Olympic Closing Ceremonies.

[Whisp]

were spectacularly awesome.

and I'm not into that kind of shit of bread and circuses but I got sucked in thoroughly.

Maybe because the artists and songs were nostalgia to me. So many great people there and was reminded how much the across the pond contributes to the great music of my earlier days and all time. So much talent and history partook.

Annie Lennox was the apex for me.

Oh, and fuck you Mitt.

[vanlassie]

1. "always look on the bright side of life!"

[Whisp]

3. when Idle came up with that... o geeze.

so beautiful and comedic at the same time.

[Arugula Latte]

55. And throw in some Bollywood! Why not?!

[sweetloukillbot]

35. Idle was great. Russell Brand, not so much...

[hifiguy]

57. Even Prince Harry was singing along with that.

The closing ceremony was so utterly and completely British, especially the humourous bits. Loved it.

[Tx4obama]

2. I think they could have done better with the David Bowie songs ...

If you blinked you would have missed them.

The Bowie snippets were so short that they could be used in a contest of 'name that song'


Edited to say:

Regarding Queen
I meant at the beginning when they played the 'short' clip of Bohemian Rhapsody - I thought that one was a bit too short.

[Whisp]

4. agreed. I would have loved to see more of the Bow

but time constraints and all that rot.

[vanlassie]

5. NBC is editing

[Whisp]

8. oh, I was watching from Canada CTV, so maybe I did see it all?

the Bowie thing?
hard to say
but we all cheered our igloo asses off when those bowie historic pics came up (can't remember what the background song of his was now)

[Tx4obama]

11. Each of the Bowie pics had a different song, about 3-4 secs for each one.

That's probably why you don't remember the Bowie songs, the snippets were so short that unless you know his songs inside out most folks would have a hard time knowing what they were.

[Whisp]

17. ah, I was pouring snippets of Royal Crown at the time too.

so maybe that's it.

but I always loved this Bowie, it is so bittersweet to me - places me somewhere with someone where I know what I'm wearing, what the atmosphere is, it's a time machine for me.

[MADem]

29. Fashion? nt

[Whisp]

34. Fashion?

[begin_within]

37. The song "Fashion" was played (just the recording) while there was a dumb fashion segment.

[MADem]

41. The song....

http://www.examiner.com/article/david-bowie-s-fashion-part-of-british-fashion-at-olympics-closing-ceremony

In what has to be a first, the London Olympics closing ceremony took a minute to show the world a catwalk of Olympic proportions. In the closing segment, there was a moment to honor all the British designers that have fueled the global industry of fashion. With David Bowie’s song fashion blaring in the background, some familiar faces of the runway emerged. Lily Cole, Kate Moss and Naomi Campbell where part of the moment that the world saw live on television.

[Whisp]

48. ah, of course.

I sort of didn't mind that fashion part. They did it very creatively and unless the aspect ratio on the tv was set wrong, the models did not look stick person like.

[sweetloukillbot]

32. NBC cut Ray Davies and Kate Bush (although she wasn't actually performing)

And they cut away for an hour before showing the Who apparently. WTF?

[muriel_volestrangler]

39. There was one long section when the athletes came in that was pretty cuttable

There wasn't much to see with the athletes (they didn't come in organised, and they weren't lit to be easily recognisable), and the music was just repeats of what had already been used. Not as much as an hour, though.

Cutting Ray Davies sounds inexcusable, though - a live performance. And it was nice to have the Kate Bush number in there too.

[sweetloukillbot]

59. Elbow was playing while the athletes came on I think

They sounded really good. Could've cut Stomp. And Russell Brand - that was a travesty. Watched Davies today - it was magical with him leading the whole crowd singing Waterloo Sunset - such a beautiful song. Cutting away before the Who was the biggest WTF moment though.

[Whisp]

6. I heard some naysaying about the Spice Girls doing their thing there

but I thought they were just wonderful. Everything fit it well back to back, from artist to artist.

was in awe of it all

[yawnmaster]

7. They had a great section with video of Freddie Mercury and ...

Brian May playing big red (or a copy) live.

on edit
also Roger Taylor on drums.

plenty of time given to Queen.

[Whisp]

9. Daltry did pretty dang good. Great closer

Now I want to find a copy of Tommy I can play again.

[Whisp]

18. which reminds me of Tina Turner the Acid Queen

oh, and Oliver Reed, haven't thought about hm in ages.

[JI7]

12. imagine if Freddie were still alive

what he would have done there.

[Whisp]

13. I know...

I thought that at the time. what if.

[Tx4obama]

14. I've edited my comment above ... what I was referring to was ...

... at the beginning when they played the 'short' clip of Bohemian Rhapsody - I thought that one was a bit too short.

Sorry, I wasn't very clear before regarding what I meant.

Loved the May and Taylor parts - and Freddie

[yawnmaster]

16. I agree...

once Bohemian Rhapsody starts I want to hear it through...but I suppose the ceremonies would have run too long.

[MADem]

30. I agree. nt

[Whisp]

15. I shouldn't admit this

but when I walked into that party tonight someone said queen and we will rock you and in all the din I thought they meant Queen Elizabeth did something to We Will We Will Rock You.

o really? coool.

[begin_within]

21. The opening ceremony also had 3 snippets

If I recall correctly, "Starman," "Heroes" and "Absolute Beginners" were played during the opening ceremony. I thought the tribute to Bowie tonight was nice, although he's certainly still alive, so why wasn't he there? Same for Elton John...

[Tx4obama]

24. Yep, Bowie and Elton. And I wish Ringo would have been there with Paul at the opening ceremony.

And where is Rod Stewart these days?

[Whisp]

31. I had such an enormous crush on Paul when a teeny

but now I like him least. go figure.

I think it was his droopy puppy eye look, is all.

I really liked Ringo's Photograph:

and Harrison's My Sweet Lord

Lennon Stand by Me

McCartney Till There was You

[begin_within]

36. He's in Palm Beach, Florida.

[Whisp]

25. it would have been great to see Lennox and Bowie tribute to Freddie, Under Pressure.

I think.

or maybe not. Would have to think about that more. But this is what they sound like together with Mercury's great song:

[sweetloukillbot]

62. Lennox was pretty cool on her own

Although I'll never think of her as "Goth" despite what the Today Show team thought...

[Whisp]

10. This is nice. Muse - Tribute Vid

http://www.youtube.com/watch?annotation_id=annotation_96095&feature=iv&src_vid=Jt__jKWoYH8&v=ljsQmhNTpMg

[yawnmaster]

19. Little surprised no Elton John...but they only had so much time I suppose. eom

[Whisp]

22. for me, I didn't miss him at all.

I really like his early stuff, a lot.

but somewhere along the way he just bored the living snot out of me with his stuff.

I know he's a good guy and does good things and all that, I'm just talking about his music.

[begin_within]

20. Closing ceremony was better than the opening one, in my opinion...

More life to it, anyway.

[Raine]

23. LOVED it but I cannot believe the gall of NBC to interupt the closing

to put on one of their new fall crap shows and then the local news. They said they would continue in an HOUR with the Who. JESUS H. Christ, I already thought their coverage was cheesy but this takes the cake!

[vanlassie]

26. I want to see Ray Davies and Waterloo Sunset!!!

[Nedsdag]

28. I saw him on the BBC telecast.

I didn't feel like watching NBC because I knew they would edit it.

Less music, more (Ryan) Seacrest.

[sweetloukillbot]

33. I'm still trying to find it. A friend said it was the highlight of the show. n/t

[lob1]

27. I have Direct TV and they lost the signal for about an hour here in L.A.

[begin_within]

38. They should have done "O Superman"

since it was such a big hit in Britain.

[Prometheus Bound]

40. A few negative comments from the Brits (Recommends so far in brackets)

1. The opening ceremony was brilliant. The games were great. The closing ceremony was a bit naff. (838)

2. Excellent for about forty minutes, but the next two and half hours was mostly tedious. (147)

3. It does not undermine the brilliance and positivity of the games, and how much it has meant to the country, to admit that the closing ceremony was absolutely terrible on almost every single level. (440)

4. It was slow to start, Emilie Sande performs (poorly) three times (incl. opening), One Direction were there...and then they can't even be bothered getting new music whilst they fill the cattle pens so just sticky to replaying all the ones who had been before (its like they weren't even trying, they might as well have stuck the radio on for a bit). The execution was TERRIBLE. (305)

5. What the hell was the bit where, with some dire dirge-y band playing, a bloke went across a tightrope and shook hands with a dummy... that caught fire? Was that a showcase of British robotics?(104)

6. After two weeks of getting things right and having a fantastic opening ceremony in typically British fashion we balls the thing up with a dismal closing ceremony which mixed X Factor with a school disco. It's a sad state of things when the Kaiser Chiefs are a highlight. (528)

7. inspire a generation with terrible, aged music...the sole blemish on a fantastic games (198)

8. Rest of the Olympics was great. That closing ceremony was crap though. (302)

9. As far as the closing ceremony goes, I particularly liked the way we kettled the world's greatest athletes into a Union Jack, and then subjected them to Jessie J, George Michael, the Spice Girls, Take That, and a parade of supermodels. Classy hosts, we are not. (498)

10. I'm awfully sorry but apart from the lighting and fireworks it was pretty bad. Far too long, clapped out pop stars: Russell Brand? Fatboy Slim? An hour too long. Great games overall but pretty dire ending. Thank God Bozo little in evidence. (332)

11. Very disappointing ceremony to cap off an almost flawless games. Emili Sande and Jessie J need to emigrate. (185)

12. Compared to the opening ceremony and the games themselves that closing abomination was terrible.

Everything that was good about the opening ceremony was embodied in the awfulness of that, that, there are not words for exactly what that was.

Trite, embarrassing, Austin Powers, old, tired, nonsense, everything that the opening ceremony wasn't. (327)

13. Not even The Who could have saved that shambles of a ceremony. So mundane and unprepared. Was this not meant to be a celebration of a fortnight's work? Instead you had dreary singers and a case of too many cooks.

I may come across as a cynic, but the games were excellent. This however was a letdown, given Kim Gavin promised something spectacular. (199)

14. Russell Brand? I'm sorry World, I'm so, so sorry. (324)

15. Funny. But from overseas the Olympic pageant looked a bit of a desperate feel-good government advert. The media HAS been relentlessly pushing it haven't they? Pity the athletes.. (145)

16. Apart from some of the light effects, the closing ceremony was poor. The music, mediocre at best. In the midst of it all Jessie J somewhat ironically sang: 'It's not about the money, money, money' (173)

17. The Spice Girls were truely awful though. Remember when we all forgot about worshipping vacuous talentless celebrities for 2 weeks? *That* was a nice reawakening to our hideous culture. (569)

18. The closing ceremony was everything the opening ceremony was not. It was very poor, bland, predicatable and boring.
British music? Besides the fact that the quality of the audio was shocking - where was Sade, Duran Duran, Omar, Spandau Ballet... even Robbie Williams? Loved seeing The Madness, Petshop Boys and George Michael but other than that it was really bad. Did George Michael force them to let them perform his new single? Even Liam sounded like a parody to the point I was wondering if it was really him.

Totally upstaged by Rio 2016 at our own show. (175)

19. Response to DirtyStinkingLiberal, 13 August 2012 12:25AM
The Spice Girls were truely awful though.
The Spice Girls (except for the miserable Beckham) were what they always were - a bit of harmless fun. George Michael, by contrast, was embarrassingly awful. Remember when we all forgot about worshipping vacuous talentless celebrities for 2 weeks? *That* was a nice reawakening to our hideous culture Amen to that. And did anyone else get annoyed by the constant shots of the bored faces of Waity Kaitie and Harry Hewitt? (65)

20. The opening ceremony was all about collective endeavour and a spirit of communality. The games themselves were a living example of this. The closing ceremony was all about shallow individualistic celebrity tosh. Pity but can't spoil what went before. (108)

21. The opening ceremony and the games themselves were brilliant; very well executed and thoroughly enjoyable. The closing ceremony was abysmal, predictable trash. (131)

22. I honestly found the end of that ceremony so repulsive I had to switch off. I have refused to listen to The Who ever since Pete Townsend was convicted, that's convicted not just charged, of possesing child pornography and yet for some reason they let him up on stage to bask in glory. He is a scumbag. (68)

23. To be honest, the closing ceremony was mostly the kind of shambles that I had expected. Danny Boyle's breathtaking opening ceremony blew me away, and so did the Games themselves, but I'm afraid tonight's performance was a return to form, in the worst possible way. (136)

24. I didn't watch it but it sounds like it was shit (35)

25. The low point was George Michael plugging his new single (105)

26. I thought it was a bit of a mess. Somehow, like discovering the football season began today, the reappearance of celebrities just felt out of place. How wonderful it has been to watch people becoming famous for actually doing something worth celebrating. This past fortnight has been about something better than Jessie J wiggling her arse and yelling at us. I'm not ready yet to submit to the X Factor juggernaut, or to read about the latest dubious foreign billionaire buying a football club. I've not felt like this since I was a child and had my summer holidays destroyed by the appearance of a "BACK TO SCHOOL" banner in the front window of Woolworths. (148)

27. Gold medal for Danny Boyle. Kim Gavin failed to finish (106)

28. What a dreadful load of crap. Such a shame after the opening ceremony and the Games themselves.
Only high points were Eric Idle and, I never thought I would say this, the Spice Girls. Lows too many to count. Particular lows Russel Brand. CAN'T understand what he was doing there. (34)

29. Bit shocked by how terrible the closing ceremony was. That the highlight was a medley by The Who says it all. Did they really think Take That were a fitting musical accompaniment to the extinguishing of the flame? The opening ceremony was so good. This was a mess, all cheap and nasty. Bit of a shame but who remembers closing ceremonies anyway? The two weeks of sport were great. (39)

30. Loved the opening ceremony. Loved every minute of the games. Loved the buzz in London. Loved how good it felt to be a Londoner. Loved it all. Until... Hated that closing ceremony on almost every level. And after seeing nothing but positive role models for the last two weeks, seeing Kate Moss of all people in the Olympic Stadium was deeply depressing. (104)

31. I knew the closing ceremony was going to be utter shit with utterly shit bands and guess what- I was dead right! can't we dispense with all this crap and just have the fireworks after the last athletics on saturday night? (42)

32. I have absolutely loved these Olympic games. I have loved the generous spirit they have created and the appreciation of sport, community and a life outside consumerism. I hated the closing ceremony. It celebrated everything naff about Britain: celebrity, shallowness and arrogance. (103)

33. Opening ceremony, edgy, challenging , culturally significant, funny , wild. Closing ceremony, Camerons Revenge!!! Smash hits poll winners party with a bit of 'dad dancing' like something designed by someone who was really conservatively 'down with the kids' but y'know not the druggy ones. The Brazillian bit just bewildered me I'm afraid (111)

34. Two weeks of seeing so many inspiring, healthy, strong women athletes and what did this closing ceremony give us? A parade of useless, overhyped, starved supermodels. (113)

35. It was awful. Just awful. A reminder of the awfulness that lurked within the games all the time, which we might look back on, later, with a little chagrin. Team GB? Brand Britain? Is all that really what we want? Anyway. The boxing was good. (28)

36. oh god - the indian dancing. eric idle must have so wanted to say 'this one's for you, cameron, you snearing posh motherf****r'. well. i would have done.

37. otherwise, i don't really understand why, if we're so amazing at music (and we are - just none of it got near the olympics this evening), something couldn't have been commissioned for the event. imagine if all that PRS money went to a composer/producer/orchestra/band (whoever) to actually produce a bespoke suite of music that was truly amazing. instead we have the sight of ginger fucking spice leaping out of a taxi with a look on her face as if to say 'IT IS I! I have ARRIVED'.

38. it was so utterly musically conservative and tedious. (96)
The thing that annoyed me most about the closing ceremony is that we had to endure George Michael's shitty latest single. I mean, fine, let him sing Freedom, that was good. But does anyone really think the second song he sang was any good? It was terrible! And to think Muse, The Kinks and The Who only got to sing one song??? It doesn't make sense! (50)

39. Is it ok to say pop-culture is tacky and crap? and that manufactured pop-bands suck? or am i just being a party-pooper? i just couldn't relate to the closing ceremony. (36)

40. Brilliantly imaginative opening ceremony. Fantastic games. Truly awful and disappointing closing ceremony. A history of British music? Ugh? With a canon of British rock music second to none and stretching back over fifty years, why oh why oh why were we subjected - disproportionately - to, either artists who were one-hit wonders and footnote curiosities, such as Annie Lennox, George Michael, and The Spice Girls. Or others anyone over the age of thirty would never even have heard of! Bizarre. By all means include small pieces from such artists - i.e. proportional to their contribution to British music - but I found myself constantly waiting for the party to get going. There were endless flat spots. People in the pub I was in (a wide cross section of ages) started off shifting about in embarrassment, then they started to shake their heads and ignore the TV, and most had left before the fireworks started. A total contrast to the inspiration that was the opening ceremony and response I witnessed in the same pub. (85)

41. Great games, truly abysmal closing ceremony (46)

42. I don't think I can have been watching the same closing ceremony as some people. To me it was dire, as though LOCOG had commissioned BBC to do the opening ceremony and then said f**k it, we've run out of money and can't be a**ed so we'll give the closing ceremony to ITV2... I really expected Katie and Peter Andre to do a closing duet with the final scene being Ramsay rushing on to shut down the flame shouting 'it's burnt, it's burnt'.

Such a shame as up until this 'Britain's got Talent' debacle we'd held such an incredible games. (98)

43. From hard earned metal to bling and Saturday night at the celebrity meat market in one easy step. Okay there was crowd involvement, we know the athletes are into partying and there were a very few interesting moments but the overall effect was tawdry, aged and muddled. The Who trying to remake My Generation merely signifies the temporary triumph of baby boomers. Is there no dancing star other than the great but now retired Darcy Bussell. The biggest star was the cauldron - which is being dismantled and scattered. Nothing to inspire us oe suggest that anything is going to be different. Given our fondness for umbrellas it was ironic that Rio provided the first moment of real beauty. What a shame. (31)

44. Complete and utter Shite !!! (41)

45. I want to burn the image of George Micheal dancing like a drunk uncle from my mind forever.............................. (57)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2012/aug/13/olympic-games-closing-ceremony-culture?commentpage=1#start-of-comments

[Whisp]

49. woah, that's quite the list of critiques.

I missed the opening ceremonies so can't really compare.

Still had a great time, it was like being a kid at a circus feeling for me.

[Curtland1015]

42. LOVED the "Fools and Horses" reference at the beginning!

That was the Batman and Robin jumping out of the three wheeled car.

Wonder how many Americans were asking "what the *%&$ was THAT about?"

[LynneSin]

43. I didn't watch it last night because of True Blood but I hope to catch the replay On-Demand

London did an amazing job - they should be proud

[KharmaTrain]

44. For Those Who Missed Ray Davies...

Here's him singing Waterloo Sunset...that NBC cut:

[Tom Rinaldo]

47. Thank You. Such a beautiful song

Ray hasn't lost his voice, it's so distinctive and perfectly plaintive for that piece. I saw him on tour where he told stories about his songs. Waterloo Sunset was a very special and personal song for him. He was so identified with it that he kept it secret during the whole time he was writing it because he had to get it right befor sharing any of it. The rest of the Kinks didn't hear it until Ray was ready to record it.

[sweetloukillbot]

61. The two songs I turn to when I'm feeling depressed

Are Waterloo Sunset and Celluloid Heroes. Ray Davies takes the ordinary and makes it magical - and takes the magical and makes it ordinary.

[Romulox]

50. One of the greatest songs of the rock era. Thanks for sharing! nt

[Whisp]

51. definitely one of the favourites of the evening.

was mesmerized. so haunting and beautiful

[AngryAmish]

45. I watched ten minutes of it

Western civilization is doomed.

[truebrit71]

46. If you watched it on NBC you got stiffed...they cut all sorts of things out..

..AGAIN.....

Seriously FUCK NBC!!!!

[kittykitty]

52. And what about The Rolling Stones? They were/are such a huge part of Brit music. Nt

Edit for spelling

[Whisp]

53. lots of good people missing

I don't know how permissions and stuff work for public events like this.

Maybe Jagger or Elton or those many others have a thing about corporate sports, or something.

[GoCubsGo]

58. A post in another thread said the Stones declined to appear.

They were invited, but didn't feel they would be "stage ready" in time for this event.

[sweetloukillbot]

60. I've also read that Jagger refuses to play in England for tax reasons

Dunno if it's true though.

[Arugula Latte]

54. Gawd I love the Brits' music -- and the non-religious themes.

John Lennon's Imagine considering a religion-free world. What a dream.

Life of Brian's Always Look on the Bright Side of Life -- a masterpiece skewering the idiocies of "faith."

Well done, London!

Have to say, an American ceremony would be much more backwards and probably feature some shit-kicking country music morons.

[ellisonz]

56. I thought it was great.

Eric Idle was the definite highlight.