So this whole thing started last Thursday when I was scrolling through Olympic clips on my feed and randomly caught Benjamin Bernheim singing at some opening ceremony. Got me wondering – how many times has this dude actually performed at Olympics? Felt like digging deeper.
The Plan & First Steps
First I just threw together a rough list of Olympic events Bernheim might’ve been in. Grabbed my laptop around 9 PM after dinner, cracked open a cola, and started scouring official Olympic YouTube channels and old news reports. Had like ten browser tabs open at once – total chaos.
Quickly realized finding exact performance dates was gonna suck. Some ceremonies only showed him for 30 seconds in group segments. Spent hours comparing grainy footage from like the 2014 Sochi Winter Games and Paris 2024 clips. My eyes were crossing by midnight.
The Sorting Mess
Ended up with eight potential performances. Needed to cut it down to five. My criteria was simple:
- Had to be solo or featured moments (not just background chorus)
- Clear video proof – no “my cousin said he was there” stuff
- Moments that gave actual goosebumps
Man, cutting three was painful. That Vancouver 2010 clip almost made it – beautiful voice but the camera work was so shaky you’d get motion sickness. Axed it.
Putting It Together
Started editing Friday afternoon. Wanted short punchy highlights so I:
- Cropped each performance to under 90 seconds
- Added bold captions with event/year
- Threw in crowd reaction shots between verses
Biggest headache? Tokyo 2020 footage had some dumb watermark right over his face. Used this free watermark remover that barely worked – took like six tries per frame. Wasted three hours on that alone. Should’ve just left it.
Final Stretch
Rendered everything Saturday morning. Watched it back while eating cereal – not bad! Uploaded to my channel thinking “Eh, maybe 200 views”. Then went grocery shopping.
Got home to 47 notifications. Some opera buffs were tearing apart my rankings in comments – “How dare you put Beijing before London!” Others actually corrected two dates I got wrong. Made quick fixes and pinned those comments. Crisis averted.
What I’d Change Next Time
Honestly? Should’ve:
- Saved clips locally first instead of streaming – buffering killed me
- Not trusted sketchy watermark tools
- Checked fan forums earlier for setlist details
But hey – hit 5k views by Sunday night. Bernheim himself even liked the tweet where I shared it. Pretty stoked about that.
Moral of the story? Olympic archives are messy, free software usually sucks, and opera fans don’t play around. Would still do it all again though – those high notes in my headphones made the headache worth it.
