Logo, Official Song and Mascot of The Championship
A Public contest was introduced to create the logo for the competition. 49 designs were presented initially to the organizers and the best 3 were sent to FIBA Europe, which selected the winning design. The author of it was designer Kęstutis Koira. The EuroBasket 2011 logo was unveiled on 24 January 2009 in Cido Arena, Panevėžys, during the final game of the Lithuanian Basketball Federation Cup. It displays the Columns of Gediminas overlaid on a backboard.
Lithuania is the first host country of EuroBasket to have an official EuroBasket song. A song Celebrate basketball written by Marijonas Mikutavičius and performed by Mia, Mantas Jankavičius and Marijonas Mikutavičius was chosen by a televoting in Lithuania. There are two versions of the song – in Lithuanian and English. Later, another version was added – "Nebetyli sirgaliai" (lit. The Fans are no Longer Quiet).
The mascot of the championship was Amberis. Its head was in the form and color of a piece of amber. The name "Amberis" is a pormanteau of the English word "Amber" and the Lithuanian nominative case masculine gender ending "is". The real word for "Amber" in Lithuanian is "Gintaras". There was an Amberis in every arena and quite frequently there were more than a single Amberis at a time interacting with each other as well as spectators. On the screens in the arenas a "legend" was shown where a piece of amber was given by a coach to a young basketball player to bring him luck and this piece turned into Amberis.
Read more about this topic: FIBA Euro Basket 2011
Famous quotes containing the words official and/or song:
“All official institutions of language are repeating machines: school, sports, advertising, popular songs, news, all continually repeat the same structure, the same meaning, often the same words: the stereotype is a political fact, the major figure of ideology.”
—Roland Barthes (1915–1980)
“Death could drop from the dark
As easily as song—
But song only dropped,”
—Isaac Rosenberg (1890–1918)