Olympic Ceremony - Impressions Outside UK

[IvoryTowerDenizen]

Originally Posted by MsWhatsit

I thought it was fabulous, start to finish. It was uniquely British and didn't try to mimic the look or feel of any other opening ceremonies. The Beijing ceremony had more "shock and awe" but there was no humor in it. This ceremony had tons, and in addition to that I thought that the way the cauldron was lit was very beautiful and moving. Really, really first-rate.

I thought, simply, it had personality. You don't see many ceremonies with personality! I liked it a lot! I thought the cauldron lighting was wonderful!

ETA: frankly, an opening ceremony that celebrated children's literature? I swoon.

[asterion]

It was different. Good in places, dragged in others. I've watched some of it on rebroadcast on the 3D channel and it did look pretty. It's also much more pleasant to watch without idiot talking heads.

[ralph124c]

Originally Posted by Loach

I don't normally comment on fashion. But those stupid berets are worse than I thought. Kobe Bryant looked like he should have had a baguette under his arm.

Yep..they look like the berets sported by the Griswold family in "European Vacation"

[Antigen]

I had to mute my TV during the five solid minutes of "na na na na .... na na na na ...hey juuuude". What an irritating song choice. And, man, the Queen could not have looked more annoyed and bored. Couldn't even crack a smile when declaring the Games open?

Although this puts it in perspective.

[minlokwat]

This is based solely on the NBC broadcast but there was TOO…MUCH…TALKING. It’s the Commentators Who Can’t Stop Commentating (sic) Show.

It was as if they couldn’t help themselves. I mean, you have a random cut to the queen and one of them has to pipe in with “Oooh, look there’s the queen!” Like, no freakin’ duh.

Especially bad was Costas who remarkably manages to be both understated and verbose at the same time.

In light of the 40 year anniversary of the ’72 games and the should- they-/shouldn’t-they do something during the opening ceremony issue, word was that Costas was going to go rogue for a moment and had something in store as a means of a silent protest.

What does he do? Blather incessantly as the Israeli athletes march by providing a wholly unoriginal commentary on what happened at the Munich games. God, a moment of silence couldn’t have been more welcome.

[Bozuit]

Originally Posted by Hippy Hollow

The Daniel Craig/HRH skit

HM (Her/His Majesty) not HRH (Her/His Royal Highness)! HRH is for princes and princesses.

[Alka Seltzer]

Was the NBC coverage all that was available in the states? If so, they cut out the section which was basically a tribute to the 7/7 victims to interview Michael Phelps. In case you didn't know, the bombs went off a day after it was announced that London was awarded the Olympics.

[Loach]

Originally Posted by Confused dart cum

lets just say it will make sense if you watch to the end...

I did. It was the best part of the ceremony. Beautiful.

Originally Posted by AK84

It did not match up to Beijing. Or even Sydney. It was an amusing little look at a stereotyped Britain (NHS? Seriously?) and while there were some excellent bits in it, the forging of the rings for instance and the lighting ceremony actually managed to top Beijings, generally not that good.



BTW, what the hell is it with the US's uniforms and the berets? Is it another example of Support our Troops (TM)?

Do not equate those flour sacks with army berets. A soldier takes great pride and goes through a lot of effort to make sure their beret looks nothing like it. Do you think army berets look like they do right out of the store? This was just a stupid fashion choice by Ralph Lauren.

[WarmNPrickly]

Originally Posted by JohnT

That was awesome. Completely bizarre and unexpected. I kept hoping for a Doctor Who shout-out, but it was not to be...

There was a Tardis sound briefly during Bohemian Rhapsody. It was very brief and easy to miss.

[Fake Tales of San Francisco]

Originally Posted by Lasciel

Am I the only one who was seeing visions of Mordor and Isengard and the Scouring of the Shire during the whole forging of the rings set-up? Husband and I were all like OK, when the giant eye pops up and starts frying people, we've got to turn this thing off.

That's probably because Lord of the Rings is pretty much set in the Britain, Yorkshire = the Shire, etc. And the industrial revolution was a direct inspiration for Tolkein. Whenever I read the books or watch the movies it's the other way round for me - I see visions of Britain's history in Mordor and Isengard. I like to think it was a nod to LotR though.

Originally Posted by PandaBear77

I can't believe they highlighted their socialized medicine of all things ... I mean, REALLY? A billion things to love about Britain and years to plan and they came up with that??

Um, it has nothing to do with 'socialised' medicine (christ, are people still on about that?). The NHS is one of our most prized possessions. And it's one of the most important things that came out of the aftermath of the second world war. It may baffle Americans who have a peculiar relationship with their healthcare system from my perspective, but it makes absolute perfect sense when the whole ceremony was basically a series of important landmarks that changed British society.

[Loach]

Originally Posted by Fake Tales of San Francisco

That's probably because Lord of the Rings is pretty much set in the Britain, Yorkshire = the Shire, etc. And the industrial revolution was a direct inspiration for Tolkein. Whenever I read the books or watch the movies it's the other way round for me - I see visions of Britain's history in Mordor and Isengard. I like to think it was a nod to LotR though.




Um, it has nothing to do with 'socialised' medicine (christ, are people still on about that?). The NHS is one of our most prized possessions. And it's one of the most important things that came out of the aftermath of the second world war. It may baffle Americans who have a peculiar relationship with their healthcare system from my perspective, but it makes absolute perfect sense when the whole ceremony was basically a series of important landmarks that changed British society.

He was also greatly influenced by his horrific experiences during WWI.

It might be an important landmark to you but doesn't jump out as something that would make an interesting visual spectical. And it didn't.

[Coustralee]

it was very english.. at times it was like watching songs of praise.

the forging of the rings bit looked impressive.. I"m not sure that in those days the population was so racially diverse though.

I laughed at the dancing punks bit... and rowan atkinson - but missed most of it thinking it was just music.

the bond bit was silly and things didnt reall seem to flow. continually showing the pre-recorded bits was very annoying...

[olivesmarch4th]

I thought it was great. It seemed like they embraced early on that there way no way to top China, and so it had its own uniquely British character. The choice to include humor was so pitch perfect. Mr. Bean was hilarious. I loved the industrial revolution becomes olympic rings thing. I loved the glowing doves on bicycles. During the course of the opening ceremonies I cried five times. I'm just a sap like that.

Originally Posted by SurrenderDorothy

Paul McCartney is old and not sounding good and this Hey Jude thing is not working for me. I liked the show overall, though. It was definitely kind of bizarre, but captivating and fun. I thought the cauldron was super cool, though.

According to the commentators, he was really choked up, which probably affected his sound quality. Personally I thought he did great, he seemed so comfortable up there and really, it's hard to think of anything more British than the Beatles. I thought the song choice was perfect, because it has lines like ''you're waiting for someone to perform with'' and ''the movement you need is on your shoulder.''

Originally Posted by Loach

Do not equate those flour sacks with army berets. A soldier takes great pride and goes through a lot of effort to make sure their beret looks nothing like it. Do you think army berets look like they do right out of the store? This was just a stupid fashion choice by Ralph Lauren.

Those were really terrible outfits. I don't know what the hell they were thinking.

[MsRobyn]

I missed the ceremony last night. Is there a playlist or sequence or whatever online so I can watch it in order?

[Simple Linctus]

Originally Posted by Coustralee

the forging of the rings bit looked impressive.. I"m not sure that in those days the population was so racially diverse though.

It's nowhere near that racially diverse now except in London and a couple of northern towns (which are not really diverse so much as two populations that hate one another). That is one other thing that made it great, it is REALLY annoying a bunch of "political correctness gone mad" wanker retired colonels.

[Shakes]

Clearly a disaster. 2 of 6's balloons did not pop. It ruined the whole show.

[lawoot]

I noticed during the opening video, when they were tracing the Thames from its source, that there was a bit of animation thrown in, showing Rat and Mole (from The Wind in The Willows) in their rowing boat (which flipped over as the camera went by), and Mr Toad watching wide eyed from the bridge overhead.

[DMark]

We kinda found it boring.
Sorry, but you asked.

It wasn't embarrassingly bad, just a bit tedious and plodding.

Not being a fan of Mr. Bean, that was far too long and stupid for my tastes.

The young couple story was pointless.

I know Muhammad Ali is not only an American sports icon, but world-wide as well. Still, I was a bit mystified why he was brought in to the British ceremony, especially considering his health is obviously not good at all and it seemed almost cruel to parade him out there.

Logistically, that Olympic cauldron, is that supposed to stay in the middle of the stadium for the next weeks? Won't that sort of get in the way of events planned there? Seems an odd location to put it smack dab in the middle of a stadium and not up and off to the side/top or something.

Considering the age of most of the athletes, picking grandpa McCartney to sing some old hit these kids have only heard on the Golden Oldies radio channels seemed a bit out of touch. Plus he sounded horrible. I would have assumed Adele would have been a better choice - liked by older farts like myself, but at least someone these kids could have been excited about hearing sing.

I think the people who liked this show the best - actually, who LOVED this show beyond words - were the executives at MGM who are releasing the new James Bond film in November - they couldn't have paid for advertising this grand!

Speaking of film - that house with the snippets of film chosen by Danny Boyle? Really? Those were the best snippets of film he could find for a world-wide audience?

So yeah, I was underwhelmed. Not horrible, but more like watching your neighbor's daughter in her 4th grade school pageant; cute, but irrelevant.

[MsWhatsit]

Originally Posted by DMark

We kinda found it boring.

Who's "we"?

Already said it up-thread, but I thought it was great, including the NHS part.

[Fiendish Astronaut]

It's difficult to take your criticism seriously if you actually believe the cauldron will stay in the centre of the field.

[DMark]

Originally Posted by MsWhatsit

Who's "we"?

"We" = my partner of 31 years and me.

And sorry to piss on the parade, but the OP did ask for opinion on the ceremony, and "we" didn't particularly think it was all that great.

[SanVito]

It astonishes me that anyone could describe it as 'boring'. I watched with a party of 30 people, and we were all mesmerised.

[IvoryTowerDenizen]

Originally Posted by DMark

"We" = my partner of 31 years and me.

And sorry to piss on the parade, but the OP did ask for opinion on the ceremony, and "we" didn't particularly think it was all that great.

It did sound like your "we" was speaking for the "outsiders" in the thread title. As if you were answering the topic generically, not as a specific "we".

[DMark]

Originally Posted by Fiendish Astronaut

It's difficult to take your criticism seriously if you actually believe the cauldron will stay in the centre of the field.

I'll bite. Enlighten me.
So, do they shut off the gas valves and then move it, piece by piece, and re-light it when they move it elsewhere?

[Nava]

I liked it. I liked the choice of going allegorical rather than trying to one-oomph the previous place's oomph, I liked recognizing spots and mental milestones I knew from living in the UK, the fiery rings were spectacular...

Having to listen to the commentary from the TVE people was the worst part, but I'm afraid that tends to be so, and it's most definitely not the Brits' fault. I watched it with my mother, and was able to explain some "but whys" which the TVE reporters had no information on. Recognizing people (heythatsKennethBranagh!), places, music... was cool. I liked it a lot.

[IvoryTowerDenizen]

Originally Posted by DMark

I'll bite. Enlighten me.
So, do they shut off the gas valves and then move it, piece by piece, and re-light it when they move it elsewhere?

Didn't say how, but yes it will be moved:

Organisers, however, said on Saturday it would be moved to the side of the stadium in the coming days -- within view of the 60,000 spectators -- to allow for track and field competitions.

Its new location is a nod to the 1948 Olympics, when London last staged the Games, and the place where the cauldron stood in the old Wembley stadium, cauldron designer Thomas Heatherwick said.

From: http://www.reuters.com/london-olympi...ympic-cauldron

[Hippy Hollow]

Originally Posted by Bozuit

HM (Her/His Majesty) not HRH (Her/His Royal Highness)! HRH is for princes and princesses.

Wonder why NBC didn't show the 7/7 tribute?

[Loach]

Originally Posted by DMark

We kinda found it boring.
Sorry, but you asked.

It wasn't embarrassingly bad, just a bit tedious and plodding.

Not being a fan of Mr. Bean, that was far too long and stupid for my tastes.

The young couple story was pointless.

I know Muhammad Ali is not only an American sports icon, but world-wide as well. Still, I was a bit mystified why he was brought in to the British ceremony, especially considering his health is obviously not good at all and it seemed almost cruel to parade him out there.

Logistically, that Olympic cauldron, is that supposed to stay in the middle of the stadium for the next weeks? Won't that sort of get in the way of events planned there? Seems an odd location to put it smack dab in the middle of a stadium and not up and off to the side/top or something.

Considering the age of most of the athletes, picking grandpa McCartney to sing some old hit these kids have only heard on the Golden Oldies radio channels seemed a bit out of touch. Plus he sounded horrible. I would have assumed Adele would have been a better choice - liked by older farts like myself, but at least someone these kids could have been excited about hearing sing.

I think the people who liked this show the best - actually, who LOVED this show beyond words - were the executives at MGM who are releasing the new James Bond film in November - they couldn't have paid for advertising this grand!

Speaking of film - that house with the snippets of film chosen by Danny Boyle? Really? Those were the best snippets of film he could find for a world-wide audience?

So yeah, I was underwhelmed. Not horrible, but more like watching your neighbor's daughter in her 4th grade school pageant; cute, but irrelevant.

Although I liked it better than you I kind of agree with all of this.

[Declan]

Originally Posted by II Gyan II

Try this video at the Youtube official channel.

Even that comes up as restricted content, im in Canada so il have to check who might have it here and check itunes again.

Declan

[sohvan]

It was a little hit and miss (giant baby and the "love story" for misses for example), but overall I loved it. It was quite unlike most opening ceremonies. I loved how it was more funny, warm and weird than stuffy and serious.

[PrettyVacant]

The concluding para of Danny Boyle's programme notes:

But we hope, too, that through all the noise and excitement you’ll glimpse a single golden thread of purpose – the idea of Jerusalem – of the better world, the world of real freedom and true equality, a world that can be built through the prosperity at industry, through the caring nation that built the welfare state, through the joyous energy of popular culture, through the dream of universal communication. A belief that we can build Jerusalem. And that it will be for everyone.

the rest is here:
http://doohan.org/blog/2012/07/28/da...ympic-welcome/

[Bakhesh]

Originally Posted by Declan

Thanks , but that is US only

Declan

The BBC has the whole thing available online, although I suspect that is limited to UK only

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/olympics/...video/p00wm0br

[KlondikeGeoff]

I have been watching Olympic coverage ever since they begab showing it on television, but this is absolutely the worst I have ever seen.

Unlike many of the opening ceremonies that were beautiful, artistic an pleasing to the eye or ear, this noisy mish mash remine me of some propaganda film of the Soviet Union under Stalin. Along with the workers swinging hammers, I expected to see some others using sickles.

Then an entire sequence celebrating their health care system? Is that the best thing they can claim?

After all that, it supposedly went into the modern computer age. That mess seemed like something a bunch of junior high school kids would come up with.

The Chariots of Fire beach scene was amusing, the entire Queen's episode let us laugh out loud, but other than that, it was awful.

I also agree that those berets on the Americans let them look like dorks.

[Gorsnak]

Originally Posted by Declan

Even that comes up as restricted content, im in Canada so il have to check who might have it here and check itunes again.

Declan

Canadian online video

Click the Watch Now button. You'll need to install Silverlight if you don't already have it, but it's reasonably painless.

[ralph124c]

I thought the "hospital bed/nurses" sequence was quite bizarre-I laughed my head off. What was it supposed to suggest?

[Muffin]

Originally Posted by Declan

Even that comes up as restricted content, im in Canada so il have to check who might have it here and check itunes again.

Declan

CTV is covering the Olympics, but their web layout is challenging.

Here is the World Feed 1 of the Opening Ceremonies on the CTV website. There is about nine minutes of pre-roll. http://www.ctvolympics.ca/videos/cha...-ceremony.html

The "Full Event Replay" section has another version of the Opening Ceremonies that included Brian William's ongoing comments.

It requires Silverlight. You might wish to right click, and then set the playback to use hardware acceleration.

[PaulParkhead]

Originally Posted by Hippy Hollow

Wonder why NBC didn't show the 7/7 tribute?

Yeah, a few of my friends in the US felt that was disrespectful.

On another note, I just found out that one of the Mary Poppinses was an old room mate of mine. Weird.

[MsWhatsit]

Originally Posted by DMark

"We" = my partner of 31 years and me.

And sorry to piss on the parade, but the OP did ask for opinion on the ceremony, and "we" didn't particularly think it was all that great.

OK. It sounded like you were speaking for all non-Brits, which is why I asked.

[Bozuit]

Originally Posted by KlondikeGeoff

I have been watching Olympic coverage ever since they begab showing it on television, but this is absolutely the worst I have ever seen.

Unlike many of the opening ceremonies that were beautiful, artistic an pleasing to the eye or ear, this noisy mish mash remine me of some propaganda film of the Soviet Union under Stalin. Along with the workers swinging hammers, I expected to see some others using sickles.

Then an entire sequence celebrating their health care system? Is that the best thing they can claim?

After all that, it supposedly went into the modern computer age. That mess seemed like something a bunch of junior high school kids would come up with.

The Chariots of Fire beach scene was amusing, the entire Queen's episode let us laugh out loud, but other than that, it was awful.

I also agree that those berets on the Americans let them look like dorks.

The NHS is a great achievement to celebrate. OK, I did think it was a little strange to have it feature in the opening ceremony, but if you take it as a celebration of British society and culture then it makes sense. As for propaganda... I think "What?" sums up my thoughts quite nicely.

[Alka Seltzer]

Originally Posted by DMark

Speaking of film - that house with the snippets of film chosen by Danny Boyle? Really? Those were the best snippets of film he could find for a world-wide audience?

It was a potted history of 50 years of popular culture, I did wonder how many of them would be recognised outside the UK. The medley of music playing at the time should have been a lot more familiar.

[Alka Seltzer]

Originally Posted by Bozuit

The NHS is a great achievement to celebrate. OK, I did think it was a little strange to have it feature in the opening ceremony, but if you take it as a celebration of British society and culture then it makes sense.

It was also a celebration of children's literature. There was a direct link there, as J. M. Barrie, the author of Peter Pan, gifted the copyright to the famous children's hospital at Great Ormond Street. I thought the suggestion of the doctors and nurses as protectors against (real and imagined) nightmares was quite well done. The section was a little amateurish, but that was part of it's charm.

It might seem like a strange subject for an Olympic ceremony, but our rich tradition of children's literature and the NHS are both well worth recognising.

[Simple Linctus]

To be fair the NHS is sort of a myth as before it came into being almost everyone could get free healthcare anyway. It just nationalised all those systems in to one. Except not really (see postcode lotteries etc).

[olivesmarch4th]

Did anyone notice the American commentators were kind of being assholes during the parade? Like, ''This country has no chance of winning'' and other negative facts. I mean, couldn't they try to get one positive thing out of each country?

[Merneith]

As an American, this is my takeaway:

"Britain! We scare the shit out your children, our Queen is a paratrooper, we invented music and sex and the internet and bicycles (China) and oh yeah - the Olympics, which, let's be honest, are really kind of silly. And we did it as amateurs, because the unfettered drive of love is the greatest force on Earth, and we did it all while wearing funny hats."

As an American, I'm impressed!

[AK84]

I saw it again and I think the "don't even bother to try and top China" syndrome is what caused the ceremony to fall flat. It seemed to a be a good crutch to fall back on and it permitted some really lacklustre and downright awful ideas (the Bengali/European dance, the love story) to be permitted. The organisers managed to top Beijing in things such as the rings, the bit with Her Majesty and Commander Bond and the cauldron.

The organisers were too scared to aim for perfection and instead settled for good enough. They got something between mediocrity and acceptablity. Which is sad, a better show was well within capability.

[Peremensoe]

I liked very much from the Thames flight to the forging of the rings. After that, more of a mixed bag. I actually would have liked to see more of Britain's history, even preceding the generic pastoral scene. I guess it was meant to be limited to the United Kingdom period. I understand the celebration of the NHS and children's literature. Kind of remarkable to see punk and rave given essentially a formal place in the country's history. The pack of kids with torches didn't move me--I like the traditional form of a single past Olympian--but the cauldron itself was nice, both visually and symbolically, composed of the 'petals' from all nations.

Originally Posted by minlokwat

This is based solely on the NBC broadcast but there was TOO…MUCH…TALKING. It’s the Commentators Who Can’t Stop Commentating (sic) Show.

Lord, yes. The show was pretty good, some parts better than others according to one's taste, but the NBC talkers absolutely hurt it. Almost all of what they said was useless; give some credit to the production and the audience, please, you don't need to tell us to notice the other four huge glowing rings flying in. Sometimes they were worse than that, talking right over important developments in the music.

[Disheavel]

Originally Posted by Shakes

Clearly a disaster. 2 of 6's balloons did not pop. It ruined the whole show.

The look of horror on the kids' faces during the non-pop was awesome. It literally made me think, "Houston, we have a problem". The look of terror (shrugging of shoulders in anticipation of the pops was amusing too for lots of the kids too.

I enjoyed it well enough, but I thought the presentation could have been better. Far too much jumping around to different camera angles- especially during the hospital bed scenes. This was true of both the BBC version and the NBC version so it seemed like there was really just one main feed coming out.
dancing nurses feet for 2 seconds - check!
white girl bouncing on bed 1.5 bounces - check!
black boy on knees bouncing 1.5 bounces -check!
Prince Harry reaction 3 seconds -check!
swirling head shot of dancing nurses for 2 seconds -check!
crowd shot of people peering around their LED panel -check!
Wait a minute, we've got a bad dancer on camera 8- pan in cuz she's a cute young thing - check!

I am a big fan of british TV and music and I thought that the entire Teenagers falling in love episode was craptaffic- good music and dancing, but some lame story in which the characters are always in a crowd doesn't play well to cameras let alone to a crowd of 70,000 people. What does the Prime minister and queen think for 2 seconds- check! I am convinced that Danny Boyle was just trying to see how far he could push the boundaries with an international family audience with images of women making out and then unaccompanied teenagers in an attic- willl they or won't they? Princess Kate's face looks like she thinks they should go for it - check!

[outlierrn]

I caught a chunk of the industrial revolution part and was reminded of Waiting for Guffman, I was like 'it's the history of Blaine!'


I assumed the Daniel Craig bit was one of those chessey olympic commerials till now.

[Merneith]

Originally Posted by AK84

I saw it again and I think the "don't even bother to try and top China" syndrome is what caused the ceremony to fall flat. It seemed to a be a good crutch to fall back on and it permitted some really lacklustre and downright awful ideas (the Bengali/European dance, the love story) to be permitted. The organisers managed to top Beijing in things such as the rings, the bit with Her Majesty and Commander Bond and the cauldron.

The organisers were too scared to aim for perfection and instead settled for good enough. They got something between mediocrity and acceptablity. Which is sad, a better show was well within capability.

See, I think it was pretty deliberately saying that Government sponsored "perfection" like we saw in Beijing is just meaningless show. Home-made amateurism that comes from the heart is what made Britain great, not big-money government spectacle.

"Our government spends its money on healthcare for the needy, not over-rehearsed propaganda" is a really kickass message.

[outlierrn]

I was just coming off a zoo night in the ER, so I might have been a touch cynical.