The Olympics Thread

[Chadoi]

It's strange but curling always seems to be very popular.

I remember back in 2002 when the GB women's team took gold and nearly 6 million people in the UK watched it. It's very tactical and doesn't overemphasise physical ability so I think it's very accessible to casual Olympic viewers.

I would love to try it!

[Zoologic]

What I mean is: while watching the opening in Beijing, everything was so strict: I could only think of the way it was developed, with dancers being drilled into a perfect choreography, for example. Linking that to the strict regime in China was easy, and it bothered me.

London wasn't so superorganised, at least it didn't look like that: I spotted several mistakes and of course the Mr Bean part was purposely imperfect. I liked that, taking the whole thing not too seriously. This wouldn't have been possible in China.

So I'm talking about regimes here, not common people living in this country or that.

I must see the end product to judge whether it is simply "great" "stunning" or "exceptional." or not.

Whether they were done by my best friends or someone who bribed me earlier does not come to my criteria. But let's talk about the business behind it in different manner. Because I never like "fake grandiose shows" either, humans are not robots as I understand it. We probably might agree there. I thought you were talking about the opening ceremony shows.


So the opening.

Oh sure, the concept is interesting, but put yourself as one of the audience in the stadium. You'll see random chaos amongst the event. Yeah, they are showing us a change, from the green meadow Midlands into industrial era Britain, but hey, where are those suited capitalists boys dancing? Oh they are here, no, they are there? And are these guys cleaning in the middle of event, are they dancing while rolling the grass mat? What this is a charity event now? Oh! Look NHS, what a neat show there. Oh now we are in the 60s... hey, those are famous bands little kids nowadays rarely listened to (kinda like 9gag hipsters for forcing these into the show).

Overall it was great (worth watching), although I have to say that it is a bit meaningless, because of too much details.

Kinda like me during my puberty, "wait, what am I going to do here? OMG let's bring planes! Spitfires, Tornado, Lightning! And throw in Haggis as well. Then we can have British tanks like Churchill! Oh, for the sake of keeping it random, let's put Spice Girls singing there just because they are British! Ha, why not Queen too? And also make Jamie Olivier cook in the middle of that stadium. Oh boy this is going to show how Brits this Olympic is!"

Shit guys, we have this art form called "abstract," why make all things too literal? Are the glorious opening of past summer Olympics are too mainstream nowadays?

I mean, the James Bond part is alright. The Mr. Bean gag is original. But that was all for me. Many people just doesn't connect with history lessons like us. I might get the whole idea. but I guess, the majority of people around me (including my high school/college friends) wouldn't get it. Hence, to be fair, it is not any improvement over Beijing 2008 opening. Sure it is different from what we had so far, but since Sydney 2000, I won't choose this one.




TL DR... So the opening, compared to Beijing 2008? This opening has less jaw dropping moments, honestly

[Zoologic]

Edited to proper size... I thought it is pretty boring to follow a wall of text like that.

[Eat Uranium]

I thought it was OK.  I didn't like the James Bond bit on account of it being cheesy, and I didn't like the Rowan Atkinson bit on account of nauseating CGI.  Clearly the best part was the glowing rings joining together in the air.

What I want to know, is what the hell the US team was thinking?  United States of Flight Attendants indeed.

[VonMudra]

It's strange but curling always seems to be very popular.

I remember back in 2002 when the GB women's team took gold and nearly 6 million people in the UK watched it. It's very tactical and doesn't overemphasise physical ability so I think it's very accessible to casual Olympic viewers.

I would love to try it!

Agreed!  My fave part is that it is DEF a thinking man's game.  It's not about muscles, it's about placement and strategy :3

[Slayer]

TL DR... So the opening, compared to Beijing 2008? This opening has less jaw dropping moments, honestly

Well, I don't think it needs those moments, as long as it is entertaining. And that, it was.

Agreed on the cheesiness of Daniel Craig's part, and if you know jack shit about English history, you might think now that:

- England took shape in the 1600s (no Brits vs Romans, no Henry VIII, no Elizabeth I)
- Guys with tophats recited Shakespeare all day, even over 100 years after
- then the Industrial Revolution came, and while it was busy, World War I occurred, the suffragettes came and the Beatles made their record Sgt Pepper's...

That last thing bothered me the most, that the IR was continuously being played. On the other hand, I really, really liked the way they made the factories (with the chimnyes and all) and like EU said, the forging of the ring (and then lifting it and making it go together with the other four) was cool.

And like I said: I thought the cultural timeline was OK, of course there is always room for criticism. About that: I thought it was a bit weird to put New Order instead of Joy Division, but overall it was a nice overview. Which very important band/artist was missing? I can't think of one and it would be an endless discussion anyway.

[Mayhemic.MAD]

I was very pleased with the choice to play Pink Floyd with the final fireworks and light show.

[Chadoi]

They were never going to be able to fit in every classic piece of British music, the ceremony would have to be a week long.

Blue Monday was a more suitable song than anything from Joy Division's catalogue. It's meant to be upbeat, you're not going to want to be listening to Closer during a celebration, are you?

[Slayer]

Blue Monday was a more suitable song than anything from Joy Division's catalogue. It's meant to be upbeat, you're not going to want to be listening to Closer during a celebration, are you?

Enough songs from Joy Division which aren't as depressive sounding as most songs on "Closer"

"Insight" for example, or "Ice Age". Most early songs would fit in quite well, actually. I recommend the album "Still" in relation to this. It is some sort of a compilation of early songs.

[Mr_Cheese]

Clearly the best part was the glowing rings joining together in the air.

Yeah - I thought the general factories and the forging and joining of the rings was great. The pre-industrial "green and pleasant land" bit was a bit on the cheesy side for me.

What I want to know, is what the hell the US team was thinking?  United States of Flight Attendants indeed.

Glad I wasn't the only one who thought that!

Also, did anyone else find the UK team's entrance a little, er, lacking? After all the other countries in the world had marched in with some sense of occasion and dignity, Team GB come in acting like it's a night out on the town. I don't think their Elvis suits really helped either...

[Slayer]

Also, did anyone else find the UK team's entrance a little, er, lacking? After all the other countries in the world had marched in with some sense of occasion and dignity, Team GB come in acting like it's a night out on the town. I don't think their Elvis suits really helped either...

Yes, now that you mention it: they were actually woohoo-ing into the cameras and stuff like that, like they already won a bunch. A tad weird indeed.

[Surfbird]

My favorite part was the ~60-70 year old man dancing and performing Hitler salute style moves (left handed though) when Germany entered the stadium lol. Dunno if it was just shown in German TV, but we laughed our head off I'll see if I find a video of this.

Mr Bean was great indeed and I also loved "Hey Jude" in the end.

The middle part of the ceremony was a bit boring though

[Mayhemic.MAD]

You mean the german president ?



His greeting to the German athletes.. I thought it was a bit odd as well 
Those behind him seem to not approve 

[Surfbird]

Oh lol. Shame on me - I did not even recognize him yesterday When I saw those moves I instantly found myself laughing on the ground. Those behind add indeed a lot to the photo, great

Edit: I couldn't believe it's Gauck, because he looks totally different. Googled and found this

"This is Walther Tröger, an 83 year old man who once was the president of the National Olympic Committee for Germany and member of the International Olympic Committee."

[Ts4EVER]

Told you it wasn't him