Olympics Opening Ceremony - Verdict

[El Presidente]

- why the Arctic Monkeys? Absolutely nothing whatsoever special about their couple of songs.
- the ceremony was in ENGLAND for the LONDON olympics. The games originated in GREECE. So why all the French being spoken? Feck of froggies.

You're a bit thick aren't you?

 

[Tony Meolas Loan Spell]

From the clips i saw it was summed up best by a chum "a giant pet shop boys concert" he didnt mean it in a good way.

 

[Westdene Seagull]

Unless the other countries have commentary I can see almost the whole story going over everyones head..

Most the foreign press have been very complimentary about it so I'd suggest that overseas viewers did get commentary to explain hat was going on.

 

[Leekbrookgull]

The pride in Beckham's face. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3HCpoKkMD1M

 

[Westdene Seagull]

- the ceremony was in ENGLAND for the LONDON olympics. The games originated in GREECE. So why all the French being spoken? Feck of froggies.

Ignoring most of your post because it was bollocks ( apart the McCartney bit ), the reason French is the first language spoken is because the IOC is based in Geneva. I'll leave you to work out what language they might speak there.

 

[Westdene Seagull]

To add, I was one of those people who thought we shouldn't have bid for the Olympics, that it was a complete waste of money and is based on corporate greed. After last night I can state that I was a complete tosser and utterly wrong !

 

[Sergei's Celebration]

Do you know if there is anywhere you can re watch it?

Here you go...

BBC iPlayer - Olympic Ceremonies: London 2012: Opening Ceremony

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

Superb and subversive, no wonder that Tory MP was spluttering into his G&T and muttering on Twitter about 'leftie multi-cultural crap'



Something for everybody in there, apart from maybe the barking right - though they probably appreciated the Nazi salute from Herman the German.

Boyle really threw in the kitchen sink, most of which worked. Some truly surprising surprises. As my nephew posted on Facebook last night: 'Just waiting for Margaret Thatcher to start popping ping pong balls out her minge...'

 

[Lyndhurst 14]

And the worst performance came from the Queen and her minions. Unbelievably miserable looking. Even the BBC commentator was kind of at a loss for what to say when the British team came in. All the people who bang on about what a great job she does, well this was her biggest job in years and she couldn't even raise a smile.

 

[Dr Q]

It was stunning.

 

[W.C.]

I did wonder if she is ill, she is quite old as well! Prince Phillip was in good spirits though.

Absolutely fair enough if that is the case. I'm definitely not a royalist but even I was amazed at how thoroughly miserable she looked.

 

[ozzygull]

Britain inventing the text message (SMS) I know I work for the company that evened and the bloke who sent the first one.

 

[goldstone]

I only watched the last 20 mins or so ... recorded the rest to watch this evening. Was underwhelmed with what I saw:
- who the hell were those people who ran around the stadium and then lit the flame - why?
- who were the people who "sponsored" them? What was that all about?
- Muhammed Ali should not have been dragged out for this. He is a wreck of a human being and should be kept out of the limelight. If you can justify his presence then Maggie should have been alongside him dribbling.
- Paul McCartney is, I would suggest, past his best.
- why the Arctic Monkeys? Absolutely nothing whatsoever special about their couple of songs.
- the ceremony was in ENGLAND for the LONDON olympics. The games originated in GREECE. So why all the French being spoken? Feck of froggies.

Sincerely hoping that the rest is better.

I have now watched the rest of it on iPlayer:
- Mr Bean. No idea what the fuss was about. Stupid and NOT funny. Shame if johnny foreigner thinks that Mr Bean is an example of the kind of comedy the Brits like.
- Bond/Queen. OK. Great idea, but not as good as it could/should have been
- Mary Poppins. OK
- NHS bit was quite good.

I did like the industrial revolution bit.

Best thing about it - it was different. But nowhere near the "amazing" and "incredible" that some folks seem to have been watching.

 

[goldstone]

Ignoring most of your post because it was bollocks ( apart the McCartney bit ), the reason French is the first language spoken is because the IOC is based in Geneva. I'll leave you to work out what language they might speak there.

It is irrelevant where the IOC is based. The 2012 Games are in LONDON where we speak English.

And, smarty pants, there are THREE national languages in Switzerland.

 

[Tooting Gull]

It was incredible. Boyle is a creative genius, and his judgment about what to include (and less importantly what to leave out) was spot on.

 

[Frutos]

And, smarty pants, there are THREE national languages in Switzerland.

Four, actually: French, German, Italian and Romansh

 

[TheJasperCo]

I really enjoyed the majority of the ceremony. The only three bits I disliked was the music and culture scene, Paul McCartney's tedious rendition of Hey Jude, and that Chakrabati woman carrying the Olympic flag - unnecessary and politically correct. The rest was clever, funny and visually brilliant in equal measure. 8/10.

 

[Westdene Seagull]

It is irrelevant where the IOC is based. The 2012 Games are in LONDON where we speak English.

And, smarty pants, there are THREE national languages in Switzerland.

But the MAJORITY language in Geneva is FRENCH !

 

[Simster]

a) The IOC are based in Lausanne, not Geneva
b) English and French are the two offical languages of the IOC, and that is why French & English are/were both spoken. If the Olympics are in a host country that has alternative language to these two, then that is *also* used.

 

[Lord Bracknell]

a) The IOC are based in Lausanne, not Geneva
b) English and French are the two offical languages of the IOC, and that is why French & English are/were both spoken. If the Olympics are in a host country that has alternative language to these two, then that is *also* used.

Indeed. Here's a medal ceremony conducted in French, English and Italian. With a Venezuelan-Spanish commentary thrown in as a bonus.

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And it's worth watching to the end, just to hear the first part of the Italian national anthem sung as an appalling dirge.