Closing Ceremony

[David Johnson]

Agree that the sound was a bit hit and miss in parts, but given the complexity of what they were doing with multiple performers in different parts of the stadium, it couldn't have been that easy to get spot on.

The fashion didn't work well for me. First I thought the reading out of sponsors/providers e.g Burberry - well known for relocating some of its factories overseas, was a bit tacky. Secondly, the section was too short. Either extend it or don't bother.

Like you, I thought much of the music was excellent with Queen, the Kaiser Chiefs, Elbow and inevitably, the Who, providing the standout performances.

[Sam Slater]

Yes, maybe put on a little more. I don't think the industry should have been totally ignored. My guess is that they know fashion shows rarely come across too well on TV. An extension may have put people off, even if it would have looked great for the audience and athletes in the stadium.

I forgot about Elbow. Saved the ceremony when it looked like being a disaster. I actually thought the Spice Girls did a job, too. Was humming one of their tunes to myself this morning, which was a little scary (you see what I did there? Scary....hahaha. I'm a genius).

Never liked the Kaiser Chiefs. Just can't take them seriously.

Liam's Wonderwall rendition didn't go down too well. His voice has gone, like Robert Plant's did in the mid 70s. You can't sing they way they did for long. Good while it lasts, though. Noel would have been better. A bit of Pulp would have been nice. Wanted to see Boris and Cameron bopping to 'Common People'. !laugh!

And while we're on about Cameron and Boris, it's clear that no amount of schooling at Eton can teach you rhythm. Boris was dancing like he'd got a wasp under his shirt and Cameron looked like what a Thunderbird puppet would look like dancing. Credit Boris for the effort though. He at least looked like he was enjoying it all.

[number 6]

Don't think it was a patch on the opening ceremony to be honest.

[Sam Slater]

No. The opening ceremony was insurmountable in it's scope, imagery and story. I think it's unfair to compare, though. The opening was all about telling the world what these islands were about. The closing was just a party as a thank you to the athletes and everyone who contributed.

[Lizard]

I'm totally with you Ken, it was a pile of self indugent embarrasing shite. having to rely on second rate performances, lip syncing (outragous to see Muse singing live but pre-recorded music (you can't play a guitar solo featuring dive bombing without a whammy bar fitted), dead people and a gaggle of coke snorting models.
Shite.

[David Johnson]

Well I haven't got much time for the Kaiser Chiefs oeuvre myself, but I thought they did a good version of Pinball Wizard!

Is there any truth in the rumour that Cameron and Boris requested "I predict a riot"?

And as for Boris, I would have really liked to have seen him fired out of the cannon.............and missing the net.

What a finale that would have been.

[jimslip]

Frank, you are a misery! Can't you see the organisers threw everything and anything they could short of the kitchen sink at the event, so that foreigners could recognise and identify with the entertainment. It was always going to be the "Pops" and "Young people" having fun, Frank! At no time were the organisers considering having an evening of readings from the great classics and an hour of mass Morris dancing, finished off with 80,000 cream teas accompanied by a sermon from the Archbishop of Cantebury, Frank!

The only thing I disliked was the dreadful sequence by the Royal Ballet, where a bunch of guys seemed to be hauling Darcy Bussell around like a sack of potatoes from one side to the other whilst all the Royal Ballet babes did bugger all. I hate contemporary dance at the best of time, but this was dreadful. Why? oh why? oh why? do they always shove mohican wigs on dancers when they are trying to be edgy, for God sake "Punk" went out of fashion 30 years ago and the music was the most appalling shit!

[andy ide]

It was shit last night. A very disappointing end to a superb Games.

The last two and a half weeks have been wonderfully free of bullshit. They've been about ordinary people doing pretty extraordinary things, and of the value of community. Last night, things started getting back to normal.

One little thing that proved the utter incompetence of the creative director was the brief David Bowie bit. The different pics, the different snatches of music, each of them moving us through his career, like a countdown to... no, it can't be -- fuck!! He's not actually going to appear is he!?! Well, erm, no. Cos it just stopped at 'Fashion' and a bunch of worthless supermodels appeared instead. Never promise what you can't deliver. Absolutely totally fucking inept.

[beutelwolf]

David Johnson wrote:


> Overall, excellent! Great lighting. And a history of 40 years
> worth of British music. We even had a bloke fired out of a
> cannon.

Was it Sergei, by any chance?

[Robches]

The good news for Kate Moss and Naomi Campbell is that the drug testing was only for the athletes.

I agree that when you have a countdown of David Bowie through the years, not actually having David Bowie was pathetic. Eric Idle was good though.