Opening ceremonies

[Jazzaferri]

Well my hat is off to the creator and All those who took part in the opening ceremonies.

In spite of the paid musicians, which i think is a bit of a blight, My wifemand I really enjoyed the spectacle.

 

[old git]

What opening ceremonies?

 

[TomMapfumo]

Our Canadian cousins must assume that patriotism is rife in this part of the world, including amongst we Welsh................:shocked:;}

 

[Sue]

I loved every minute apart from Paul McCartney at the end. I am very proud to be British and believe our country(Britain, not just England) is vibrant, funny, diverse and little bit bonkers.

 

[trimmy]

^^^^^
Here here

OG..... bah humbug

Tom..... We have made your greatest Welsh Wizard Winger the captain, what more do we have to do to appease the Welsh ;}

As for the Scots.... well !!

 

[Young Col]

Spot on, Sue!

 

[jbtsax]

Kudos to the city of London for such a spectacular opening show. We held the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City an I know what a disruption and inconvenience the Olympics can be for local citizens. Danny Boyle's creativity is a bit unusual to say the least, but I was mesmerized with the entire presentation. I LMAO at Rowan Atkinson's performance with the London Symphony. What a brilliant and gifted comedian. I don't get the animosity toward (Sir) Paul McCartney, but after all I am an American. ;}

 

[gladsaxisme]

Despite my disenchantment with my country at the moment I must say I was spellbound by the whole growing spectacle and felt they had given the task of organising something of this size to someone who had the ability to do the job well great job Danny Boyle,loved every minute but like Sue also thought it was let down greatly by Sir Paul who to my mind showed he was well passed his best and his voice was definately not up to the task, despite choosing a great get them going song he didn't pull it off and just became a has been national treasure perhaps,sorry Trimmy....john

 

[trimmy]

I don't get the animosity toward (Sir) Paul McCartney, but after all I am an American. ;}

No animosity from the Pool of life to McCartney, but maybe towards the other remaining Beatle !!

 

[Tenor Viol]

Although I don't have much interest in the olympics (I don't mind the winter olympics - probably because I ski and understand what's involved a bit more!) however, I did watch this last night. I have to say it was quite spectacular - I thought the Industrial Revolution scene and the forging of the olympic rings was very clever. It was quite quirky and I do wonder if some of our non-UK forum members might have struggled with some aspects of it!

As someone who is an experienced choral singer (and I'm a native Liverpudlian) I have to say that, unless he was having a bad night, Macca's voice is past its best - seemed to me he was struggling with the tessitura of the piece, unfortunately.

 

[Jazzaferri]

I dont know if it was me, but there were parts of hey jude that the groups timing seemed a bit off. May just have been an acoustics phenomenon. Anyone else notice anything apart from the weirdness at the beginning of the song.

 

[old git]

Isambard Kingdom Brunel was not around at the beginning of the Industrial Revolution and does not look well dressed in any surviving photos. Did The Tempest but can't remember if the speech quoted was from Chorus or Prospero and can't be arsed anyway.

Hey Jude was always a good closer for Folk gigs.

 

[Tenor Viol]

Isambard Kingdom Brunel was not around at the beginning of the Industrial Revolution and does not look well dressed in any surviving photos. Did The Tempest but can't remember if the speech quoted was from Chorus or Prospero and can't be arsed anyway.

Hey Jude was always a good closer for Folk gigs.

Caliban's speech, I think.

 

[llamedos]

I was pleased to see that there was no attempt to outdo Beijing, which was awesome, and I felt the whole thing was imaginative, spectacular, brilliantly executed and a credit to its perpetrators and participants alike. I can live with the odd historic inaccuracy in the name of art and at least we were spared the prancing of a certain octogenarian seen earlier with a torch which made me fear the worst. It will be interesting to hear what Cafe members from other parts felt about it as an entertainment.

I am also gratified that I was not the only one to be unimpressed with Macca's contribution and I agree totally with JBT about the virtuoso performance of Mr. Bean with the LSO.

For my two pennyworth, very well done to all concerned, including the gracious lady at the end of the Mall who exemplified what it is all about.

Dave

 

[old git]

It will be interesting to hear what Cafe members from other parts felt about it as an entertainment.

For my two pennyworth, very well done to all concerned, including the gracious lady at the end of the Mall who exemplified what it is all about.
Dave

Doesn't the County with the lazy winds and the original New York count as other places? ;}

Ah! You've met Sadie the paper seller at the end of the Mall.

 

[saxplorer]

Overall very impressed, I thought the whole thing had wit and poise. Above all it had a degree of intelligence that engaged me, spotting allusions and references all over the place (Pink Floyd's "Animals" album cover recreated, etc.)

Agree though, that "Hey Jude" fell flat. If they had ended as I thought they might, with Macca singing "And in the end / the love you take / is equal to the love you make", that would have been stunning. (Although would have been even better as the close of the closing ceremony).

On replaying it in my mind, I keep remembering aspects that were fleeting and yet jaw-dropping ... Evelyn Glennie leading the drumming, Ban Ki-Moon carrying the flag, the shower of Mary Poppinses ... a mix of big picture and small detail, of deep pride in this country and celebration of its silliness.

The challenge of doing something that would be neither overshadowed by Beijing, nor parochial and trivial, nor trite and sneerworthy was immense.

The Boyle done good.

 

[jbtsax]

In an earlier post instead of referring to the Olympics Opening Show designer as Danny Boyle, I called him Peter Boyle instead. It is embarassing to make such a monstrous mistake.

Peter Boyle

 

[trimmy]

^^^^
Jbt you were not the only one who got old Danny boys name wrong, Peter Boyle, Danny Boile, and no i havent missed out ' le '

 

[gladsaxisme]

^^^^
Jbt you were not the only one who got old Danny boys name wrong, Peter Boyle, Danny Boile, and no i havent missed out ' le '

Sorry trimmy I'm thinking of taking up journalism,were you upset by my remarks about Sir Paul,maybe I had one of my senior moments....john

 

[Ruby]

I couldn't get to see it but would have loved to. Does anyone know if it's going to be repeated? I'm guessing it might be as everything else seems to be.