Olympics opening ceremony show

Shouldn't prince Phil have done it then?

 

It was OK, some parts better than others and I did like the fact that, for once, it got away from the serried ranks of 'look-alike' athletes who, to a TV audience, could just as easily have been created by CGI.

What wasn't so great was a 5 minute (or so) slot on the NHS and Grt. Ormond Street in particular. Why? particularly when GOSH itself doesn't seem to know whether it's an NHS hospital or a chairty and you could be forgiven for thinking every NHS bed in the country must have been in that stadium.

OK, so someone is going to tell me this was all part of the 'history' theme, so apart from I.K. Brunel and Tim Berners-Lee, where was any reference to ... Alexander Fleming? Percy Shaw? Frank Whittle? John Logie Baird? William Harvey? Christopher Cockerell? Alexander Bain? etc., etc., etc.

The other thing I found intensely irritating was that even the 'olde English' scenes contained a disproportionate number of black and Asian faces in every single TV shot - a theme repeated throughout the entire thing. Now I accept we are a 'multi-cultural' society but .... the whole thing began with hymns (not terribly 'PC', particularly when, in a few months time, we'll be getting even more stories of Council's banning 'Happy Christmas' banners across streets because it ' .... might upset the large ethnic population who may not be Christian'), and having been treated to this overt display of positive discrimination, we fast forward to 1948 and ....... the arrival of MV Empire Windrush???

There was of course, that wonderful (slightly heart-stopping moment) when, as the Great British team arrived, the camera cut to The Queen who happened to be looking down and left us all wondering ..... is she asleep?

I'm guessing that, of the estimated audience of 4bn, some 3.99900bn were left totally and utterly confused - especially the American audience who, it's reported, thought Kenneth Branagh was meant to represent Abraham Lincoln!

 

I noticed that. It was very difficult not to notice when the young lady that took most of the limelight in many scenes, the kind of tanned/Caribbean looking girl with the massive frizzy hair, was stunningly mint

 

I DID wonder if she had fallen asleep there for a second......

 

I wouldnt balame her one little bit if she was asleep infact that would have been one of the best olympic moments ever!!

 

I laughed my way through the ceremony and all over again through this thread!

It was delightfully British and bonkers but what other nations made of it I can't imagine. I'd love to hear some foreign reviews. But, heyho, who cares what the rest of the world thinks, anyway?

I thought the beginning and end was a bit of a shambles. Would have liked to see a dynamic and clear-cut beginning but given the logistics perhaps that wasn't possible. Paul McCartney should be put out to grass with immediate effect, he was embarrassing at the Jubilee and even worse this time. It's not like he's a huge talent, either, just the last one left standing. Why didn't they ask David Bowie, he's far more of a musical talent and influence? Still, at least it wasn't Elton John.

Loved the lighting effects. Loved the singing children and all the weird videos. Loved DB in a boat - think he enjoyed himself too.

Hated all the posey rock bands, well, I do anyway in any context.

Enjoyed all the story-telling, must have gone down well with Alesha Dixon.

I thought they did well to keep the involvement of the armed forces to a minimum. I expect the Iraqi & Afghani teams appreciated that, not to mention the Argentines.

I felt that they involved the Afro-Caribbean community but did not show the Asian influence in Britain much, although using Akram Khan's choreography was an excellent idea.

Bit mystified by the texting section. I thought the I'm a Firestarter song was a very unfortunate choice considering events in London last summer, but it's been pointed out to me that they were probably referring to the Olympic flame. Ah.

 

On the whole I think watching penicillin growing in a petri dish may have been a tad slow, FM. Slicing someone open to display their circulation may also have presented a few logistical problems. I agree that the NHS section did go on a bit but I still enjoyed it. It is one of the things which we're known for abroad, and indeed the main reason why so many people try to come here. Great Ormond St got in on the gig because of its connection to J M Barrie which segued neatly into children's literature and I suppose there is all that 'children are the future' symbolism.

I think many foreign viewers will have been intrigued; isn't art (and I think I would put Danny Boyle's work in that category) supposed to baffle a bit? The music and visual spectacle, however, were accessible to all. A great showcase for Britain and what it can achieve. Yay! This Dutch-Jewish-Irish Englishwoman thinks the Boyz (and girls) Dun Gud.

 

She was busy picking her nails when team GB rolled in. Ooops.

 

I had the same thoughts, MD. I figured maybe we were just being uber-trendy and embracing the London riots as part of our culture. The rest of the world seems to think we spend all our time out on the streets pillaging and fire setting, so why not?

 

I thought there was far too much larking about and gurning at the camera on the part of many of the teams. FFS. Where was the dignity and pride in representing your country in front of a global audience? Some of them seemed to think they were on a drunken night our with their mates.
If kids on a school outing behaved like that they'd get a proper rollocking when they got back, awful role-modelling, I call it. Or am I showing my age?

 

I do wonder whether she is losing it a bit. That's just the sort of thing that plebs do but royals don't. Toffs are trained from an early age not to fidget, yawn or pick their noses in public.

She looked a darn sight happier on that freezing barge, didn't she?

 

With respect (in a manner of speaking) to the Tory MP gaffe, I was interested in how people like the Stones, Sex Pistols and Frankie Goes to Hollywood, all accused of destroying the moral fabric of the nation in their heyday suddenly appear to have been absorbed into the establishment as cuddly icons of Britishness. It stuck in my craw somewhat, surely Sid Vicious would be turning in his grave? Or would he be watching the show from his multi million pound Cotswold mansion?

 

LOL, Sure she did, Clare. Didn't even need hospitalisation afterwards.

 

The contrast between Team GB, with their bling-bling tracksuits and attitude, and the rather sober US team in Ralph Lauren blazers (and berets - ooh la la) marching in neat ranks was striking. I guess we were going for street cred and embracing our inner chav. I ended up thinking it was rather fun because it was completely the opposite of that stuffed-shirt-bowler-hat image we have abroad.