Smug or absolutely bang on the nail?

[propersplitbrainme]

I sat and watched the opening ceremony of the Olympics last night (yeah, yeah, sneer away - yawn) and although it dragged on for just a teensy hour or so too long it was quite enjoyable, especially the first part where they went through the ages from tilling the land to the industrial revolution. Very cleverly done. But, thats not my point...

Near the beginning the hymn Jerusalem rang around the stadium and I though, "oh 'ello, the Daily Mail readers outside England will be hammering out their letters of outrage already", but wait... The scene cut to Northern Ireland for Danny Boy, Scotland for Flower of Scotland and Wales for Men of Harlech. OK, fair enough got those bases covered.

In fact, it looked like they'd got all the bases covered, someone must have had an E&D spreadsheet going to make sure they covered the lot so nobody could get outraged.

Young people - check, plenty of young people, reflecting in fact an almost unhealthy obsession with children and youth (don't bother) we seem to have these days
Old people - check (Chelsea pensioners)
People with disabilities - check (kids singing and signing the national anthem - two hits there)
Ethnic diversity - check, check and check
And so on.

Now, obviously its a good thing that we can be as inclusive as possible in this country, but I couldn't help but get the feeling that perhaps it wasn't just a little bit too self-indulgent, almost saying smugly to the world 'look at us, bet you lot wouldn't have thought of making sure you included everybody would you?'

Thoughts?

 

[UlsterExile]

I thought it was bang on, liked the bit with 007 and Queenie.

 

[busby1971]

I thought it was bang on, liked the bit with 007 and Queenie.

That's age and gingers covered too.

I think it's great that all could be involved, I especially liked the way people in wheel chairs were on the main set in the general mele rather than in a special group.

 

[muttywhitedog]

I thought it was bang on too.

Unlike the Chinese approach 4 years ago, those who are not "normal" should not be hidden from view when the world is looking, and I was particularly touched by the group of kids who sung the National Anthem.

 

[True Blue Jack]

I really enjoyed the fact that the opening ceremony was used to celebrate our cultural diversity, even reminding the world of the enduring influence of British music, comedy, etc. Perhaps there was an element of sticking 2 fingers up to Beijing - yes, China you can get 2008 drummers to play in perfect synchronization but we don't hide our singers that have crooked teeth - but I didn't mind that. Wheeling out Tim Berners-Lee to remind the Yanks that a Brit invented the world wide web was probably stretching the point. I was only disappointed that Paul McCartney closed the show, surely the Jubilee Concert last month was proof enough that his voice is long past its best.

 

[Stevienics]

I thought it was brill, and Boyle didn't really have an agenda it seems. I read in the i today that all he wanted to do was show everyone a great time, omit all the bull**** and give a huge bang for buck.

Now then, this cost £25M to put on and BBC figures (that's BBC alone) peaked at 26.9M - less than a quid each. If you ask anyone wehther they would pay a quid to watch that again, even old cynics like myself, they would probably stump it up.

Not bad, Boyle. Not too shabby at all.

 

[stingray888]

I thought it was fantastic. And the worlds oldest Bond Girl was a star. A credit to those who organised it and those who took part.

 

[mib stacker]

I thought it was fantastic. And the worlds oldest Bond Girl was a star. A credit to those who organised it and those who took part.

I am bored and fed up of all the hype about the sodding olympics already but have to admit the opening ceremony was far far better than I expected it to be

 

[propersplitbrainme]

Perhaps there was an element of sticking 2 fingers up to Beijing - yes, China you can get 2008 drummers to play in perfect synchronization but we don't hide our singers that have crooked teeth - but I didn't mind that.

No, nor do I, its a plain fact that 99% of us are not perfect specimens of the human form! But, I hope its not construed as Britain trying to lecture the world in how to behave, because we do have a tendency to do that.

.....and I was particularly touched by the group of kids who sung the National Anthem

Yep, totally unexpected but very well done indeed. I also liked the opening montage of the journey up the Thames from its source which isn't too far from Lyneham if I recall correctly.

Yep, on reflection I think Danny Boyle can be pretty damned proud of that show, whoever had the idea of making the Olympic cauldron out of the individual copper kettles and then bringing it all together like that is a genius.

And after seeing it it seems the Brazlians now have the same concerns about embarrasing themselves with their opening ceremony as we did after Beijing...

On Copacabana beach, nervous Brazilians watched the show they would have to live up to: laughing at Bond, commenting that the Queen looked grumpy, but generally impressed by the spectacle. "I hope Rio can match this," said one. "Perhaps we will be embarrassed after this," added another.

Although you can see from the whole article from which that quote is taken that not everyone around the world saw it the same way, apparently there should have been some pillaging and enslavement shown...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2012/jul/27/olympics-opening-ceremony-view-from-abroad?newsfeed=true

Uh oh....DT_Xtremez_42:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...gering-26-9million-UK-viewers-tune-watch.html

 

[dozyscopie1]

I am not the greatest fan of the Olympics, mainly due to having to work it, but after watching the opening ceremony I have to admit I have changed my tune. Brilliantly done by Danny Boyle and all involved. I even felt a sense of pride watching it, and being Scottish I was very surprised at that.
So good luck to all taking part and on my day off, whenever that is, I intend to take advantage of the free travel for the military and head into London to enjoy the Olympics.
Well done again, dare I say, Sir Danny Boyle.





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[firestorm]

Fabulous showpiece opener! A couple of slots didn't really engage me but over all it was fantastic. It's gonna take a while to return the stadium to working function.

 

[Teh Wal]

I thought it was absolutely brilliant, quintisentially British, in fact the only way it could have been more British is if those 'clouds' at the very start had been raining tea DT_Xtremez_19: The Rings being forged in the heart of industrial Brtain was stunning, just absolutely stunning.
It covered all the bases and was spot on. I sat watching it with an overwhelming sense of pride if I'm honest.

And the only, tiny, glitch that I noticed was when the 7 youngsters were doing their lap with the torches, as each one took the lead they were being individually introduced over the sound system, there was about a 30-40 second pause when kid number 3 took over.

 

[propersplitbrainme]

And the only, tiny, glitch that I noticed was when the 7 youngsters were doing their lap with the torches, as each one took the lead they were being individually introduced over the sound system, there was about a 30-40 second pause when kid number 3 took over.

Apart from the RAF snec who was rear left of the flag carrying party getting ever so slightly out of step...DT_Xtremez_42:

 

[Ex-Splitter and Proud]

I thought it was absolutely brilliant, quintisentially British, in fact the only way it could have been more British is if those 'clouds' at the very start had been raining tea DT_Xtremez_19: The Rings being forged in the heart of industrial Brtain was stunning, just absolutely stunning.
It covered all the bases and was spot on. I sat watching it with an overwhelming sense of pride if I'm honest.

And the only, tiny, glitch that I noticed was when the 7 youngsters were doing their lap with the torches, as each one took the lead they were being individually introduced over the sound system, there was about a 30-40 second pause when kid number 3 took over.

My only gripe.... why, oh why did they have to bring out the undead...... s0dding McCartney???DT_Xtremez_42:

An awesome spectacle otherwise....

 

[dozyscopie1]

Forgot, I did have a gripe too. Trevor Nelson in the commentary box. Guess he was there as there was a large music montage but the BBC always seem to bang someone in there that is absolutely duff at commentating on live events. River Pageant anyone.....


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[Joe_90]

My only gripe was the BBC's continued insistence in calling us the Armed Services instead of the Armed Forces. I know the police dropped the word force because it was considered too aggressive but we are proud of our ability to portray controlled aggression, indeed it's why we exist.

 

[8:15fromOdium]

Although I am genetically predososed to being cynical, and hating opening ceremonies (What's the point - get on with it) - I have to agree with all the posts above.

THIS was the opening ceremony to end (or should that be open?) all opening ceremonies. From the Reds at the beginning, through the kids singing Jerusalem, Danny Boy, Flower of Scotland & Cwm Rhondda, the forging of the Rings, the Bond Bit (genius), the Bean bit (genius x2), the tour of British popular music etc etc - there was not a bum note in there. Special mention for Mike Oldfield though - I would put him well above the recent beknighted pop stars and it was great to see him centre stage.

 

[MAINJAFAD]

I sat and watched the opening ceremony of the Olympics last night (yeah, yeah, sneer away - yawn) and although it dragged on for just a teensy hour or so too long it was quite enjoyable, especially the first part where they went through the ages from tilling the land to the industrial revolution. Very cleverly done. But, thats not my point...

Near the beginning the hymn Jerusalem rang around the stadium and I though, "oh 'ello, the Daily Mail readers outside England will be hammering out their letters of outrage already", but wait... The scene cut to Northern Ireland for Danny Boy, Scotland for Flower of Scotland and Wales for Men of Harlech. OK, fair enough got those bases covered.

In fact, it looked like they'd got all the bases covered, someone must have had an E&D spreadsheet going to make sure they covered the lot so nobody could get outraged.

Young people - check, plenty of young people, reflecting in fact an almost unhealthy obsession with children and youth (don't bother) we seem to have these days
Old people - check (Chelsea pensioners)
People with disabilities - check (kids singing and signing the national anthem - two hits there)
Ethnic diversity - check, check and check
And so on.

Now, obviously its a good thing that we can be as inclusive as possible in this country, but I couldn't help but get the feeling that perhaps it wasn't just a little bit too self-indulgent, almost saying smugly to the world 'look at us, bet you lot wouldn't have thought of making sure you included everybody would you?'

Thoughts?

Forgot one.... Dambusters Match in the Bond clip, bet nobody expected that!!! And a couple of other hats off to the armed forces, the slow bit in the middle of the forging of the rings with the guys in WW1 army uniform with poppies in the shot (never seen that in the Olympics, plus aforementioned Chelsea pensioners.

As Boris said this morning about the comments of that Nazi tory boy's comments on twitter last night, left wing fest it was not, but a bang on history of the last three hundred years of these Islands.

As for the focus on the kids.....It was one of the things that won us the event in the first place.

 

[taz01]

Was it just me tho.... When the German team walked in, was their representative in the stands giving a Nazi salute ?

 

[propersplitbrainme]

Was it just me tho.... When the German team walked in, was their representative in the stands giving a Nazi salute ?

Yeah I thought that too....:0

And here is yet another reason to despise that nasty-minded, spiteful Daily Mail. No, the NHS is not perfect, but does it really deserve this kind of emotive vitriol....?

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/a...ing-ceremony-NHS-disgracefully-glorified.html