Japanese pop diva Sheena Ringo will serve as a production consultant for the flag handover ceremony at this summer’s Rio de Janeiro Olympics, Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic organizers said following an executive board meeting on Monday.
Sheena was one of eight named to an advisory panel to help produce the eight-minute segment to be held during the closing ceremony at the Maracana for the Rio Olympics on Aug. 21 and the Paralympics on Sept. 18.
“I hope to fulfill my job as a consultant in helping showcase Tokyo as well as Japan (to the world),” Sheena, who wrote the official song for the NHK broadcast of soccer’s 2014 World Cup in Brazil, said in a statement..
Joining the chart-topping singer-songwriter on the consulting team are choreographer Mikiko, former synchronized swimming Olympian and Tokyo Games ambassador Mikako Kotani as well as Paralympic shooter Aki Taguchi.
“It will be a tall order to squeeze everything into eight minutes,” Tokyo 2020 President Yoshiro Mori said. “But I hope we can offer some highlights about Japan that will give the world an idea of what our country is up to.”
“Something like this cannot be left to amateurs. We need experts as well as those who have experienced the Olympics and Paralympics to get this right.”
The organizing committee on Monday also rubber-stamped the expected appointment of Panasonic Corp. President Kazuhiro Tsuga as vice president to replace Toyota Motor Corp. chief Akio Toyoda, who stepped down last month.
