Olympic closing ceremony

airbag

I still enjoyed it, despite echoing many of the problems already voiced on here. An uneasy feeling that, unlike the opening, it was more about d-list celebrities a free plug than celebrating anything. I'm not sure what Muse (not d-listers by any stretch) were playing, but they have far better songs - Invincible and/or Plug In Baby anyone?

Another point raised by someone on lfgss I think - remember the Indian dancers in the opening ceremony, performing to abide with me? That genuinely drew people from different cultures together. That Eric "It Ain't Half Hot Mum" Idle bit? The point of the Indian dancers there was solely to be a contrast. To draw us apart. The exact opposite message of everything in the preceding two weeks. And to have a Python - a member of a group famous for innovative comedy - participate in such lazy comedy, oh dear oh dear.

Whoever said the Python contribution should have been the flame going out to Bright Side of Life, that would have been much better. Elbow playing it out with Days Like These would also have been good.

beverick

Blacktemplar wrote:

garryc wrote:

When Muse came on I said to the mrs "oh no 5 mins of po-faced, wagnerian, histronics, and fret wankery" and I was right.

^this.

Should have just faded all the stadium lights down to the whistling from "Always look on the Bright Side of Life" until the Olympic flame was the only thing left, then extinguish it suddenly in a Python-esque fart.....

I said that! (only I'd have gone for a giant foot stamping it out!)

BTW - Muse are about as musical as hitting a steel filing cabinet repeatedly with a cricket bat.

Bob

Blacktemplar

beverick wrote:

Blacktemplar wrote:

garryc wrote:

When Muse came on I said to the mrs "oh no 5 mins of po-faced, wagnerian, histronics, and fret wankery" and I was right.

^this.

Should have just faded all the stadium lights down to the whistling from "Always look on the Bright Side of Life" until the Olympic flame was the only thing left, then extinguish it suddenly in a Python-esque fart.....

I said that! (only I'd have gone for a giant foot stamping it out!)

BTW - Muse are about as musical as hitting a steel filing cabinet repeatedly with a cricket bat.

Bob

Sorry Bob - epic post-reading fail on my part.... my bad..... :oops:

Gazzaputt

Couldn't see why they didn't have the formalities first and then just have a big concert which we're renowned for.

Biggest disappoint was thinking they'd snagged Bowie. No we get some poncy models.

For me they tried way to hard and should have stuck to the simplest of formats.

By all accounts the concert in Hyde Park with Blur, The Specials, new Order and Bombay Bicycle Club showed how it should have been.

Daz555

Closing ceremony forgotten already.

Monty Dog

Me and the other Opening Ceremony Dove Bikes would have put on a far better show...you should have seen the look on the producer's faces when we suggested staying-out for a second lap!

nunowoolmez

I quite liked it. Entertaing for what it was. Don't think we should really ecpect too.much, closing ceremonies are usually just a bit of a party, nothing more or less. I think there maybe a bit too.much randomness going on which took away from the music, but there has to.be some kind of spectacle for us viewers. Yes, it won't suit everyones tastes, but they have to do something don't they. There is always going to be a bit of tastelessness with these things, & there will always be music which people don't like. Does that make it a poor show? No, we didn't have to sit thru it all & could have turned off at any point, although it seems that most folk saw all of it & to this extent it is a success as it has kept people watching! Probably more out of curiosity than anything mind. I am a fan of Kate Bush, Queen, Pet Shop Boys, Bowie, Muse, & Blur & really enjoyed some of the tracks. Liam Gallagher ruined Noels song tho. It made me laugh, tap my foot & when the torch went out i did shed a few tears - i usually do when tjat happens. This was never supposed to compare to the opening ceremony, & i really don't think it took away from the sport at all. Most people i have spoken with said they loved it!

Alain Quay

This letter in the Independent summed it up pretty well:

"... The closing ceremony's failures were not to do with which pop or rock group appeared. it was flawed in conception. The supreme message of this Olympics (and of the Olympic idea) is of excellence but also of selflessness, sportsmanship and magnanimity in an environment of mutual respect for all people. It is encapsulated in the valiant words of two rowers who, having won a silver medal, apologised to the nation, of Gemma who raised her eyes to the heavens to tell her mum she loved her, of Oherugu, Federer, Daley and many others who praised their opponents in defeat and let the world know that it was participation and doing one's best that counted. It was as devoid of vanity as was possible given the hype that surrounded the event.
The closing ceremony was its antithesis: full of posturing celebs so wrapped up in their own 'culture' that they clearly had no idea of how they may be viewed by a good proportion of those corralled within the Hirst's Union Flag not to mention the millions watching in places like Nigeria, Saudi Arabia and China.
I actually booed when a bunch of 'super models', whose fame was as much to do with drug abuse and punch ups at LHR, strutted their stuff. And what on earth has (whichever) Gallagher, Russell Brand and Fatboy Slim to do with the Olympic spirit? And how did Jessie J's flesh coloured cat suit meld with the Games's boast about gender equality and welcoming female athletes from every country (even those who insisted that the compete in as modest a way as possible)
The ceremony was self indulgent and culturally arrogant in equal measure. The only saving grace was that it was probably conceived before its creators realised how much the Olympics has (albeit temporarily I suspect) changed our consciousness of what it means to be 'British' and 'good'.

Velonutter

^ Excellent, summed it up admirably 8)

natrix

fast as fupp wrote:

i was shocked they let Townsend into the stadium with all those kids around.

I was disgusted that they let a paedophile and known sex offender such as Townsend have anything to do with the Olympics. How has this disgusting individual managed to worm his way back into public life?? :evil: :evil:

fast as fupp

because, unlike most nonces, he can afford expensive lawyers.

anyway he was only doing it for 'research purposes'. :roll: