Olympic Opening Ceremony

[Mevara]

What did everyone think? Which one was better Beijing or London?

[ASTalumna06]

I think the story was hard to follow. Usually I'd be thinking, "Matt and Meredith need to shut up," but I was actually happy they were walking me through it step by step. And Matt saying. "I don't know if that's cute.. Or creepy," about that giant baby thing was hysterical. I was thinking the exact same thing. It was kind of weird.

And it wasn't as visually stunning as Beijing. There were a lot of talented dancers, but that's about it.

And what was up with the whole texting part of it?

And the workers taking apart the grass at the beginning just looked strange and unorganized.

Definitely not my favorite.

[BlueOwl]

Watching on the west coast so it is still dragging on (it is 11:05 pm PST)....UH, boring in my opinion. Creative, yes. But just not as visually thrilling to watch as Beijing. Was so looking forward to the show, but must say it has been a let-down. Going to bed.
Go USA!

[Mevara]

My sister-in-law, who is German, thought it was awesome. I on the other hand was very disappointed. I believe if it needed that much explanation it wasn't done very well.

I wonder if most of the ceremony was lost in translation.

[AGDee]

I thought the electronic things on the seats creating images was really cool. I loved Sir Paul's part. What a great way to bring everyone together.. with a song that was known around the world. Many reminders that a lot of great music comes from the UK. The fireworks at the end were astonishing.

[ellebud]

Frankly, mediocre at best. The National health service more importent than Britian's contribution to World World 2? Seriously?

[Always AlphaGam]

I think, for a country so steeped in tradition, they did a fine job staying true to their colors. I think it was great that they did something that celebrated their people instead of trying to put on a flashy show for the world.

It's their 3rd time hosting the Games in the Modern Era. Beijing needed to prove something. The British certainly did not.

It'll be interesting to see how it will be done in 2016. Methinks Rio won't be so...calm.

It was really neat to see Her Majesty with James Bond. That was cool.

[Senusret I]

Originally Posted by Always AlphaGam

I think, for a country so steeped in tradition, they did a fine job staying true to their colors. I think it was great that they did something that celebrated their people instead of trying to put on a flashy show for the world.

It's their 3rd time hosting the Games in the Modern Era. Beijing needed to prove something. The British certainly did not.

It'll be interesting to see how it will be done in 2016. Methinks Rio won't be so...calm.

It was really neat to see Her Majesty with James Bond. That was cool.

I agree with all of this.

I actually loved the opening ceremony, particularly the love story/decades dance.

I also liked the tearing away of the earth and the rising of the smokestacks.

The whole thing was just so BRITISH... I can't describe it any better. And I guess I'm a bit of an anglophile.

[KDCat]

Originally Posted by Senusret I

I agree with all of this.

I actually loved the opening ceremony, particularly the love story/decades dance.

I also liked the tearing away of the earth and the rising of the smokestacks.

The whole thing was just so BRITISH... I can't describe it any better. And I guess I'm a bit of an anglophile.

I loved it. I think it's the best opening ceremony that I've ever seen. I'm a huge Anglophile and the "just so BRITISH" was absolutely fabulous.

What I loved: the opening hymn: "Oh, Jerusalem" is a very traditional hymn in Britain. Every kid in Britain knows it, the way we know "America the Beautiful" or something similar.

I loved the kids' choruses showing all four countries in the UK.

I loved the industrial forging of the Olympic ring and the rings rising to the center of the stadium.

I loved that it included a ton of Brit Lit, including Shakespeare and J.K. Rowling and Peter Pan.

I loved that it included so much British pop music.

I loved that all of the flags were planted on a hill together. I also loved that the hill symbolized Glastonbury Tor, which is where King Arthur is supposed to buried and is the mythological heart of Britain.

I loved that the cauldron was made of petals, one petal for each team at the Olympics.

I loved the Queen for having a sense of humor and agreeing to the Bond sequence.

I loved the flame coming up the Thames on a boat.

I loved the rings and fireworks on London Bridge.

I loved the construction workers lining the tunnel as the flame came in. The ceremony did a very, very good job representing every aspect of British society from the Queen to the workes who built the stadium.

It wasn't the extravaganza that Beijing was, but it was perfect.

[barbino]

Great posts, Senruset I and KD Cat. Your two posts together sums up the London opening ceremony well. I liked it but found it hard to follow & overly long and boring in parts. I loved the part with James Bond & the Queen. Her corgis were so cute, and it was neat to see her in the palace.

The part with Beckham cruising through London in a speed boat was neat and I thought that having J.K. Rowling read a story was classic. I agree with Senruset I; it was so very British.

But the best part for me is always the Parade of Nations. I really enjoyed seeing all the athletes in their country's special Olympic outfit.

[MysticCat]

Originally Posted by KDCat

I loved it. I think it's the best opening ceremony that I've ever seen. I'm a huge Anglophile and the "just so BRITISH" was absolutely fabulous.

What I loved: the opening hymn: "Oh, Jerusalem" is a very traditional hymn in Britain. Every kid in Britain knows it, the way we know "America the Beautiful" or something similar.

I loved the kids' choruses showing all four countries in the UK.

I loved the industrial forging of the Olympic ring and the rings rising to the center of the stadium.

I loved that it included a ton of Brit Lit, including Shakespeare and J.K. Rowling and Peter Pan.

I loved that it included so much British pop music.

I loved that all of the flags were planted on a hill together. I also loved that the hill symbolized Glastonbury Tor, which is where King Arthur is supposed to buried and is the mythological heart of Britain.

I loved that the cauldron was made of petals, one petal for each team at the Olympics.

I loved the Queen for having a sense of humor and agreeing to the Bond sequence.

I loved the flame coming up the Thames on a boat.

I loved the rings and fireworks on London Bridge.

I loved the construction workers lining the tunnel as the flame came in. The ceremony did a very, very good job representing every aspect of British society from the Queen to the workes who built the stadium.

It wasn't the extravaganza that Beijing was, but it was perfect.

Originally Posted by Senusret I

I agree with all of this.

I actually loved the opening ceremony, particularly the love story/decades dance.

I also liked the tearing away of the earth and the rising of the smokestacks.

The whole thing was just so BRITISH... I can't describe it any better. And I guess I'm a bit of an anglophile.

Pretty much what y'all said.

The Queen and James Bond alone put the ceremony at the top of the awesome scale for me.

All other opening cermonies have had lots of explanation. I wonder if Americans thought we wouldn't need as much explanation of things British.

Originally Posted by ellebud

Frankly, mediocre at best. The National health service more importent than Britian's contribution to World World 2? Seriously?

I can see downplaying World War II when you're playing host to all nations, including Germany, Italy and Japan.


I'll be honest -- the only thing I remember about the Beijing ceremony is drums.

[KKGCaroline]

DH & I stayed up (It finished 1am local time) to watch it.... We (especially I) loved it.

We loved how "Cool Britannia" it was, we loved the music, the dancing and the little bit of history, like Always AlphaGam mentioned, the British really didn't need to prove anything, Danny Boyle just went out, picked the best of British, and had a really good time with it!

British Best Friends were lucky enough to get tickets to the ceremony, and they said the atmosphere live was phenomenal. We are all travelling down to London next week to watch Mens Water Polo...

Since we moved here nearly 2 years ago, we both feel a little more British than American, so we are supporting both!

Go Team Britmerican!!!

[DeltaBetaBaby]

I thought it was kinda boring, but I loved the dig at the US on healthcare!

[PeppyGPhiB]

I think people forget what most opening ceremonies are like. Beijing was the exception. Most OCs have been like this one - a history of the host country. Beijing was spectacular, but it also bothered me since there were plenty of stories about what hard-asses the country's leadership were regarding everything. being. perfect. I recall that during the dress rehearsal, someone didn't like the way some of the costumes looked, so they had all-new costumes made within something like 14 hours. You just knew that many of the people involved probably weren't having much fun, and those re-made costumes were basically made under slave labor circumstances. It was huge and stunningly beautiful, but too perfect for me because you got the sense that any errors - whether it was a prop that fell apart or an out-of-place drummer - would have been viewed very harshly by the government. I worried about anyone that made any missteps, and that tarnished it for me.

On the other hand, I loved Vancouver's ceremonies and this one because you could see that the participants were having fun, including the people who planned them. Vancouver's CC, with the Mounties who did the can-can and giant inflatables, was hilarious, and totally Canadian. I can't wait to see what this Closing Ceremony is like!

[ASTalumna06]

Originally Posted by PeppyGPhiB

I think people forget what most opening ceremonies are like. Beijing was the exception. Most OCs have been like this one - a history of the host country.

I had no problem with the history aspect of it. I agree, that's exactly what it should be about. However, the way it was put together was strange, many things needed too much of an explanation, and things like the texting portion of it has nothing to do with the country's history.