalled in voiceover.

Four Coast Salish welcome poles were raised from the centre of the stadium, and greetings were given to the crowd (and the world) by members of the Four Host First Nations in their respective languages as well as English and French.

The nations entered in alphabetic order of their country names in English because it is the more dominant of the two languages in Vancouver and in the province of British Columbia.

The team from Georgia was greeted with a standing ovation out of respect for their colleague, Nodar Kumaritashvili, who died in a luge accident earlier that day.

[10] The cultural section of the Opening Ceremony was titled "The Landscape of a Dream" whose purpose was to celebrate the diverse geography and people of Canada.

A Tribute to Northern Canada After Nelly Furtado and Bryan Adams had finished their performance, snow began to fall throughout the stadium.

A lone boy, Thomas Saulgrain (L'École Nationale de Cirque) stood in the centre of the floor in a square of wheat field.

[19] A George Vancouver quote was read by Donald Sutherland, and skiers and snowboarders hung from wires to simulate going down the artificial mountains.

The opening remarks began with Jacques Rogge, President of the IOC, who offered sympathy for the loss of Georgian luge athlete, Nodar Kumaritashvili.

Former hockey star Bobby Orr; musician Anne Murray; Formula One champion Jacques Villeneuve; Betty Fox, the mother of cancer research champion Terry Fox; actor Donald Sutherland; gold medal figure skater Barbara Ann Scott; UNAMIR commander Roméo Dallaire; and Julie Payette, Canadian astronaut, carried the flag into the stadium.

Afterwards, a minute of silence was observed for the Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili's death, during which time both the Canadian and Olympic flags were lowered to half-mast.

[10][22] Upon learning of Kumaritashvili's death, the Governor General of Canada-in-Council ordered flags on federal government buildings throughout the province of British Columbia, including at all Olympic venues, flown at half-mast until midnight, February 13, 2010.

[10] Le May Doan, Nash, Greene, and Gretzky then made their way to their four pre-determined locations on the stadium floor to await the raising of the cauldron.

James Moore, the Minister of Canadian Heritage, and Quebec Premier Jean Charest[52] both expressed disappointment in the limited amount of French content during the ceremony.

The Canadian Commissioner of Official Languages, Graham Fraser, was of the impression that the event was "developed, perceived and presented in English with a French song."

[53] VANOC, however, defended the case and said that they had made "a very deliberate focus and effort to ensure a strong celebration of Quebec culture and language.

In Canada, this ceremony aired on the CTV Television Network and 10 other channels (all part of a CTV-Rogers media consortium), in a total of 11 languages.