Olympic opening ceremony

[zeitghost]

It was pretty good until they had Paul McCartney on - god he sounds awful and i used to like Hey jude

 

[vtecsilver]

It was pretty good until they had Paul McCartney on - god he sounds awful and i used to like Hey jude

Kinda agree, his singing tonight is below par. Think Elton would have given us a better "performance"!!

 

[H2O]

Those are cool.

Ergh McCartney, only bit I hate lol. What's wrong with the sound too.

Yeah, there was a weird eco at the start & it's really hard to hear the crowd singing along. :-/

Preferred the arctic monkeys from earlier on.


The torch was a neat idea

 

[MackieStaggie]

Unfortunately Macca hasn't aged as well in terms of keeping that singing voice like Springsteen or others.

 

[2blue4u]

Should have substituted McC with Gordon the Gopher. Brilliant evening until he chirped up.

 

[Garnett]

**** - Elton John. Damn right. Would have been infinitely better. Thought MUSE would have been good, but McCartney was a massive disappointment tbh. Bit of a damp squib to end it all on.

 

[On the Huh]

Missed all this she-ite until the last couple of mins. Admit not a fan of this, nor Mc.Cartney, but I must say for a bloke of his age I was impressed how well he can still sing at 70.

People like Bryan Ferry and Paul Weller have lost it, yet McCartney still has it
Not a fan, the Beatles were always overated IMHO, but got to give credit where credit's due.

 

[acetone]

I thought the whole show was very good (apart from Huw Edwards commentating (i think he's crap every time he does anything live)) I think it showed UK history,influence and success off very well.

They are going to have to move the Olympic Cauldron as it's right in the middle of the field ?

And of course McCartney was as crap as he has been for 20 years, I'd have gone with the young people theme and has someone like Adele

 

[Les McLean]

I loved every minute of it, proud to be British, the whole show was done with panache, style and the typically tongue in cheek English humour.

The only thing that grated was I felt the commentators were a bit intrusive at times, they didn't know when to shut up and at times prattled on when I wanted to soak up the atmosphere/music, especially when they played 'Heroes' as the GB Olympic team arrived in the stadium.

 

[Marc]

Absolutely loved it but I agree with you about the commentary Les.

I turned it off when McCartney came on.

 

[dinners]

Its quite fun, at least it isn't that 'show of might, power and whippin em into formation' we saw at Beijing

Exactly.

I thought it was superb. Very British and even some of the die hards up here liked it and mentioned Mr Salmond would have been cursing.

Pink Floyd for the fireworks at the end made my night.

 

[Cobra]

Agreed. Massively positive views on t***ter. Disgusted by the sad people in THAT sticky

"Disgusted by the sad people" is quite a negative view of people
that have a different stance / point of view to you.

Maybe if "that thread" were advocating the return of slavery or child labour
in the UK, or maybe dropping Napalm to "tidy away" a few conflicts around the world,
then maybe you would have the right to feel disgusted.

I am NOT disgusted that you are all in favour of spending 9 billion was it?
on something that will last 4 weeks (2 weeks for the main event)

I do however feel sad that while the world is in such financial turmoil,
that we blew all that money on something that will only last 1/12 year.
let alone 27 million on 3 hours worth of TV.

 

[trencheel303]

At the end when the guy announced "Paul McCartney" I could've sworn he said "pour the coffee". I was a bit baffled, that would sure be a lot of cups.

I do however feel sad that while the world is in such financial turmoil,
that we blew all that money on something that will only last 1/12 year.
let alone 27 million on 3 hours worth of TV.

It was a lot of money but it may end up acting as an economy booster overall.

 

[Cobra]

It was a lot of money but it may end up acting as an economy booster overall.

Maybe, who knows, and that is part of the "spin"
But that's a hell of a lot of money to be gambling with
I'd personally stick it in the bank and refloat the word economy with the interest

But that really wasn't the point I was making, it was more about the attack on people,
that have a different point of view,
that were not interested for what ever reason.

 

[Flash In The Pan]

It was a lot of money but it may end up acting as an economy booster overall.

Then London will be the first city in the history of the games to "win" from them....

 

[acetone]

" something that will only last 1/12 year.

The money spent on Manchester Commonwealth games has lasted 10 years so far, the faculties are all still in daily use, and have played host to many national and international events which still bring money in to the city 10 years later. Not only has Manchester gained but some of the local area too, I live in an area where the cycling road race and mountain biking was held, the area has become a cycling hot spot bring people and their money to local businesses .

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-18983577

 

[Flash In The Pan]

 

[mani]

Maybe, who knows, and that is part of the "spin"
But that's a hell of a lot of money to be gambling with
I'd personally stick it in the bank and refloat the word economy with the interest

tbh you couldnt float andy carroll with 27m let alone the world(?) economy.

we're living in times where billions of euros worth of rescue packages havent put a dent in the likes of of greece, ireland, portugal and spain.

£27m is pocket change when talking global economies. infact i'd say its lesser than pocket change. its like saying here's 20p to that saving your doing for the £350,000 ferrari.

Whilst i appriciate what your tryna say with regards to saving the money from the olympics even in the net spend of the uk hosting the olympics its a small percentage.

incidently reading on foriegn newspaper sites it seems to have gone down a storm abroad even if the UK public didnt think too highly of it.

they're all taking about how the uk has sprung a surprise on the world by doing something totally different etc no military style parades but just lots of fun.

 

[Steep]

That's more like "Parachute.....gave me a wedgie urrgh!"

 

[dekeyboy]

I watched it with an open mind, and forgetting all the political stuff bantered about i quite enjoyed it. The only real downer was using Paul "i used to be good with a band in the 60s but now i can't sing" McCartney to close the show.

 

[joescrivens]

Freedom of speech Joe freedom of speech
Just like you "enjoy" on a regular basis,
in threads where you present a negative (opposite) view

I have posted the linky to the Bah Humbug thread.( And here it is again)

I cannot however, force people
to post there, just because you don't like their point of view.
Freedom of speech

I'm all for freedom of speech. Just not deliberate baiting which is what's been happening in this thread. Why was there a thread created for the people against the Olympics in the first place?

Although admittedly I didn't realise this thread was a separate one from the good/bad Olympic split. So maybe it's just the way it should be?

Having a different opinion is all good. It's the deliberate baiting in this thread that leaves it with a bad taste, but maybe I should h e just rtm instead.

 

[u8myufo]

Well choreographed and presented, hard work by all those volunteers.
For all those that really felt that depressed about it, do not worry there is no need to seek help, it was just people being happy and enjoying themselves things will be back to doom and gloom again for you in a couple of weeks. What a sad life you lot must live :shake::shake:

 

[Wail]

Loved every bit of it. My only reservation was about the UK military carrying the UK & Olympic flags, I would gave preferred to not see any reference to military / armed forces in the Olympics.

On the point of costs and putting them billions in a bank with interest; cost, amortise that over a couple of decades as it would be capital investment. Bank interests are very close to zero those days. On the flip side, London's economy is witnessing a surge and the residual effect will last well past the four weeks of the event.

Not forgetting, if I'm not mistaken, all infrastructure have already been sold to a Qatary sovereign wealth fund?! I'm sure the net balance of £24bn, or whatever it was spent, will be well recouped by the businesses and by the marketing of corporate UK, which will see streams of funds flowing for years.

Well done UK ; now, I'm not the least interested in the games to come ,,, not a sports' fan myself.

 

[gramps]

they're all taking about how the uk has sprung a surprise on the world by doing something totally different etc no military style parades but just lots of fun.

I went to bed a bit after 10 but I have to grant you that point from what I saw up till then ... who lit the cauldron?

 

[acetone]

Then London will be the first city in the history of the games to "win" from them....

London 1948 made a profit, so why not london 2012 too.

Plus there is money made in strange ways that would be difficult to be attribute to the games, who knows someone in New Zealand may have watched the ceremony, thought the Arctic Monkeys were great and goes out and buy the album, it's games generated income, but how could anyone put that down on a balance sheet

 

[pooley]

To be fair, after the first 20 minutes - which was complete dross - I thought they managed to pull things round with bond, Atkinson and some decent music.

Lets hope that sets the stall and we finish the events stronger than we start them!

 

[fidsey79]

I absolutely loved it! So different to the Beijing opening ceremony. The only thing that let it down for me was wheeling out Macca again! Hey Jude again?!?!? Really?!?!? And before you all start - I am a massive Beatles fan!

 

[Alastair]

Loved every bit of it. My only reservation was about the UK military carrying the UK & Olympic flags, I would gave preferred to not see any reference to military / armed forces in the Olympics.

That is my big reservation about last night. Having the military carry the flag will appeal to the UK masses, but it will sit badly with most of the world. The Olympic ideal calls for a two week global cease-fire for the duration of the games (although it rarely happens). It left me feeling very uncomfortable.

Other than that.. Danny done good. The opening sequence was a lot less jingoistic than I feared it might be. I can see why there were reports that elements of the Conservative party were uncomfortable. There was a strong social message with a left-wing bias and an emphasis on people rather than power. Whether the entire message was easily understood by other cultures remains a mystery. We had a multi-national audience round watching and at several points we had to explain the context.

I'm not sure the Queen looks grumpy/sour, to me she increasingly she has been looking ill or in pain ever since the Jubilee.



We did wonder if the choice of military flag-bearers was a last minute alteration. Perhaps G4S were contracted to provide the flag-bearers?

 

[Yv]

I absolutely loved it! So different to the Beijing opening ceremony. The only thing that let it down for me was wheeling out Macca again! Hey Jude again?!?!? Really?!?!? And before you all start - I am a massive Beatles fan!

The athletes parade had got to about 'C' when we headed out of the door to get to Ally Pally to photograph the fireworks at the end [together with several hundred other people who had the same idea, AP has a brilliant view over the south and east of the city] so I got to miss the boring bits and Macca

When we got home, fast forwarded recorded version and just watched the good bits.... it didn't include Hey Jude


Oh, one thing I will say, the whole flame lighting thing I thought was fantastic, from the idea of past Olympic greats handing the torch on to young athletes to the multi 'kettled' cauldron itself, superb!

 

[u8myufo]

I absolutely loved it! So different to the Beijing opening ceremony. The only thing that let it down for me was wheeling out Macca again! Hey Jude again?!?!? Really?!?!? And before you all start - I am a massive Beatles fan!

Agree with you on Macca Sarah Obviously there were a couple of bits not to everyones liking.Beckam in the boat imho, he already had the limelight once why have him again :shrug: Great to see an icon such as Muhammad Ali, plenty of youth being involved with it all as well, and who could not have had there heart strings pulled a little by the national anthem being sung by the Koas Signing Choir of deaf and hearing children? The Olympic cauldron was a clever touch, all in all I thought it was good without going ott, so many times in the past it`s a case of we can do it bigger than you, this imo was a good balance.

 

[Yves Geza]

London 1948 made a profit, so why not london 2012 too.

Because in 1948 the Olympic community was just happy to gather together with no one actually shooting at them!

These days competitors are not willing to bring their own food, sleep in ex-army camp Nissen huts and travel by bus and tube ... even the ones who come from countries where people are still shooting at them!

 

[Yves Geza]

Well done UK ; now, I'm not the least interested in the games to come ,,, not a sports' fan myself.

Oh you should stay interested! If you liked that bit, there'll be far greater drama, spectacle, excitement, theatre and human endeavour in the coming fortnight! ... and NO ONE knows the script!

 

[Trev4]

I watched the opening ceremony because I wanted to see what sort of typical British muck up it was going to be. Was I wrong… and some. They were telling a story that most people wouldn’t have a clue how to narrate or express. It took a few minutes to get the gist and understand what it was about, but then it was extremely well done, the engineering, design, logistics, and everything else was on an awesome scale and it all worked.
I was in Oz in 2000 and theirs was a tremendous success, I was scared we wouldn’t stand a chance, but we did and we exceeded in all areas in my opinion, well... except for McCartney... and a very bored looking Queen that did surprise me.
I didn’t come on here to talk about it last night in case I missed anything, so come on guys, lets not do the normal British thing of rubbishing ourselves and talking ourselves out of being proud of a brilliant opening ceremony and hopefully a great games, do what other countries do and celebrate what we are doing well. Above all, let’s just enjoy what we have. What’s the alternative, we could have 3 hours of boring football together with after game analysis, big brother, X-factor, and the list goes on. For me I'm going to be proud of what we have achieved and enjoy it all.

 

[cambsno]

As a big macca fan I was disappointed by him. Arctic monkeys on the other hand were awesome. Great come together cover.

Why shouldn't the military be part of it? We have the greatest forces in the world some if whom are working on the Olympics. They do fantastic jobs and help and support in other countries too. If anything why were people of the UN there? Just another corrupt organization who do naff all aside from telling people like Assad that they are a very naughty boy!

 

[cambsno]

Oh and the armed forces will be doing their best to prevent a terrorist attack, which the Olympics has first hand of.

 

[Keith_m]

Was it me or did the German guy do a nazi salute when ze Germans came out??

 

[AJQS]

Didn't see it all, only thing that grated was everyone having to read their lines from a card, even the queen - it's not like they were having to memorise war and peace!

Didn't stay for Macca, never liked him, the only good thing he did IMO was the bassline for Come Together, which the Arctic Monkeys did brilliantly.

 

[Alastair]

Was it me or did the German guy do a nazi salute when ze Germans came out??

Assuming this comment isn't a shot from the cheap seats (which ze zilly zpelling would imply).. perhaps the German delegate was just better educated than the average UK viewer?

The Olympic salute is a variant of the Roman salute, with the right arm and hand are stretched and pointing upward, the palm is outward and downward, with the fingers touching. However, the arm is raised higher and at an angle to the right from the shoulder.

The greeting is visible on the official posters of the games at Paris 1924 and Berlin 1936. Also famous is the French and Canadian teams entering the Olympic stadium in Berlin, 1936 with their arms raised. In the Leni Riefenstahl film Olympia this scene was captured, and afterwards led to repeated misinterpretations suggesting that the French and Canadian delegations were saluting Hitler.

Since the Second World War the greeting has fallen out of use because of the possibility of it being mistaken for the Nazi salute, although no official stance has been taken on the matter by the IOC
​

Wiki link

 

[Ragwort]

Was it me or did the German guy do a nazi salute when ze Germans came out??

No. It wasn't just you. Seig Heil was perhaps not the best salute to his fellow countrymen and women.
Camilla looked a bit shocked. Boris was wetting himself.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...-athletes-Boris-Camilla-look-fit-giggles.html

But did anybody notice that the music to Dambusters was played earlier on?

 

[CT]

I couldn't help wondering what John Lennon would have thought (and said) about Macca's dodgy contribution, and I don't go a bundle on Mr Bean at the best of times, but for the most part it was a lavish feast for the eyes and ears and beautifully presented. I think Danny Boyle did us proud along with everyone who played a part. The transformation from rural England to the industrial revolution was staggering in it's complexity and beauty - for me that was the high point of the ceremony, but I enjoyed the whole thing.

I don't know why we put ouselves down as much as we do. :shrug: