I can’t deny, I had my doubts. What had been revealed about the opening ceremony had looked a bit iffy. Beijing had set the bar pretty damn high, and a setting of meadows with country bumpkins tossing cowpats about the place didn’t seem too promising. I hoped we would be surprised though. I have long admired Danny Boyle. It would have been sad if he’d let us down on the big night.
But he didn’t. I thought the ceremony was brilliant. It was original, epic, inventive, funny – even hilarious – brilliantly eccentric and utterly captivating. Sure, some bits were better than others. I’d rather not have had the Artic Monkeys inflicted on my eardrums. I’d have preferred to see Macca with Ringo doing All Together Now, instead of Hey Jude. And if only they could have gotten Roger Waters and Dave Gilmour on a stage together – Welcome to the Machine would have worked a treat during the industrial revolution.
But these are minor quibbles. Mr Bean and Her Maj the Queen were both brilliant. The flame’s journey up the Thames and into the stadium were well done. And at least I got a quick dose of Pink Floyd with the firework display. I can’t wait till August the 8th when I get to visit. Did the ceremony go down well in your part of the world?
The Mexile 
The opening ceremonies were a blast. Most folk in the US did not get to see them except perhaps in a tape delay. BBC was a way to see them in the internet by a streaming video. Here in Mexico we got to see all the splendor of the show and it was great. We did not enjoy some of the more modern stuff such as the hip hop dancers but that is probably because we are not Brits and we belong to an older generation. But they did a great job! Felicidades!
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The Beebs Olympic coverage on the net is a thing of wonder. I imagine most of it is blocked outside the UK though. Time to get yourself a VPN!
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Really an Excellent opening. And yes they could have left the Hip Hop off for my taste as well. I like your idea and music choice for the surviving Fab Four btw.
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And aren’t holographic performances by those who have departed us all the rage now? We could have had all four of the Beatles on stage…
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The Queen jumping out of the helicopter was hysterical, even if done by a stunt double.
Saludos,
Kim G
Boston, MA
Where we were again amazed at how many small countries there are.
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The whole Bond/Queen film was brilliant. She does have a sense of humour behind that reserved exterior after all. As for the parade…
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Danny Boyle did not disappoint! I loved it all. Mr. Bean and Her Royal Majesty were genius!
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Even folks who don’t normally like Mr Bean liked his little performance here.
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It was quite hilarious and eccentric in a very British way. I’m not sure how it went down in the rest of the world.
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It’s gone down pretty well, I think. There’ll always be a few sour peeps who disagree though!
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I agree about “Hey Jude.” That just was not the right song. The only thing I can suppose is that they thought it one of the few songs most people would know some of the words to. :down:
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The known words being ‘na na na na na na’…. 🙂
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