What did you think of the London 2012 Olympics opening ceremonies?

[Alraml]

Also spoke in French before english each time, which was weird to speak that before the host nation language. I know why they did it, but still..

I think French is the official language of the olympics

[Deleted]

I really enjoyed it...it was eccentric and quirky, by design and for a reason...it was also funny and beautiful. It seemed to me to really radiate pride...but without being arrogant or "too much".

[Wromthrax]

Haven't watched much but it didn't get me interested.

Almost all the people I know that did watch think it was pretty boring.

I think French is the official language of the olympics

LOL what?

[Bluesftw]

didnt watched it, not my kind of entertainment.

[Alilei32]

I think French is the official language of the olympics

No the president of the Olympic Committee or whatever is French thats why.

[Dazzy]

After seeing the plan a few days before (the meadows/sheep etc.) I really wasn't excited to see it.

It was quite impressive to watch (watched it originally with no sound, but knew mostly what was going on due to it being history and all).

The second time was even better, the announcers filling in the bits I didn't know. I would say it's one of the better ones I've seen.

[ZehGeek]

Would be nice if there wasn't a billion commercials and annoying announcers from the slight areas I saw..Mainly would be nice if there was a place online to see it unedited >.<

The bits I did see were pretty awsome, like the cattle grazing then the tree erupting with the Industrial Workers, and the music of the ages too. I loved it.

[Deleted]

No the president of the Olympic Committee or whatever is French thats why.

No, the founder of the modern Olympics back in 18-something was French, thats why.

[Northern Goblin]

No the president of the Olympic Committee or whatever is French thats why.

He's Belgian. The founder of the modern Olympics is French.

[Butler to Baby Sloths]

*was French. He died before 1900 iirc.

All in all, they did quite well. Anybody can put on a lighting and fireworks spectacle like Beijing 2008, I was glad to see that they didn't go that route this time. Over all good value for money.

As for the entry of the athletes: that is always boring, it was boring in Beijing, it was boring in Athens.

I thought that the Torch was a brilliant idea, having it built by the athletes and lit by "tomorrow's" olympians. The way that it will be disassembled at the end and each nation gets to take their bowl home with them is also a very nice touch.

[Gallahadd]

I thought it was pretty great. Although I have to say the choice of Singers was..... just wrong, Arctic Monkies and Emily Sande? Really? You've got a global stage to show off UK talent and you chose a shitty band from a few years back that had one hit song, and a singer that 1/2 the country hasn't heard of? Why not a GLOBAL success, like Leona Lewis or (I can't believe I'm actually about to suggest these boring whiney frakkers) Coldplay? Ya know, UK bands that are well known and have had hits around the world?

Other than that slight... misshap, I thought it was great. Loved the Pastoral start, moving through Isambard Kingdom Brunel and the Industrial Revolution, capped off with that outstanding segment with the forging of the olympic rings, through to Alice In Wonderland, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and Harry Potter, Rowan Atkinson stealing the show with his epic keyboard skillz, the amazing dancing Nurses from Great Ormond Street Hospital and the Queen Parachuting into the stadium. The musical section in the middle went on a little too long, but at least I could name every song played :P. The competetor's entrance was pretty long, but hey there's a fuckton of countries, what ya gunna do? the weird butterflycycles were beautiful, and having Sir Steve Redgrave, one of, in not THE greatest british olympians bringing in the torch for the final leg was the perfect choice, then having him hand of the torch to some young up and coming athletes was a stroke of genius. The actual lighting of the 'Cauldron' was breathtaking, and probably the highlight of the whole ceremony for me. Then you had the raising of the Olympic Flag, carried in by some amazing people and then to see Muhammad Ali there was just the icing on the cake.

Overall, was it as slick and perfect as the Beijing Olympics? No of course not, because we spent maybe 25% of the money, and most importantly Danny Boyle wasn't trying to make a slick, perfect ceremony. What he was going for was a celebration of what it meant to be british, showing our history, our music and most of all our bizarre, slightly quirky sense of humour. If you look at it that way, I think he did a stellar job and I think the ceremony was a resounding success.

[Raunchy]

I heard queen, pink Floyd and David Bowie the rest of the whole damn thing was garbage. Ohh yea mr bean was good as always

[Xevan]

The amount of music at these events always makes it feel weird and awkward. I'd much rather have some technical brilliance, something that makes you go - " wow, how the fuck did they do that?". Maybe I'm a simpleton, who knows, but the amount of inside jokes/culture and rap just made it less appealing. It was better than average I'd say.

[Deleted]

I heard queen, pink Floyd and David Bowie the rest of the whole damn thing was garbage. Ohh yea mr bean was good as always

The Beatles, The Rolling Stones? Arguably the 2 greatest bands of all time... no?



Also to the guy moaning about having The Arctic Monkeys and Emele Sande, The arctic monkeys are a great band, and had a very successful album release last year, theyre far from a one hit wonder band.

An Emele Sande was chosen for her voice, which is amazing, not because she is a 'big name' act. Leona Lewis is garbage.

---------- Post added 2012-07-29 at 03:12 AM ----------

I really liked it, it's a shame that so many people don't appreciate the story it told, and the great use of imagery involved, I thought it was brilliant.


Guess some people don't care about any of that though and would rather watch a load of fireworks going off for 4 hours, classy.

[Alilei32]

Did they play The Who? Dont remember hearing them at all. Probably best band ever to come out of UK...yes better than the beetles.

[kabshiel]

It's really not fair to compare London's opening ceremonies to Beijing's. China is a gigantic dictatorship that can force its billion citizens to do anything it wants. That being said, London's opening ceremonies were terrible. Vancouver's were much better in 2010.

[Alilei32]

It's really not fair to compare London's opening ceremonies to Beijing's. China is a gigantic dictatorship that can force its billion citizens to do anything it wants. That being said, London's opening ceremonies were terrible. Vancouver's were much better in 2010.

Umm World Cup was 2010 didnt realize there was an Olympics as well.

[Deleted]

The industrial revolution stage was fantastic, really hoped that they would leave the rings there for the duration of the games.
The celebration of litrature was a little over done, although it was interesting to see the giant puppets.
the GOSH (great ormand street hospital) / NHS part was also pretty well done.
The representation of the Doves of peace was really well done too.

What spoiled it for me though was the atrocious editing by the BBC. I dont know who was in charge of it but they need to be fired and sent back to film making school. I mean really getting a close up of some of the performers for a few seconds about 10 at the most, then switching to something else for another 10 seconds got really tiring.
and spending more time on the "arctic monkeys" during the final segment was a fucking joke. Felt more like a music concert where the band was the star of the show, and not the actual performers.

On the whole I enjoyed it, but it was made very forgettable by the Piss poor TV editing of it.

[Xevan]

It's really not fair to compare London's opening ceremonies to Beijing's. China is a gigantic dictatorship that can force its billion citizens to do anything it wants. That being said, London's opening ceremonies were terrible. Vancouver's were much better in 2010.

I thought Vancouver's was just as terrible. Pretty much the same thing as this with a lower budget and CGI projected onto a tarp. Pretty embarrassing actually.

---------- Post added 2012-07-29 at 03:53 AM ----------

Umm World Cup was 2010 didnt realize there was an Olympics as well.

Winter Olympics

[Maleren]

No the president of the Olympic Committee or whatever is French thats why.

Googled and found the answer

Why French? Well, besides being an influential language spoken worldwide, we have the French to thank for the modern Olympic Games. Sure, the original games were a Greek invention. But they had disappeared for over 1000 years until a teacher from France named Baron Pierre de Coubertin had the idea to bring them back. The first modern Olympic Games were held in Athens, Greece, in 1896. The first Winter Olympic Games were held in Chamonix, France, in 1924.


Because the founder of the Modern Olympic Games was French, and the Headquarters of the International Olympic Committee is located in Switzerland (not France as noted below) -- French is one of the official languages of Switzerland.
Source(s):
en.wikipedia.org
olympic.org


Very simple to just look it up.