Olympics closing ceremony

[mangaman]

What it needed was something from Yes, U2 (honorary GBers) and Sting..........

I disagree.

3 hours of Half Man Half Biscuit would have hit the spot though

View: http://youtu.be/na12OyJEgJ8

 

[PpPete]

Louis Smith better at lip-sync than some of the pros....
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-19241028

 

[threebikesmcginty]

@rockymountain - unlike.

 

[threebikesmcginty]

unlike

 

[threebikesmcginty]

I did like the Who at the end.....and that Zac Starkey is quite a drummer.

I thought The Who were pretty good too, Zac's better than his old man but then as John Lennon said when asked if Ringo was the best drummer in the world, he replied "he's not even the best drummer in The Beatles" - sure you've heard that before but it's quite funny.

 

[Archie_tect]

Thomas the Tank stories were never the same after Ringo stopping reading them....

Back to the Closing Ceremony... at least we now know why they sent bewildered Harry to sit in for the others!

 

[Risex4]

Hmm, a day later and I still cant decide whether I liked it or not.

It was certainly flashy and shouty in the one-ups-manship way these ceremonies have become, but was it actually any good? I mean in the context of what it was meant to be?

I wasn't sold on the "Best of British Music"/end-of-wedding-disco/party theme, largely becasue I didnt get the relevance to the event which it was closing. And combined with the fact that the ceremony was embarrisingly TeamGB-centric from the highlight footage, I actually thought the thing was counter to the "olympic message" of unity and celebrating all and what not.

And the music itself. Jeez. Mish-mash or what? Ok, I suppose the likes of Tinnie Tempah and Taio Cruz had a place in this shindig representing "modern" British musi and were run-of-the-mill party tracks, but dragging FatBoy Slim up? Absolutely love his work, but Im sure the original lyrical interpretation of Right Here Right Now went something like "ain't nothing fine if drugs not here". Interestingly I googled the lyric today (Im sad enough to do that) and I wasn't familiar with what every lyric site suddenly had it written as.
Jumping from the Spice Girls to Oasis Beady Eye? Eric Idle to Muse? Now, again, Im a huge Muse fan - I think Matt Bellemy is a bleedy musical genius and Wembley Stadium was almost built to be a music venue specifcally for them - but it was so out of place it was absurd. What was with the random snippets of Rhapsody and Bowie? And the Mercury thing? Oh, and We Will Rock You. Ok, its a good crowd pleaser, but a) why the silly Brian May intro and b) of all the people to stand in for Freddie Mercury, why Jessie J? That counts as taken the piff surely? It felt like the guy behind it was just trying far to hard to be 'arty'.

Dont get me wrong, it certainly was a spectacle. I just dont know if it sat quite right.

All in all I'd liken it to a decently connected punch to the face; it made an impact and grabbed your attention, you wont forget it any time soon, you have to begrudgingly admire its execution, but it somehow wasnt quite what you wanted...

 

[Red Light]

Of all the stars there last night it took a 20 year dead rock star to really make the audience part of the performance and set a mood that carried on through the rest of the evening. RIP the incomparable Freddie.

 

[Red Light]

Hmm, a day later and I still cant decide whether I liked it or not.

It was certainly flashy and shouty in the one-ups-manship way these ceremonies have become, but was it actually any good? I mean in the context of what it was meant to be?

....it certainly was a spectacle. I just dont know if it sat quite right.

I did wonder where it was going at the beginnng leading up to the cacophany cut off by Timothy Spall. But after that it developed into just what is was supposed to be - the UK throwing a big house party for everyone. None of the stilted highly controlled showpieces of the past but a great big party to some great tunes old and new with everyone letting their hair down and having fun. As for the nationalistic bit, then all through the Games many of the countries run "houses" which competitors and officials (and for some of them members of the public) go to after the Games each night. I liked the subtle way though the lighting changed from red, white and blue to the colours of the Brazilan flag at the handover and it became a Brazilian carnival house party before the finale.

 

[Mad Doug Biker]

Yup, and I'll probably be riding it tomorrow, with a bit more than a Pet Shop Boy in the back!

When the Spice Girls climbed up on the top of their cabs, I said sarcastically "OK, now stand there while they drive round!"

Then the hand rails came up.

Words duly eaten.

From another forum:

except of course when Victoria Beckham came along on top of that cab. I so wish I were the driver as I would have floored it and then braked really hard!

Fixed that for you!

The original quote was either to floor it or brake really hard.

 

[Red Light]

From another forum:

except of course when Victoria Beckham came along on top of that cab. I so wish I were the driver as I would have floored it and then braked really hard!​

Fixed that for you!​

The original quote was either to floor it or brake really hard.

Don't you mean braked really hard and then floored it? Unless you wanted her to fall off the back and then stop and wait for her to get back on.

 

[Mad Doug Biker]

Don't you mean braked really hard and then floored it? Unless you wanted her to fall off the back and then stop and wait for her to get back on.

I think it was meant to be that she would fly out the front and injure herself.

 

[Red Light]

I think it was meant to be that she would fly out the front and injure herself.

[pedantic] To do that you need to brake hard so the vehicle stops and she carries on. Flooring it will cause her to fall off the back. [/pedantic]

 

[Mad Doug Biker]

[pedantic] To do that you need to brake hard so the vehicle stops and she carries on. Flooring it will cause her to fall off the back. [/pedantic]

The idea is to get the vehicle to suddenly stop from speed, yes....

 

[subaqua]

The only thing I, as a pre-Games cynic, am seething about is that I allowed my cynicism to stop me buying any tickets. (Though I did go and watch the women's road race and would have gone to watch the TT but was poorly.). The Opening Ceremony won me over and the performance of Team GB, and the volunteers and the crowds, (edit: and the BBC) kicked the nails in. The Games won me over and completely conquered my cynicism to such an extent that I told the lovely Helen last night that the next time I'm being cynical about stuff she should say "remember London 2012"

London 2012 put the GREAT back into Great Britain. End of.

lets see what the legacy is first before we get all overcome with emotion. IF , and its a big if, LOCOG/OPLC put back all the sports fields back to how they were (or better) then maybe i will say it was a success . currently the generation they are trying to inspire for 2020 and beyond has limited places to train. but you know that already .
just because this team got more medals doesnt automatically mean next time and next time will be better.