Opening Ceremony

lilyoftheincas said:
It seems like I'm the only one but I've loved it so far! Thought the boy singing Jerusalem was fab!
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I thought it was great up until the punk started and then it went downhill rapidly. We have so many fantastic singers and bands in this country, what a shame to not use them and give the impression that the music we produce is total cr&p.

Loved his sense of humour though, Mr Bean and the helicoptor jump were brilliant.
Macca so did not deserve to be there, he was awful; he'd wrecked the Jubilee concert already, anything else he's likely to wreck too?
 
Idk there was concepts that were great but everything was mashed together, it looked a bit messy tbh and random? The things they chose to highlight as well, like wut? No idea what was going on at the start as well, disappointed tbh could of been alot worse though...

Liked the drum music tho at the start :D
 
I loved it whacky crazy a bit dark Kenneth Brannagh doing my fav bit of Shakespeare dressed as isambard kingdom Brunel how would think of that ,all looking a bit lord of the rings ay first .
Beauiful cauldron but flat end time to put Paul Mcartney out to grass.
I am off to bed nightie nightie.
 
We had said the same about macca - fabulously talented man but sadly he just doesn't have the voice anymore.

Thought the cauldron was beautiful and very original!

Overall I loved it. The logistics in the set changes were absolutely amazing and completely unexpected.

I wonder what reviews it will get from other nations though, it certainly was VERY british!
 
I really liked that Sir Steve carried the torch in and that the athletes nominated youngsters to light the cauldren, how cool was that. I thought the final torch cauldren was phenomenal, but an out of tune Paul McCartney ruined the end, bad choice to finish for me
 
Superb. Totally British and incredibly clever.
My only criticism, bloody Paul McCartney, why is he always trotted out.
 
Loved it - a grand trot through our recent history - so vibrant, funny and very Danny Boyle....I guess he's not for everyone though! Loved the early section through the industrial revolution and Ken Brannagh was great.

Absolutely adored the fact that the Queen joined in - what a coup!

Macca really does need to retire (for anyone who's familiar with th film Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey, he starting to remind me of Granny S. Preston!! Sorry, a bit random, but check it out!)

Oh, and the cauldron was the bees knees :)
 
I'd seen the main show last week and thought it was wonderful. Nimrod? - c'mon guys, that's got to get you going. And HM The Queen - what a good sport the woman is :D
The bit that got me was the cauldron lighting. Still blubbing a bit over that one. A wonderful idea to 'pass the torch on' rather than leave it to established stars.

I start on Sunday and am determined to help you all have a wonderful time. This is probably one of the best days of my life so far ....
 
`` A wonderful idea to 'pass the torch on' rather than leave it to established stars.``


should have passed paul mc over too.let the whole show down.
 
OK, American here so you all gave away some bits :D S'ok, I know this is a UK board, so I'll deal - nice of me, right?

Question - Macca = Paul McCartney?

I thought it was pretty fab, really - had the hubby rattling off every song, musician & group and roaring on about how important music is in the UK.

Do wish the numpty NBC commentators weren't dumbing it down so much - could I turn off the commentary, please, and just leave the music & such?
 
Ab Fab enjoyed the journey through the industrial revolution especially the rings and the film and music sections,so glad that it was Steve Redgrave our greatest olympian who brought the torch into the stadium,they have been talking for past 4 weeks about the next generation so no suprise they gave it to younger nominees to light the cauldron,which was pretty spectacular I have to say. Really enjoyed the James Bond and Mr Bean sections very funny.Have to agree Macca spoilt the last few minutes time to retire gracefull me thinks. Now looking forward to this weekends eventing Good Luck Team GB, Go Buzz show them how its done :D:D:D Hope all horses and riders come back safe and sound :)
 
All a bit strange, what has the industrial revolution got to do with 2012 olympics?, and maypoles and so on, glad the commentator had been briefed as to what it was all about, but even with his rehearsal, he was struggling for links.
A for effort, B for production.
 
Xander said:
I'd seen the main show last week and thought it was wonderful. Nimrod? - c'mon guys, that's got to get you going. And HM The Queen - what a good sport the woman is :D
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She never mentioned anything about her participation when she was at the New Forest Show:) There she landed in her helicopter, along with two others carrying the five Royal Vehicles or was it four?

She is an inspiration to us all and long may she reign over us. It is always said the measure of an organisation is the quality of it's management. Clearly we have the best.
 
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Eleven years ago, before I lived in the UK, I might not have *understood* much of the references made in this ceremony. There's criticism that it's "too British" they way it played out. However, I LOVED it! There were bits that I thought were a bit stiff or a little random, but I loved the humor, the music and the whole patriotic feel to it. It was so original - but most of all I really loved the cultural references with the modern music.

I have always been a HUGE Beatles fan since I was young, so I was a little disappointed by Sir Paul's techncal gaff and quality of his voice (he's an oldie now, so I know it's just not possible for him to sound like he did in the 60s/70s/80s), but it was good to have him make an appearance. However, I think the ending should have been the firework display with that absolutely amazing VT with Pink Floyd playing over it. That was so emotive to me.
 
Didnt see the beginning, but watched the Queen and 007, how cool are we!

And then absolutely loved the torch, so original and fantastic!

Turned off when pak a mac started to sing:eek:

Just had brill idea - could have used him as the torch!! Solved two problems in one!
 
I was impressed. Very modern in its use of multimedia etc. but very connected to - what the world thinks at least - being British.

Re the money. Bit late to be quibbling about 27 mil when you're hosting the Olympics. That's a drop in the bucket, I hate to say, and really, this is a go big or go home moment if there ever was one. The whole point is to show the world GB is still a playa, right. ;)

Re French, it's the official language of the IOC. Plus, due to Colonial rule (see above, about proving you're still in the game ;)) many countries that don't use English use French officially.

The FEI is also officially French, hence the use of CCI etc.

Anyway, I'm not sure I loved every minute of it but hats off to Danny. At the press gig afterwards he looked like he'd run his own marathon! And I thought the cauldron was great. Very tough to find something symbolic and exciting that hasn't already been done.
 
Laughing at Macca as the torch. . .so, so wrong! :D

Oh, and no more Ali. Please. It's so awful to see him at stuff like this so clearly unaware and unable. It doesn't bother me to see him but he so obviously looks like he's not having a good time.
 
I thought it was fantastic and wished I had been there! I agree re Ali, it's almost cruel to keep rolling him out when he's clearly a very ill man
 
I can't believe we're on a horsey forum, 6 pages into a thread and not one person has mentioned the beautiful horses that featured early on! 5 stunning shires (or could have been 4 and a clydie given the tying in to the scottish section). What legends they were!
I loved all of it. I resent patriotism for the sake of it but last night I had an immense sense of pride in what our little island has achieved over they years and why we're going to do an amazing job of this.
I am also a staunch republican but when Liz and Mr Bond were on screen together I was out of my seat whooping and cheering. If we have a royal family they need to be in touch with the people who they represent and this showed to me that they are able to do this. Queenie, fair play for being a good sport!
 
Oh yeah, there WERE horses weren't there! I clearly remember the horse costumed people too! ;)

Yes, loved that HRH has a sense of humor enough to be part of the opening sequence.

But overall, I really just loved all the music. Loved the cultural references and the fact that I understood most of them (like I said, some of these will be lost on the rest of the world).

I'm not a huge fan of Beckham, but actually rather enjoyed his part in this. It sort of tied in the Bond theme from the beginning (it was rather Bond like in the speed boat). He was rather adamant that he woudln't be carrying the torch, and he didn't - but he got to play a big part of it which I think was deserved.
 
my oh has seen a lot of major opening ceremonies as its part of his job and he was impressed, it was very british, the music was amazing and the torch was spectacular. It was about celebrating the stars of the future, and heralding unsung heroes like Doreen Lawrence being one of the flag bearers of the olympic flag, and yes i know they got Macca out but what other country has such iconic music as this one - like the Beatles. I loved it, and felt proud to be British which i dont a lot of the time!!
 
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