Comments on: Closing Ceremonies – Observations and Knee-Jerk Reactions

By: Jet So

Jet So — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 03:17:27 +0000

Talent is there but regrettably buried beneath lip-syncing schemes and that “thin-face” perfection mentality.

By: Jessica Lu

Jessica Lu — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 22:59:58 +0000

Do you know what many Chinese are saying about the closing ceremony?
They generally agree it’s an upgraded and outrageously expensive version of a CCTV Spring Festival Gala, which means they’re so fed of these “synchronized” pageantry and those beautiful yet wooden folksong singers since they’ve watched similar stuff all their life. While the older Chinese, like my 50 something parents, still love the grandeur of “big scenes” presented by the ceremonies, the younger generation expect more individuality and artistic creativity. I’m gravely worried the lack of musical talent in China throughout these 16 days. The organizers seemed unable to provide a single elegant piece of “original” music for this game.
I love London’s 8 minutes for its casual and simple representation of London’s everyday lifestyle. Many friends of mine particularly adore the laid-back look of Boris Johnson, compared to the stodgy formality of the C-P leaders.

By: chriswaugh_bj

chriswaugh_bj — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 09:41:54 +0000

Didn’t notice Liu Qi’s little stumble, but then again I was too busy trying to pick which points the Western press would cry “Fake!” on.

“Whole Lotta Love” was the best part of London’s 8 minutes by a long shot, but I’m prepared to accept it was better live. I personally would’ve preferred the Sex Pistols’ “God Save the Queen” or “Anarchy in the UK”, but they’re only appropriate in my mind, and Led Zep were, are and always will be a million times more the musicians than the Sex Pistols.

But Beckham kicking a ball? That’s the best they could come up with? Geez, even morris dancers would’ve been better than that. Yeah, morris dancers tricked out in Zhang Yimou’s psychadelic neon-lit costumes flying Li Ning-style around the rim of the Bird’s Nest as Jimmy Page broke into “Stairway to Heaven” and a giant Monty Python foot swooped down to kick Beckham and his football out of the stadium and over the Water Cube. That would’ve done the trick.

By: Maple

Maple — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 06:47:35 +0000

Hey, Ben,
for me , the ending is quite boring,nothing surprised.
but it cost a lot of money,,, asking David Beckham to come out for only 8minutes cost a lot. i dont think it is necessary.
by the way, in the endings, have you seen there is one scene that Jesson from American WNBA just came out and gave Yaoming a big hug ?
it was a little bit surprising and also moving, although Yaoming was already married.
Jesson would be very sad on her way back, heart breaking , i think.
She used to love Yaoming very much, but got no chances

By: Alan

Alan — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 17:32:43 +0000

Matt, I think most Atlantans would agree with your assessment. The Atlanta Olympic organizers could have done a better job if it weren’t because of then corrupt mayor Bill Campbell. Campbell is doing his time at a Federal penitentiary in Florida right now on conviction of tax frauds. Too bad that Fed didn’t have enough evidence to nail him for corruptions. I remember my disappointment after watching the 96 Olympic opening ceremony in Atlanta. A computer glitch in the middle of the parade of nations slowed down the process for 20 minutes, as if there was an intermission between the parade of nations. ACOG for some reason decided to hire bus drivers from Alabama to drive the athlete buses. The only problem was that Atlanta has over 100 street names bearing the word Peachtree and those out-of-towners just didn’t have enough time to familiarize themselves with those dubious street names. Many athletes were bused to the wrong venues. Then we also had the bombing by a nutcase who was later able to evade the Fed for years. Considered “Atlanta – Not Bad for Georgia”, we did alright.

By: Matt Schiavenza

Matt Schiavenza — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 16:14:06 +0000

As for a boring Olympic host, I think Atlanta ranks No. 1 on the list. Isn’t it a bit odd that the Olympics have been held in Atlanta and St. Louis but never New York, San Francisco, Chicago, Boston, or New Orleans?

London will be fine, but I’m with Ben- I’d like to see Rio get the ‘16 games. And it’d be nice to see Africa get them one day as well, though I hear they’re having enough trouble organizing the 2010 World Cup. India would be a logical spot as well, but their inexplicably poor performance time after time might preclude that form happening anytime soon.

By: ZhongTang

ZhongTang — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 11:42:56 +0000

The pressure will mostly be on Vancouver 2010 for the Winter Olympics. Obviously, the opening ceremonies will be more down to earth (and less expensive).

By: Benjamin Ross

Benjamin Ross — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 11:04:58 +0000

@Alec and Shanz
I probably should have clarified this better, but I wasn’t implying that London was boring nor a bad city for the Olympics. Rather, that the IOC’s choice of London as an Olympic city is rather blah, mainly because they’ve already had the Olympics there twice already. Additionally, as of 2012, five of the past ten Olympiads will have been held in countries which were once part of the British Empire. I have always been of the persuasion that the Olympics is a chance to bring the entire world together, involving as many different (and diverse) countries as possible.

That being said, I also Chicago for 2016 would be a pretty lame choice as well. Although out of my own self-interest, I do hope Chicago gets the bid, allowing one country to host the Olympics 3 times in the span of 32 years is just a little bit excessive to say the least. Awarding the games to Rio de Jeneiro would be much more in the spirit of the Olympics if you ask me.

By: Shanz

Shanz — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 10:57:06 +0000

Noticed the Liu Qi stumble… but I think Chinese speaking foreigners were the only ones who did.

I remember thinking when the bus came out “this is going to look naff on TV”. TV forces you to look at “one thing” — but the whole London show (and indeed many parts of the Closing Ceremony itself) needed a “stadium eye view” with the ability to flick quickly from one center of action to the next, but retaining the ability to take in the “whole thing” with just a momentary refocus.

The whole bus sequence really worked in the stadium.

And it _is_ pretty much just you I think. London’s a great city, and will no doubt redefine how the Olympics should work (ie. “smaller” and “smarter” alongside faster higher stronger)

Bigger just ain’t better — although at least 1 billion of the “several billions” you refer to would instantly disagree with that assessment.

By: Alec

Alec — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 10:05:33 +0000

Uh, London boring? London is actually an international city, probably one of the two or three most cosmopolitan and exciting conurbations on Earth.