60 Years of QLD TV

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Tuesday, May 6, 2008

Expo. Brisbane Style- Part 2 A Worldly View.

(if you have missed Part 1, Click Here!)
This is Part 2 of the Playlist which will be actually divided in to three "mini parts". The first is "Expo through The World's Eyes" which talks about the international media and Expo (and gives you a look at what Australia is through the eyes of a Alaskan news crew which has never been to Australia, who came down to Expo for Alaska's "National Day") The second mini-part is "Expo Memories- Advertising, Pavilions and World Expo Park" The third mini-part is "Expo Remembered- Retrospectives on the Exposition" But lets start first with Alaska's contribution.

Part 2.1- Expo Through The World's Eyes.

World Expo 88 was a televisual spectacle just as much as it was a spectacle to visitors. This event showcased to Australians new television technology (in this case Japan offered the Australian debut of HDTV) which has become part of our lives in the 21st century. 800 million people were estimated to have watched the opening ceremony on April 30 1988. Australia showed the world that we could host large groups of overseas media, some for the entire six months of Expo and some for the "national days" in which we would prove again twelve years later in Sydney for the 2000 Olympics. On September 20 1988 it was Alaska's turn for its national day.
Alaska Day Special opener-> http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=nhQJDhKTwkU
Alaska Day Part 1 ->http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=ivE0SJqWWfQ
Alaska Day Part 2 ->http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=KCVUt_iB_Ug
Alaska Day Part 3 ->http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=EyEqqX2Kgjo

Part 2.2-Expo Memories-Advertising,Pavilions and World Expo Park.

One of the official sponsors of Expo 88 was Fuji Film (which brought to Expo a state of the art photo studio for processing 1 hour photos). They ran a competition in early 1988 with a trip to Expo as first prize. Fuji Film Expo commercial ->http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=DziHYHgi04A

Another Expo memory was the British Pavilion, which had a live show performing some hits from cockney musicals from London's West End, in particular, Me and My Girl.
British Pavilion Show -> http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=seeo_ITfllo
Lambeth Walk from same show ->http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=gWzw6gCjPng

The USA Pavilion had a gymnastics team flown in (to go with the Expo's theme "Leisure In the Age Of Technology") , this is a trial performance before they left for Brisbane on the "The Bozo Show" (a childrens program) in Chicago, Illinois.
Illinois World Expo Gymnastics Team on "The Bozo Show" -> http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=4BnqmfBTUs8

Finally, World Expo Park was the Expo's theme park which had three rollercoasters and was intended to be a permanant attraction, but World Expo Park shut down in late 1989 with Centrifuge (a suspended coaster) and Supernova (a indoor coaster) being sold overseas and Titan stayed in the country for 15 years longer. Titan was a Vekoma boomerang coaster (meaning that it goes up and through the inversions and the station twice before stopping and it was not a complete track), Titan was eventually sold to Australia's Wonderland in Sydney and in 1992 was reborn as "The Demon". As the Demon it stayed in Sydney until 2004, when it was moved after Wonderland shut down to Alabama in the US and was re-christened, "Zoomerang".
Titan/The Demon/Zoomerang computer-generated onride footage
->http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=FguBAfvEswU

Part 2.3 Expo Remembered-Retrospectives of the Exposition

Expo 88 will be remembered for so many reasons, whether it was the fun, the monorail, the free concerts, the pavilions or even the infamous Bavarian "pavilion". The first retrospective came just a year later from QTQ-9, during it's 30th birthday celebrations as part of a segment on Brisbane events.
QTQ 30th Birthday Brisbane Events segment 16/8/1989 -> http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=b2F9mlz5grQ

Quest Newspapers put together this photo montage for the 20th anniversary which is very relevant.

Thank you to the various Youtube uploaders of this footage, hopefully we may get some more for (hopefully) a Part 3!

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