These are some selected photos from last night’s Olympics Closing Ceremony. I have to admit… I found it so much more enjoyable than the Opening Ceremony. Was there still some bizarre and “eccentric” stuff? Of course. Timothy Spall as Winston Churchill and the tribute to London traffic? SURE. Why not? But considering the lack of A) giant creepy babies, B) an army of Mary Poppins, C) Pop-up villains that terrified adults, and D) Kenneth Branagh looking embarrassed, I’d say that the closing ceremony was WAY better. I loved all of the music stuff, I got wistful with John Lennon’s “Imagine”, I adored Russell Brand’s cover of “I Am The Walrus” and it was really cool to see George Michael. As for Jessie J – ordinarily, I like her a lot. I think she has a killer voice and I like her general vibe. But I’m not sure if she was the best choice for the Queen tribute, nor do I think her butt cheeks should have made an appearance. Oh, and The Spice Girls! They were kind of meh, right? I was also afraid that we were going to lose a Spice because of how fast those cars were going.
Oh, and you already know my favorite part. DAVID GANDY!! At first, “the tribute to British fashion” felt out of place, but then those screens came down and there was Kate Moss, Naomi Campbell, Stella Tennant, David Gandy, Lily Cole, Lily Donaldson, Karen Elson, and Georgia May Jagger walking the Union Jack catwalk, and it was really cool and unexpected. Gandy was the only male model up there too! And he looked FINE. GAH. I love him so much.
There was no Queen Elizabeth at the Closing Ceremony – Liz is already in Scotland, on holiday. Prince Harry and Duchess Kate were sent as the Queen’s royal replacements. Well, more Harry than Kate. But Kate was there too, and the cameras cut to her several times as she whispered sweet nothings into Harry’s ear. The camera also caught Harry singing along to “Always Look On the Bright Side of Life” which was super-cute. Kate wore a repeat – the Whistles “Bella Body Conscious Dress”. Don’t ask me why she’s doing an “I’m preggo” pose with her hand on her belly. I’m just assuming she and Harry went off after the Closing Ceremony and they went for a ginger heir, whom they will name Olympia Diana. Yeah, I said it.
PS… this is just a weird question, but why didn’t anyone pay tribute to Elton John or Eric Clapton? Right? Elton and Eric are both English singers, arguably two of the most talented and successful people in the music industry… and both now spend most of their time in America. Is that it?
Photos courtesy of WENN.
watched it with my 3 little girls and the Spice Girls were their favorite part! I guess there’s still something about them…..
My girls liked them as well… though they weren’t around for the whole spice girls craze. Myself, I thought VB looked REALLY awkward. The other girls seemed to get back into the ‘spice groove’, but Victoria couldn’t quite get that smug stick removed from her butt. Just my opinion, of course(;
LOL funny!!
I agree, she seems to take herself pretty seriously!
I agree entirely, about the smug stick. She was so stiff, it seems to me that said ‘stick’ was shoved a bit harder than we’d originally thought.
I wanted to say she’s full of herself, but considering whom she’s married to… It’s a little hard to back up.
Meh. It was just a showcase of lamestream pop culture.
Too bad Adele didn’t do the Queen tribute. that would have caused a nuclear explosion of too much awesomeness though.
Overall it was enjoyable (” that’s Pettigrew!!! OMG catch him!”) but the spice girls segment was too short and I missed the other half of Oasis.
Good Olympics London !
Has Adele even really been since since her pregnancy was announced? I don’t blame her for wanting quiet time away to enjoy her pregnancy… or maybe she has been sick (my pregnancies were terribly sick), but it seems like she’s in hiding or something.
No I thought it was quite terrible. From George Michael singing a WRETCHED new song, the annoying British Indie bands, Oasis reuniting but not really, Russell Brand defiling The Beatles, Jessie J defiling Queen, all the coked up models at an event for athletes….just incredibly terrible.
George Michael song was actually more than 20 years old. It was Freedom 90 from Listen without Prejudice album.
Yes, but he sang a second song, and it was terrible
No, he sang a new song. I think it was cut out of the NBC coverage (THUMBS UP FOR YO NBC!) but I watched it live online.
That wasn’t Oasis reuniting, that was Liam Gallagher’s new band Beady Eye covering an Oasis track.
And oi, it was nasally and whiney. But at least he didn’t mime it like most of them. He is the King Tool. The dead look in his eyes makes him to me like the living Bill Sykes.
Agreed. It says something when two people bring up the word ‘defile’ independently of each other.
Im with you specially Jesse Jay she’s not big enough to sing Queen’s music I bet Freddy Mercury was rolling in his grave. Sorry my English sucks lol
Wish you were here and Imagine were my favourite parts along with Freddie Mercury video from the Live Aid concert.
Except then they had Jessie J ruin the Freddie tribute. Why couldn’t they just have continued with the screens? She was awful in every way.
And Brian May’s guitar solo went on for way to long-but May has always been a showboater.
What was that jacket thing May had on? It had a patch of a badger on one side and a fox on the other. Looked like a sports thing but it was long and brown with orange (?) Don’t tell me it was some nod to Wind in the Willows … they stuck them in the Thames when Beckham drove past.
Yeah, I didn’t know who Jessie J was and I sure as hell didn’t think she was the right person to do that Queen tribute. Why not trot George Michael back out for that? He’s done it before and he can do it justice.
(wtf was up with the barnacles on her costume?)
Brian May is active in wildlife conservation, my British friends thought the coat was a reference to that
Yeah, the catwalk thing was out of place but Gandy was gorgeous!
I thought it was terrible. Arguably it wasn’t as creepy as say the opening ceremony nor politically charged (welfare state and all that). BUT I got excited when Freddie Mercury popped up, and then… sigh, Jessie J was seriously not the best choice to sing Queen. It was disappointing. I was happy with the Who though. That was my favourite part, the Who!!
It was good. i agree about the spice girls. It wasn’t amazing or anything. Jessie J is a good singer, but the whole bit with her and Taio Cruz and that other dude ( I thought to myself…weren’t these songs popular last year??).
I liked most of the older songs, like George Michael, and Annie Lennox. Eric Idle was great (and Harry and kate singing along was my favourite thing). Though I wish the song were actually something like “Every sperm is sacred”…cause that would have taken the cake.
Lol It would have been amazing if Eric Idle sang that
It would’ve killed everybody if the Sex Pistols had come out. 😛
I loved it. I am soooo glad Elton John wasn’t there. He is a washed up old c**t and nobody really likes him. (trust me. My husband and lots of my family work in the music biz and Elton is a horrible piece of work. NOBODY wants to work with him). He probably asked for £10 million just to appear.
Apparently he was supposed to be involved but fell out with the organisers so pulled out. Probably being a diva! Personally I didn’t miss him and am also glad they didn’t wheel Macca in again. Phew!
word. just beauty allowed.
The Kaiser Chiefs did a mini tribute to Elton John by singing “Pinball Wizard”.
Pinball Wizard is a song by The Who. Even though Elton sings it in the movie, it was defo performed in the style of Roger Daltrey, not him.
Pinball Wizard is performed by The Who, not Elton
Ok, my bad! I always think of Elton when I hear it 🙂
The Chiefs actually did a pretty good version of that song, but I’d have preferred a more vintage band doing that one.
I looked up the videos just to see Posh and the Spice Girls. Its kind of weird seeing her singing even tho i know that is how she got her start. I was never into them back then so I didnt know who she was until I saw on her on gossip/fashion tabs post Spice Girl.
I’m kind of curious what her voice is like and wonder if she ever sang on her own. I dont think the whole auto-tuning and lip singing was the norm back then like it is today.
Here is my absolute favorite Spice Girls song called Goodbye. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eegDtyrSUZw
It was a tribute to Ginger Spice when she left the group.
Posh has a brief solo around the 3 minute mark where you can hear her voice well! Here’s a cued link to her part http://youtu.be/eegDtyrSUZw?t=2m59s
No autotune in this music!
Thank you for links. That was a pretty song. Its still weird seeing her sing even tho she sounds nice.
She really can’t sing at all, and has always looked very out of place to me. She needs to stick to pouting on the sidewalk.
She looked awkward the entire time. Like she was begrudgingly there and wanted to get away asap.
And oddly separated from the rest.
Like she was embarrassed to be there, and frankly, I would’ve too. I really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really hate that Wanna Be song. Pun intended.
That song’s meant to be sort of a rap song right? Since when’s repeating one word over and over rapping? Not that I’m a fan, but just checking the rules. lol
I posted about this above before I saw these comments, but totally agree. ‘Posh’ looked awkward from start to finish… and I was quite sure she wanted to kill whoever talked her into doing that performance! The other girls looked really at ease, and like they were having fun. Posh looked like… well, she looked like Victoria Beckham… LOL
Can someone please tell me why Victoria Beckham doesn’t smile? The other Spice Girls looked like they were having a blast, but Posh came across as aloof and embarrassed.
As for the closing ceremony, compared to the opening, I thought it was fun.
She’s very insecure about her teeth and mouth when she smiles. That’s why she never does it. And now she hasn’t smiled for so long that she’s probably afraid to, because of the attention she would get. Her smile isn’t that pretty…but what a sacrifice to make in the name of being beautiful
Maybe she’s grown out of it.
My own theory is that it’s because she’s a horrible, sulky snob. But, maybe it’s her teeth.
Sorry, I don’t like her, so it’s hard not to see her lack of smile as a reflection of her personality!
🙂
Spot on. Too many years, too few smiles.
No excuses, especially if it’s because of her teeth, shoot she could buy a whole new 24k mouth with her moolah.
They played the first few chords of wonderful tonight in the opening ceremony, but not the whole song. But your right no Elton.
The spices looked rusty, but it was great to see them.
Rusty Spice. LOL
And no Led Zeppelin…
Nor U2
U2 is Irish. All the people and bands that performed were from the UK.
Even the Rolling Stones weren’t there.
God — thank you. I would have lost it if Pagey had been there.
GEORGE MICHAEL- soooo good. Needs a comeback!!! That voice!
SPICE GIRLS- fun!!!
where was DAVID BOWIE!!!!?????!!!
NAOMI KATE STELLA JOURDANN DAVID – sooooo YUM and GORGEOUS!!!!!!
loved it.
Bowie will never sing at a sports event. It just doesn’t suit his persona.
At least they did a tribute to Bowie. What about Elton, Clapton, Zepplin and the 3Rolling Stones. How can they leave them out if they are doing a tribute to British Music???
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Shouldn’t an article about the Olympic Closing Ceremonies be accompanied by a picture of the athletes &/or the performers??? Do we really need more coverage of Duchess Dolittle aka weighty Katy?
Edit: I meant the lead/main picture on Celebitchy’s home page…
+ 1
Eric Idle.Awesomeness.
Fatboy Slim and a giant octopus?Why not!
Jessie J and Queen?Ugh…
The Spice Girls thing was embarassing…
I wish Adele was there.It was quite fun in general.
Yeah…no…it was just a giant mess to me. Normally I like Jessie J but yeah Freddy Mercury was rolling in his fabulous grave. There was just so much WTF going on through the whole thing. I think in trying to be ‘hip’ and appeal to the youngins’ they missed out on a lot of opportunities to really celebrate the contributions made by British musicians. And seriously to not include Elton John or Eric Clapton is a travesty. No wonder David Bowie didn’t bother showing up.
“Freddie is spinning in his fabulous grave”
I would absolutely agree, except he was cremated, my dear….
Dead 21 years and he STILL owned the show!
OMG it’s been 21 years?!?!?! How freakin’ old have I gotten?!?!?!
The closing ceremony was not as good as the opening.
It’s not the time to preview new songs George Michael. Plus, where was the Stones or Zep??
I had the ‘privilege’ to watch it live and although it had some good moments (The Who, Annie Lennox, George, Kate Bush etc) it was pretty naff overall.
Sorry, but the selection chosen to represent British music was just plain embarrassing.
There was no recovering after Taio Cruz!
What a bummer- super commercial, way too self congratulatory and pretty joyless.
I missed the stones, led zep and deep purple. They were completely ignored in both the opening and closing ceremony. Personally, i think it’s a disgrace.
And ugh, jessie j singing with queen??? Out of all the singers that they can pick, they have her??? Wrong choice. Couldn’t they have gotten together with Paul Rodgers again?
Hit the nail on the head there….Jessie J doing Queen was disgusting…When Brian May came out I was super stoked and then the British Katy Perry came out and I started to punch myself….
Yes! My husband and I were sitting there waiting for Paul Rodgers for awhile.
That would have been so great.
Not only did I hate the Jessie J/Queen performance, but I kept wondering why she had multiple performances… one would have been more than enough. Oh, and WTF was with the nude costumes, especially the nude ice-skating look??
It was seriously mediocre compared to the brilliant opening ceremony. The whole thing seemed to be a set up for the punchline of eric idle’s brilliant performance of “Always look on the bright side of life” (dancing Romans yay)
As for Elton and Clapton, I don’t know about Clapton but Elton does seem to spend a lot of time in the UK, I know he’s got a house in Windsor and he got married there. David Bowie meanwhile hasn’t been back in years and was paid tribute to, the same with John Lennon.
The John Lennon airport in Liverpool is so named because it’s the first place he went when he got his first paycheck
It was epic!! Take That & Monthy Python!! 😀
The Opening Ceremony was BRILLIANT. Absolutely stunning. A triumph for Britain and a beautiful representation of the UK.
The closing ceremony was a bit pants.
Sound problems aside, it was simply not the showstopping lineup I personally would have chosen. Eric Idle was my highlight.
I agree.
I’m British, saw it all live with friends, and we were all actively bored throughout most of it. And when Jessie J defiled Queen, a shoe was thrown (it was me).
The Opening ceremony was much more consistent, much better laid out. Some bits were weird but overall it was better.
I loved spice girls’ show, it’s a shame it was so short! and surprisingly I really enjoyed Russel brand singing 🙂
I prefered the Opening Ceremony to the Closing one, TBH. I’m not a fan of pop concerts, so it just felt too concert-y to me.
I thought it was fun, but a little all over the place and chaotic. And some of the music choices where a little off.
I LOVED the opening ceremony in all it’s heartwarming Britishness, and I like that the closing ceremony kept that theme going, but just didn’t do it as well.
Rio de Janeiro’s presentation was kind of a mess too.
^^^ I thought I must have been the only one who didn’t enjoy Rio’s part. I hope they do a much better job with their Olympics, because I thought the ‘taste’ they gave was horribly boring and not at all what I would have expected!
I watched it live online which was great, but then ended up watching the primetime show with the husband. I actually thought NBC had learned their lesson from the opening ceremony and were showing the whole thing. (although Costas needs to shut his yap when people are singing)
But then they cut away from the end of it for that stupid Animal Practice show. REALLY NBC? It’s not the tape delay-it’s the awful editing decisions. Quit showing 60 minute WWII documentaries during the last day of prime time competition, quit cutting out gold medal matches for the qualifying rounds of BMX, quit spending the first 2 hours of the last day on puff pieces and then cut off the closing ceremonies early.
Thank god we have cable and have been getting the online coverage, but the rest of it has been blech.
Kaiser, so blinded by David Gandi, you didn’t notice Jourdan Dunn??? The model he was walking with who had a headpice?
Also, they were all in McQueen. Yea.
All in all, opening ceremony was fantastic, this was a music fest at best, Muse and Eric Idle are welcome to play at any future events!!!!
Thank goodness McCartney wasn’t wheeled out again!
They were dressed in a variety of British designers: Alexander McQueen, Burberry, Christopher Kane, Victoria Beckham, Paul Smith, Jonathan Saunders and Stephen Jones. 🙂
But didn’t you reach for the smelling salts when Victoria Beckham was mentioned with the Brit design greats? I mean, I like her stuff, but she’s only been designing a few years. They didn’t even mention Stella who did the uniforms!
Because Stella’s stuff is so bloody awful!
Stella’s been around for years, though. Posh hasn’t.
They listed all those designers, but seriously, the designs shocased were copies of various McQueen collections over the years. I stand by my assessment that it was ultimately just McQueen.
Speaking of Stella vs Beckham who shouldn’t have been there, why not Westwood or Galliano? And if you are going to showcase Christopher Kane, where does that leave Erdem or Temperley.
AS for hats, i am always torn between Treacy and Jones. Treacy edges Jones out but that’s personal taste rather than semantics of which one of them is better.
Vivienne Westwood should definitely have been included.
I have serious LOVE for McQueen. And YES, Westwood should’ve been standing up there herself. Shame they didn’t include her. I’d happily trade her for the Spice Rags.
Am I the only one who thought that Posh Spice looked like the most uncomfortable pop star in the world?
Not only did she almost fall off her vehicle, but she was the only one who didn’t sing solo. You couldn’t hear her at all while the others were going at it like it was their last hooray- which I guess, it was.
Victoria Beckham looked like she forgot how to be a Spice Girl and didn’t want to remember.
^ this
No, you’re not the only one by a longshot – I think the whole world noticed that. She’s only ever been up there as a persona – never could sing. And now that she’s been doing something else more important for so long, she was probably horrified at being held up as a lowly pop tart. For that I cannot blame her one bit.
gg I don’t blame her either. When the spice girls were hot they were roundly trashed. They were the Kim Kardashian of pop groups, remember? The tweens and other fluff brains loved them, but everybody else? Not so much.
They are applauded now basically because of nostalgia if you ask me. Everybody misses “the good old days.”
Eric Idle and George Michael were the best part of the show. I’d rather Jessie J sing with Queen and not Adam Lambert(hate his voice). Btw, congratulations to USA for topping the medals table. I was rooting for China, but your guys killed it! 🙂
It makes me cry blood that they picked Lambert to replace the great Freddie Mercury. For why would they make such a bad mistake?
Awful,
All about British Propaganda and nothing about the olympics. It should celebrate the world of sports and not english (pop) history.
Same for the opening ceremony. Industrial revolution= minus slave trade and colonialsation.
Wow. You would have preferred a showcase on slavery and colonialism???!!!
Then again, I suppose The Windrush moment passed you by. A good thing that is a result of slavery and colonialism.
So many things happened as a result of the industrial revolution, why pick on just those two things??
Olympics opening is always a showcase of what makes the host country unique.
British History, particularly the eras emphasised and especially the Industrial revolution had a huge global impact which it still does.
Perhaps you missed the Windrush moment. A good thing that came out of slavery and colonialism.
I hope for your sake that you aren’t British because the opening ceremony was a fabulous history lesson that all British people should be proud of. And if you aren’t British, I can see why you didn’t get it, but I hope that you are proud of your country’s history and are aware of it’s impact locally and globally.
You know — when I think of England, even being a history and lit freak, my first thought is the incredible music that has come out of England. We musicians absolutely worship England in no small amount. You must not be a music lover, I’m guessing.
If they did a sports related thing I’d have turned it off. The sports part is for, well, the actual Olympic GAMES, not the ceremonies. That’d be like having a baseball game for halftime at the Superbowl.
That’s a horrible analogy and it doesn’t even make sense.
It does however make sense to showcase the athletic achievement that was presented at the games because it is about ATHLETICS, not music. And the athletes should have had more of a showing for the feats they accomplished. If it wasn’t for sport what would the Olympics be about?
That said the British always treat Radhiohead like the red headed step child. Granted Yorke would probably never agree to such a request BUT for me Radiohead is like the Led Zeplin of my mum’s generation (Led Zeplin being her favorite band of all time). One always exists for every generation and I would have chosen them over say Oasis, which has never had the staying power or the accolades that Radiohead has had (but I guess Oasis is better than Blur for instance, which the English seem to covet but they’ve never had a hit other than Song 2 outside of England?).
Oh well Radiohead’s too above it.
That said poor Waity must be so sad tht she has to go back to not being in front of the camera 24/7 and having her jib be just her sitting in stands watching sports. I guess it’s time for a vacation.
And can we please stop with the Prince Harry pairing? He’d never touch her with a 10 ft pole. Just because she finally got her claws into William for good I don’t think he’s completely changed his view on her (he called her the “Limpet” for years), he probably just feels empathy because the rest of the Windsors go out of their way to ignore her.
I thought the fashion segment was ridiculous, but the tribute to John Lennon was very moving. And of course the light show was jaw-dropping.
I think that we as a planet need to be strong enough to stop fellating the guy.
I didn’t like the Closing Ceremony at all. The Opening was 1000 times better.
Are you suggesting that it wasn’t totally awesome and special to see a bunch of cover bands (frequently villified here) perform songs that you’ve been sick of since the time you spent in utero? I don’t understand it, the Rolling Stone Quarterly didn’t predict this and they’re truly on the ball.
I loved Russell Brand. Yeah, his pitch was a bit off, but I still loved him.
And Freddie Mercury. What a voice.
I loved Russell last night. I am fully obsessed with the Beatles when they were trippy, so that was just awesome!!!!!!
‘And Freddie Mercury. What a voice.’
Enough said. Truly one of the most skilled and charismatic frontmen ever produced.
I enjoyed watching Russell, but * don’t ever want to see him singing again unless he’s taking the piss. (he still sings better than Katy though)
The closing ceremony (apart from Elbow who are always amazing) was absolute pants. Seriously, shockingly bad.
Serious Elbow fans here. Great band. I knew I was going to read about Gandy today!
We didn’t even get to see The Who on NBC because they suck so much. We saw more commercials. Wonder wall was the worst, sounds like he sings with a clothespin on his nose and out of tune. Ugh.
Lovely games and safe, even if I didn’t love the ceremonies. Great games, awesome venues. I’d watch eventing in Greenwich and think, we ate lunch right there, or horse guards parade, we were there, etc. good job, UK you did yourselves proud!
The closing ceremony (apart from Elbow who are always amazing) was absolute pants.
Seriously, shockingly bad.
WTF does models have anything to do with Olympics? This is about athletes who train their asses off all of their lives, and to have these coked up, spoiled, barbie dolls walk on the platform made no sense. And what the eff was that dragon in the end? Creepy ans evil….oh yeah the Rothchilds olympics
It was a bit of a slag rally, wasn’t it. I’ll say this: Kate Moss has always struck me a cipher and I’m completely, completely COMPLETELY flabbergasted when I hear people talk about her as if she’s some of prophet-muse who is existing on a higher (mmm-hmmm) plane than all other lifeforms. I don’t hate her by any means, but I guess my ignorance of the industry and what it takes to be a good model to comprehend the adulation. I mean, I don’t know, when did we decide that a mass of teratogenic chemicals poisoning itself from the inside out with little but ceruse and coke holding everything in place was just The Height?
I do sound like I hate her, I truly don’t. I just don’t understand the Cult Of Kate and am curious to know what it is that I’m missing.
Slag rally – hah! I love that. I don’t get it either. And her lank, unwashed beach hair doesn’t really do it for me.
That was a PHOENIX, not a dragon, suspended above the Olympic flames, which looked like the phoenix’s pyre. Sheesh. Know your mythical creatures. BTW, in the East, dragons are symbols of power and good luck. Unlike the West, they aren’t traditionally viewed as evil.
Anyway, completely agree about the models. Their appearance only added shallowness to the ceremony. Jessie J should’ve sung Price Tag only and left Queen alone. Liam Gallagher was completely unnecessary. Elbow was wonderful. I heard One Day Like This when the athletes were entering, but I don’t remember any footage of Elbow performing it. WTF NBC – why didn’t you give them any coverage? NBC sucked the whole time. ABC would have handled it better. Bob Costas and Ryan Seacrest need to drop dead. Their commentary was useless and often disruptive.
I thought that Bob Costas would never shut up. His canned drivel was so irritating, when I just wanted to be able to hear the music and watch the spectacle.
and Seacrest not having a clue who some of the people were – especially the models – was embarrassing!!!! Doesn’t he have lackeys to find out that sort of stuff?
I loved the spice girls and Russell Brand was great too.
It it just me or would it not have made sense for the models to come out during George’s Freedom ’90? I was expecting it to be a live version of the video. But i may be alone on this one lol
It’s not just you. I thought the same thing.
Elton John I can get why it’d be surprising he was omitted but Eric Clapton is a publicly known racist. Which is sad as I love his music but on moral grounds I can’t listen to him any more. So I feel that may be why he was left out.
I think it was great, but it could have been better. Where were the Rolling Stones? Pink Floyds “Us and Them” would have been better then “Wish you were here”. More Beatles would have been better, All Though I LOVED Russell Brand’s I am the Walrus. LOVED IT!!!
The closing ceremony was certainly better than the opening and I have enjoyed some of the parts (excellent British music) so much.
I liked it in general. Of course Elton was missed, so was zeppelin, and there was a point when I was getting mental thinking there was not going to be anything Queen related. Jesse J and her unfortunate wardrobe was just a hell no! and the whole catwalk improvisation was just wrong. This is a sports event! get a grip. Annie Lennox was simply FANTASTIC and the Lennon tribute was perfection. Wish Adele would have been there but what ya gonna do about it…
The opening was quirky, rich and very British. Full of history and substance, granted only those who have spent enough time in the UK would understand it. The closing was mediocre at best.
I totally agree and I’ve never spent a minute in London, but it was a magical, historical opening.
The closing ceremony was so bad we fast forwarded through most of it. I know it is for the athletes so they can dance and kick up a storm, but it made no sense to me. Did the same guy (Danny Boyle?) who directed the opening direct this hot mess? It was like he used the shotgun approach – if you throw enough stuff at ’em something’s going to stick. It also must have raised the unemployment statistics for the month. I missed the Stones, and Clapton. But at least they had Queen (not Elizabeth). And Prince Hot Ginge. So cute when he was singing along with Eric Idle’s “Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life”. That must be the unofficial British anthem. On the other hand, I did love the opening. Real classy and well choreographed.
Danny Boyle didn’t direct the closing. Kim Gavin did. He works frequently with TAke That so no wonder it wasn’t as interesting as it could have been.
here is more.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/cultural-olympiad/8332914/Kim-Gavin-profile-of-Cultural-Olympiad-ceremony-director.html
Better Idle than McCartney.
@LAK – How are you? Knew you would have commented on this post, thought I would say a quick hi 🙂
@Mira – sufferring from Olympics withdrawal.
I was grumpy weeks before because it was causing huge disruption but once it started, i have had a great time. Watched as many events as possible on TV and at various venues.
All the athletes were fantastic. London is really great at the moment. even the weather has held. 🙂
How are you? 🙂
@LAK – Glad you enjoyed the Olympics. I stayed away from it except for seeing a few tennis matches. I’m sure London was joyous with celebration. Saw how vibrant the environment was on some of the news clips 🙂
I’m doing okay. Last few days of break before school kick starts in Fall. Spending time watching an awful lot of movies. That’s all 🙂
The opening was painfully boring. The closing was much better but I was only watching to see the Spice Girls.
Could have done without Jessie J and Taio Cruz but I thought that Emile Sande and Ed Sheeran were good examples of new British talent and I was happy they performed.
Loved the bit with Freddie Mercury the best, I was kinda hoping we’d get a holographic version of Freddie (a la Tupac at Coachella) rather than Jessie J, but it was alright, I guess.
I loved the stage and the newspaper covering everything. I recognized quite a few parts – saw some Dickens and Samuel Johnson.
I loved the eccentricity of the opening ceremony, but the closing seemed like a very poorly put together pop concert. They thought Jessie J was the best the British had to offer so rolled her out that many times?! Liam Gallagher was awful, I’ve heard cats screaming sounding better, and oh yeah Liam, Paul Weller called – he wants his look back, ta.
I kept waiting for Elton John to pop up!!! So weird he wasnt there because he performs for every important occasion in GB. He was excellent at the Queen’s Jubilee Concert. I enjoyed Jessie J and actually thought she sounded great singing the Queen tribute. Much better than the Opening Ceremony.
I was sort of disappointed with the closing ceremony. It seemed chaotic and very very noisy. Yes, I know it is a rock concert and the venue had bad audio, but jeez, sometimes I couldn’t even make out the songs.
The good:
Eric Idle, the lightshows, the extinguishing of the flame, Elbow, the Who & Freddie Mercury’s cameo.
Honorary favorite: George Michael. I was such a fan back in the day. He sang Freedom live and he sounded and looked great. But then he had to go and ruin it with that awful second song that was so obviously lipsynched. Terrible!
The bad:
Muse, Liam Gallagher and whatever band he’s singing with now, the creepy Lennon face (although the rendition of Imagine was nice), the pyramid that was built and nothing came of it, the Spice Girls, Queen with Jessie J, the way the aforementioned Jessie J, Taio Cruz and Tinie Tempah sang that Bee Gee’s song and it wouldn’t end and I think the singers didn’t know when it would end either… so funny.
The ugly: Russell Brand.
I watched with my parents (we don’t live in the UK nor in the US) and they hated the music and didn’t understand half of what was going on. When Rio came on with their part they said: at last, this is music. And I get them, you know? And this is from someone who loves rock and british music in general.
I wonder how the concert went over with the countries that are not used to all of this showy, loud stuff.
I guess I’m in the minority. I hated both the opening and closing ceremonies.
How come nobody else feels Coldplay was missed? 🙁
I agree, and where was Prince William?
Prince William is in something like the Air and Rescue Corps (?) and had to go back to work. I don’t think the Queen could cope with the sound.
It’s the Rolling Stones 50th anniversary, thought they would be there. Lots of Beatle love.
I was pissed off by the model thing. Here we have a couple of thousand supremely attractive, supremely talented athletes and we’re going to pay tribute to a bunch of uselessly beautiful idiots? Hey Kate, how far can you throw that javelin? How’s your pole vaulting, Gandy?
Russell Brand’s first line of ‘normal’ singing was painful, but once the voice effect of Walrus came in he did fairly well. Considering he isn’t actually a singer, I thought he was fine and a good choice for the song.
I wanted to throw a shoe at Jessie J. Her covering Queen was just offensive. Why didn’t they get George Michael to do that?
I WANT the Octobus. I wonder if it’s up on ebay? I also want a hat with a lightbulb on top.
Spice Girls were meh. Vic Beckham can’t pull off the original ‘girls having fun’ vibe, the other 4 were fine.
However, all was forgiven once Eric Idle came up. They should have ended on that, it was *brilliant*.
Actually, I think the closing ceremony is miles better than the opening ceremony. I know, the opening tried to show a warm response of the British people, but sorry I don’t get it. The opening was a mess -WTF did they think with these pathetic story of love story by a lost cell phone? It was something inspired by the Teen Choice Awards… For me, the opening ceremony was one of the worst I ever seen after Atlanta. I still remember the wonderful Barcelona, the beatiful meaning of humanity in Athens or the magic Sydney and London opening isn’t one of them
Maybe the closing ceremony isn’t exactly too “british” per se, but I loved it. I’m having great time, it was more organized and with better coreography. I love the Spice Girls special and Eric Idle skeech. 8.5/10 – Not perfect but it was fun and I was having a great time.
For Rio, I didn’t love it, but I like some parts and I think is a different look -Not using the same clichés and try to sell a different image-
What about- Always Look on the Brightside of Life! My favourite part, but I think the opening ceremony was really good- it did what it was meant to do- introduced the host country, and this did what it was meant to do, be a fun celebration at the closing.