Olympics Closing Ceremonies- Page 2

[Roscoe]

Posted: 8/13/12 at 10:28am

The announcers kept saying "Coming up, The Who" and then, "Next, The Who" and then they said, "Come back in an hour after your local news and a preview of some new sitcom about veterinarians and you can see The Who."

And they cut some band called Muse, Kate Bush, Ray Davies, and the business with the phoenix. And they showed Russell Brand.

I'll never watch NBC's Edited Highlights Of Live Events again.

[ErikJ972]

Posted: 8/13/12 at 10:31am

Brand lip synching was one of the low points. The preview from Brazil was pretty bad too.

[Playbilly]

Posted: 8/13/12 at 11:28am

I enjoyed the crazy spectacle. Good intentions and bad taste is always fun. Ken Russell would have been proud.

Where was Sir Elton? Are he and Stephen Daltry not talking?

[PitPro2004]

Posted: 8/13/12 at 11:50am

For my liking they could have included Adele. She's the hottest export they've had in years and utterly no mention.

Also some AbFab would have been nice since Jennifer Saunders is writing the Spice Girls movie/musical/whatever it is.

Oh...and for what it's worth; I am told the players in the blue suits with light bulbs on their heads were supposed to be *ahem* ...human Tardis' from Dr. Who.

Did anyone else recognize Scabbers as Winston Churchill?

[blueroses]

Posted: 8/13/12 at 2:38pm

Madness? The Pet Shop Boys in giant pointy hats? I almost peed myself. LOVED!

Eric Idle was terrific. Fatboy Slim was great. Oas--err--Beady Eye--was excellent. What was with Annie Lennox in the (gorgeously lit and designed) "goth" segment? I like her, but it was a weird fit. Was Robert Smith busy?

Would've loved some Depeche Mode, New Order or Duran Duran.

[Scripps2]

Posted: 8/13/12 at 5:51pm

"So I'm guessing it's really mean spirited of me to be waiting for the afterglow to wear off and the country realizes they will be paying for this event until their grandkids are seniors?"

The £10 billion spent on the Olympics is a drop in the ocean compared to the £trillions spent bailing out the banks. And it feels like the best shot-in-the-arm this country has had for years.

[ErikJ972]

Posted: 8/13/12 at 6:06pm

I want to move to London now.

[sabrelady]

Posted: 8/13/12 at 10:04pm

Uh Huh.

We had the Olympics in Montreal in 1976. The bill was JUST paid off in 2006. THIRTY YEARS!! What kinda infrastructure repairs and development could they have done w that money instead/ See that's the thing, it's not the banking bill- that money is already gone. This is money for the next 2 decades!!
A moment on the lips
Forever on the hips.


( O just get yer mind out of the gutter youse guys!)

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 8/13/12 at 10:32pm

When I moved to Montreal ten years ago (I'm back on the west Coast now due to some family issues), I was actually thankful that the Olympics (and I believe Expo nearly ten years before) helped cause such a defecit--the rent for where I lived was unbelievably cheap, as were living costs in general and I was told this was partly why--as well as why it had such a more vibrant downtown than, say, Toronto, due to people never moving out to the suburbs the way they had in other cities.

I watched some of the NBC broadcast, and it made me thankful for the Canadian one. I think NBC forgot, in general, that THE Olympics are *international*. Here in Canada that tends to be the cliched reaction to US broadcasting of international events--and in some ways I thinK Canada has gotten as bad, but...

[sabrelady]

Posted: 8/14/12 at 10:33am

Actually Expo 67 was projected to have a deficit BUT ended up making several million. Probably what influenced them to go for the Olympics.


Wonder if Greece remembers their Olympics fondly????


Addendum: I think it was the fear of separtists that drove major financial institutions out of Quebec ( esp Montreal) and had a lot o other non Francophones leave that caused the resultant drop in housing costs.

Updated On: 8/14/12 at 10:33 AM

[doodlenyc]

Posted: 8/14/12 at 12:01pm

I thought I was mad at NBC because of the terrible prime time coverage, but editing out Kate Bush?! That infuriates me! I gave them two and a half weeks and they cut Kate?!

Thanks for showing every heat of swimming and track, but leaving out almost every other sport's gold medal performances...douchebags!

[PitPro2004]

Posted: 8/14/12 at 12:40pm

@doodle

I was miffed about the Kate snub too...until I saw this today...

http://www.metro.co.uk/music/908502-rolling-stones-and-kate-bush-turned-down-olympics-closing-ceremony

[doodlenyc]

Posted: 8/14/12 at 1:42pm

Thanks PitPro...I do feel better about it, but not NBC's crappy coverage.

I did LOVE Annie Lennox. One of my favorite songs by her and I dug the art direction. Blueroses, I thought it was a perfect fit for her...best part of the show.

[Jay Lerner-Z]

Posted: 8/14/12 at 1:47pm

Wait.

Kate Bush wasn't actually there, was she?

Edit- oops, just read the link

Updated On: 8/14/12 at 01:47 PM

[TheatreDiva90016]

Posted: 8/14/12 at 2:14pm

I just went to watch the closing ceremonies and my DRV recorded diving and basketball, in split screen 3-D...

WTF NBC?!

Weren't they the ones who played HEDI over the end of the Superbowl years ago?

[Marianne2]

Posted: 8/14/12 at 2:17pm

^ It wasn't the super bowl. Just a game that the Jets were winning when they cut it off, but the Raiders ended up winning in the last seconds. But yes, same network. They still have not learned after 44 years.

[TheatreDiva90016]

Posted: 8/14/12 at 2:24pm

Good Lordy...

I was one?

[Jay Lerner-Z]

Posted: 8/14/12 at 2:48pm

NBC sucks. I was so lucky to be abroad with all-encompassing live coverage. Best Olympics ever!

Also, re-watching the Kate Bush segment, is it possible that the Running Up That Hill vocals were newly re-recorded just for the occasion? Maybe it was just my imagination, but they sounded somewhat deeper and more mature than I recall.

And George Michael was an ass to take the opportunity to promote his new single (which sucks).

[PitPro2004]

Posted: 8/14/12 at 3:10pm

What infuriated me most was the lack of any mention of one of my favorite bands that was seen and yet NBC decided not to mention their names in the bottom scrolling screen. bond string quartet. Their music was played at the equestrian events but they were reduced to playing in front of Russell Brand. *sigh*

[Unknown User]

Posted: 8/14/12 at 4:19pm

Yes Kate re-recorded "Running" for the Olympics.

And I think NBC was cutting thinking no one in America knew who Kate was. Also, they tried to include artists that were excluded from the opening ceremony in the closing and vice-versa.

And I am glad they excluded Adele. Her whining had no place at such a triumphant location.