Hockey Night in Canada production trailer graphic from the National Post

The National Post's Graeme Hamilton has a feature piece on the behind-the-scenes technical production of a Hockey Night in Canada broadcast. It focuses on what happens inside the high-definition trailer (specifically, the rapid change of camera angles and the rush to get instant replays on air).

It includes the graphic above, which looks at the layout of the trailer and the positioning of the dozens of cameras in a given arena.

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UPDATE: CBC has posted the announcement, new theme and a season intro montage in Quicktime format.

With the new theme comes new intro graphics as well. This season, rather than go the classic route of showing hits, goals and saves, CBC has gotten its computer graphics department on overdrive, recreating classic moves so they could look at them from impossible angles (even simulating Bobby Orr's Stanley Cup-winning goal, which created the best sports photo of all time). Unfortunately, this kind of computer animation still has a long way to go, and it just ends up looking like they're showing scenes from EA's NHL 09 video game.

Meanwhile, on RDS, the original Hockey Theme reigns. They paid a lot more for it, and their re-recording doesn't sound as good as the most recent CBC version, but it still sounds better. It's still the one with that special place in our hearts.

Real Canadiens fans have been watching RDS for years now. Even Leafs fans have moved to TSN or Rogers SportsNet. Many people I know turn to CBC to watch the opening theme and switch to RDS for the play-by-play.

Now, with the hockey theme on RDS, does Hockey Night in Canada have any purpose anymore?

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Canada's second national anthem should not be performed by Simple Plan. Period. (UPDATE: It's worse than I thought)

And as for you CBC, don't think you're so awesome what with your conflicts of interest and potentially putting your anthemical future in the hands of a 13-year-old.  (He's one of the two finalists)

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In order to help you visualize them, CBC has set the songs to video of the HNIC opening (even including the "Hello Canada and hockey fans in the United States and Newfoundland" voice intro). In all of them, the absence of the old theme is jarring, especially next to familiar video.

Here are some thoughts of mine off the top of my head for the five semifinalists. I'm not a music expert (but I know a few who will no doubt chip in), so don't take these as gospel because I have no clue what I'm talking about.

(Warning: CBC forces you to watch the same stupid Bell ad before each video. Sorry.)

1. Ice Warriors (by Gerry Mosby): A complicated melody, but without any climax. It sounds like a good part of a song, but it's missing the rest. Even as a fan of rock music, the guitar really threw me off. It belongs in a 70s album, not on the Hockey Night theme.

2. Sticks to the Ice (by Robert Fraser Burke): This one builds energy, and the professional arrangement is a huge improvement over a 13-year-old on a piano. But it's still lacking. Just when you think it's going to hit you hard, it sulks back into a melody that doesn't seem to go anywhere.

3. Eleventh Hour (by Graham McRae): McRae is a skilled composer, and this one doesn't lack for energy. He seems to really get the point. CBC's orchestral recording of it seems a bit muted though, especially compared to McRae's original. The melody in this one is my favourite, but that doesn't necessarily seal the deal.

4. Let the Game Begin (by Christian St. Roch & Jimmy Tanaka): This contribution from two Montrealers echoes the original in a non-copyright-infringing way. Similar use of instruments. It is very successful at building energy and anticipation, and best of all it doesn't waste any time getting there (this is, after all, a minute-long intro, not a three-minute song). It has punch, but the theme gets a bit repetitive. Still, if your goal is to find as close to the original as possible, this is probably the one for you.

5. Canadian Gold (by Colin Oberst): I like this one, not so much because I think it's better than the rest but mainly because it's so different. It's the only one I think that comes out swinging after it gets going, and has that feeling of raising an army to defeat the enemy. It doesn't sound like it's holding anything back, and it's not as repetitive as the others. It's also more upbeat, almost to the point of cliché, which I think will appeal to less hard-edged hockey fans. But I could do without the bagpipes.

All five are works worthy of praise, and the CBC chose well. I don't think any of them nail it 100%, but they surprise me with their quality (I had earlier suggested the contest might not be worth it). The fact that there were close to 15,000 entries is kind of astonishing.

Voting closes at 11:59pm Tuesday. Two finalists will be announced Thursday, and then the winner will be on the Hockey Night in Canada premiere on Saturday.

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Here it is (MP3). TSN also has a story with video about the new theme.

Perhaps I should wait until it actually goes on air, or maybe it's just my computer, but it sounds like elevator music compared to the rough-and-tumble CBC version.

The press release, which says it "revisits the original 1968 version" also gives plenty of praise for how awesome they think it is:

We’ve taken great pride in blending the heritage of the song with the best digital technology available, creating a stunning rendition sure to resonate with hockey fans across the country.

Colour me unimpressed.

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Then, in June, all that changed when CTV announced it had acquired the rights to the theme from its original composer, who was still involved in contractual disputes with CBC over the terms of its license.

The CBC, left with its pants around its ankles, dusted off Plan B: Run a contest to find its replacement.

A contest to replace the most epic song in Canadian history. No problem.

The CBC's Anthem Challenge, which has been promoted endlessly in order to drive up interest, has been surprisingly successful at doing so. Thousands of submissions each take a legitimate shot at being the theme's successor, mostly by trying to copy it with slightly different notes.

Some come close to what you'd expect the winner to sound like, but are still missing that punch that truly gets you ready for a hockey game. They might sound more appropriate for a Megaman level than a hockey show.

Others miss the beat entirely, spanning the range of genres from cheesy '80s sitcom themes, elevator music, electronic music, pop songs, even cheesier pop songs with lame lyrics, Randy Bachman, and other types of music entirely inappropriate for a hockey show theme.

Some include annoying personal introductions, others repeat the same chords over and over, or include sounds of people cheering.

Considering all these people got paid exactly $0 for the submissions, they're not bad.

But these were the most popular ones. Imagine the ones that sucked.

The big question I have here is: Is this the kind of thing that should be trusted to Joe Schmo next door? Claman was a professional, not some person they picked off the street. Why should we think that amateurs would do a better job this time, clinging to the faint hope that maybe they might be the one lucky one out of thousands to win the $100,000 grand prize and get all the fame and glory that comes from not having the right to play your own song because you've signed away the copyright?

It's perhaps partly to prove this point that a member of Something Awful posted "Hockey Scores," a collection of random annoying sounds designed to sound as bad as possible, and encouraged others to vote for it. Because Something Awful is so powerful, the song rocketed to the top, where it sits as the most popular, most viewed and most commented entry.

That has garnered the attention of mainstream media, its blogs and even the CBC itself, which points out that the number of votes is not the only factor it must use according to the rules in determining the semifinalists that will be presented to the nation in October (though it will likely be the determining factor in choosing finalists from those semifinalists, and then the winner from the finalists).

But little of that coverage is mentioning the larger issue: When rich media organizations "crowdsource"  something that's going to make them a lot of money, expecting people to work for free, they're just begging to get a bunch of crap.

Something Awful just helped the process along a bit.

The contest continues to accept entries until Aug. 31. Semifinalists will be aired and voted on by the public in the beginning of October.

UPDATE (Aug. 9): The Globe has a piece on the contest, which of course includes not a single link to all the entries it talks about, nor the contest itself.

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As a side note, I've noticed that mainstream media websites, when talking about the Hockey Night theme, have been linking to a version of it on YouTube which was clearly infringing on copyright. Later, when some of these same media websites talked about the Colbert Report talking about the Hockey Night in Canada theme, they linked to another YouTube video, which was also infringing on copyright. (Both those videos have since been taken down.) Is it appropriate for media websites to be promoting content they know to be infringing on other people's copyright?

UPDATE: Scott Moore, the executive director of CBC TV sports, has a post up about the HNIC theme and the responses he's gotten about it.

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It shows, I think, that the CBC vastly underestimated people's connection with the song, and wants to do everything it can to save it.

UPDATE: Looks like it's closer to dead again. CBC negotiators aren't very optimistic.

UPDATE: CTV has just announced it secured rights to the song and plans to use it on TSN (and RDS). Wow.

UPDATE (June 12): Thank you Stephen Colbert. (CTV owns the Canadian rights to the Colbert Report through the CTV and Comedy networks, so he's actually being half-serious about licensing the song.)

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NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!

Sad. (UPDATE: Or not?)

(Need an emergency fix?)

The fact that politicians are getting involved in this (if only by commenting out loud) really gets me. Yeah, we're emotionally attached to it, but it's not as if the Parliamentary Library is burning down here.

UPDATE (June 6): It's over. Negotiations have fallen through and CBC is launching a $100,000 contest to find a replacement. Good luck with that.

Some suggestions for replacement songs. Or, if you haven't given up yet, the inevitable Facebook group. Or two. Or three. Or four. Or five. Or six. Or seven. Or eight. Or nine. Or ten. Or ... holy crap! There are 204 other groups for this! Plus the HNIC fan page, and the petition to bring in that Stompin' Tom song instead.

UPDATE (June 7): Really? CBC ices Hockey Night theme? The puck's stopped here? These are the best headlines you could come up with?

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Just as the St. John's Telegram sings his praises (the article is reprinted in today's Gazette), comes the unconfirmed-but-they're-really-sure-about-it news from the Globe that the CBC is phasing out veteran play-by-play announcer Bob Cole. This will be his final Stanley Cup broadcast, though he'll stay on for regular-season games next year.

Listening to tonight's game, it's hard to challenge the decision.

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The Globe and Mail (or at least columnist William Houston) seems to have joined the expanding chorus of people who think that Hockey Night in Canada should drop the Toronto Maple Leafs as its default team, since it's second-last in the Eastern conference and playoff prospects look weak.

It's sort of a chicken-and-egg situation with the CBC and Toronto. They show the Leafs nationwide because the Leafs have the stronger fan base. But the Leafs' fan base is largely a result of national telecasts.

I'm not in a position to say what team fans in Winnipeg, Halifax or other non-NHL towns should be watching, but I think the CBC should at least concentrate first on making sure NHL cities can watch their home teams -- particularly Ottawa and Montreal. Sometimes the CBC splits its network up so that happens, but it should be for every Saturday where two Canadian teams are playing.

It's not like cost is such a huge issue -- HNIC is a huge money-maker for the CBC. And even then, I don't care too much about the quality of the broadcast. Hell, they could simulcast RDS unedited and I'm sure cable-less Montreal fans would be perfectly fine with that.

Houston's right: Ottawa is the dominant Canadian team at the moment, and it's going to go much further toward a Stanley Cup this year than Toronto could ever hope to go. At some point CBC is going to have to make the switch.

UPDATE: Wow, it actually worked this time. That was fast.

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