Finding it slightly discordant to have the French introductions to everything first – I suppose it must be considered a well spoken worldwide language (the Eurovision song contest is always done in English and French) but I really wasn’t expecting it at the London Opympics…
French and English are the two official languages of the Olympics. That is how it always is. Usually there’s the third language of the host country, but in this case, it is the same as the second language.
Loving it! Great music through the decades too. I loved Tubular Bells too and James Bond with the Queen. The Corgis are stars. Will the Queen (or the Corgis) win an oscar?
The opening was great. Loved the James Bond bit with the Queen. The Rise of the Industrial Age was awesome. The molten Olympic rings rising in the air was so cool. And, of course, the popular music overview (with the Internet age love story). Now I wanna crank some Zepplin.
Australians have all heard of Nauru. It’s where we were sending our asylum seekers for a while.
It is great to see such small countries participating though. I also found it sad that the Spanish team had to have their uniforms donated. Just another indicator of the economic crisis in Europe that Spain can’t afford uniforms for their Olympic team.
I loved it. Very British and quirky. I especially loved how all the individual flames (one for each participating country) rose up to make the giant Olympic Flame, and I loved that they got some children to light it. The Olympic heroes of the past “passing the torch”, literally, to the Olympic heroes of the future. I wasn’t intending to stay up til 1am watching it all but I’m so glad I did.
I loved the Torch, very cool! What a great fireworks finale! The rings were great as well. I didn’t catch most of the references being made during the dancing/storytelling segment, the NBC narrators could have done better than saying “I don’t get it” for one of the bits. I did love how most was performed and executed with volunteers. Definitely liked the parachute bit, very “No! Really! No! Oh, okay No, she didn’t, oh thank God!”
The torch was cool, but overall I was disappointed. I was expecting something more Shakespearian—way too much pop culture for me. There is so much rich history and culture to draw from, that the whole house-party dance-fest seemed gaudy and superficial by comparison.
Some of the other highlights were the rings being forged, the organic set, the children singing from the different parts of the UK, seeing the workers who built the facilities being honored and the performance for the hearing-impaired.
It was like a big party (so much like Eurovision, really). Nothing about the Olympic ideals, the importance of being an athlete, fair competition, honesty, etc. I was very disappointed.
I was slightly worried before it started, what with the rumours of maypole dancing & cricket on the village green, but I loved the whole thing.
Showcased our little country for what it is, steeped in rich history/humour & a never say die, kick arse philosophy that serves us well, very proud.
Nice one Danny!
On a side note, can’t understand why this wasn’t in my “questions for you”, i’m a proud Brit & sport has always been listed in my topics, very strange.
I felt sorry for Muhammad Ali, he looked frail when lighting the flame at the Atlanta games in 96, but the difference in him was startling.
Keep fighting the fight, legend.