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| A copy of cover of Anderson's world famous
fairy-tale "The Ugly Duckling"
(baidu) |
A gala event titled "Once Upon a Time" drew some 40,000 people to
Denmark's national stadium and hundreds of millions more to their TV
screens Friday evening to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the birth of
Danish fairy-tale writer Hans Christian Andersen.
Having fascinated generations of children with tales like "The
Emperor's New Clothes" and "The Ugly Duckling," Andersen was honored with
a right royal birthday party attended by celebrities from all over the
world and royal members from many European countries.
Among the many celebrities were British actor Roger Moore, Chilean
author Isabel Allende, US singer Harry Belafonte and Chinese basketball
star Yao Ming.
People who came to the concert were each given a red book- shaped
cushion printed with the words "Once Upon a Time" and a passage from
Andersen's works inside.
The concert starred world-class entertainers such as US soul singer
Tina Turner, French musician Jean-Michel Jarre and British- born Olivia
Newton-John.
Many artists from around the globe demonstrated
their imagination of Andersen's fairy
tales
. With high-tech electronic musical equipment and
laser beams, Jarre amazed the audience as he reinvented Andersen's tale
"Shadow."
An acrobatics troupe from China's northeastern city of Shenyang staged
Andersen's tale "Nightingale," telling a story about a Chinese emperor and
a singing bird with elegant and incredible performance.
The gala concert was the climax of the three-day "Andersen Weekend"
starting from Friday in Denmark, where people showed such mania for
Andersen that his images are seen everywhere, from coins, posters, beer
labels, to clothes.
Similar celebrations are also expected in many other parts of the world
for the talented story teller, who was born in 1805 in Odense, Denmark.
(Xinhua) | 
Updated: 2005-04-04 10:23
