General Chat

Whether they will recoupe the 26million + that its cost overall will remain to be seen........!

I think any athelete that qualifies for a world event that only takes place every 4 years anyway,,,,they deserve a grand opening to mark their hard work so really giving the public and people all over the world a share is wonderful.


In reallity just to cut a ribbon would be an insult to any athelete thats reached this stage...and lasts nights affair may not have held some of us in raptues for one reason or another, those that were enthralled by it all, enjoyed and supported it to the full a once in a life time event.

I don't think McCartney could ever 'pull it out of the bag' he would be better singing 'in a bag' Lol ;-)


Linda

We thought the Queen didn't look well but it was very late for an elderly lady and she may have just been tired and 'Jubileed out'.


Rita I think the children singing the National Anthem were deaf, they were signing it as well as some of them singing. I thought theyw ere great, but being hard of hearing I probably would,

I do think that on the TV screen we couldn't appreciate the larger picture and with my hearing problem I couldn't always hear the commentary so had to 'guess' what was going on. But mostly it was great, and can you imagine the preparation and organisation it took to put that lot together, even getting the athletes organised for the parade must take some doing. And to see the builders lining the tunnel was great too. I say, well done everyone, you did UK proud. :-)

Not read all replies,but I agree Paul Mcartney is getting a bit past it.Did he get a bit out of time or get a bit mixed up?
I missed Mr Bean I should have paused it or went back.

The Queen looked like she enjoyed it.....not.

I watched it till the end and allthough at the start I thought it was a bit dull I did enjoy it.

Marion

I loved bits of it, liked most of it and cringed at some of it.

Rowan Atkinson and Her Maj :-D :-D :-D Also loved the arrival and lighting of the torch, very beatiful and dramatic.

Agree that Sir Paul was a bit of an anti-climax, although I think the Diamond Jubilee concert showed that he can still pull it out of the bag when he wants to.

Overall, it seems to have been met with wide acclaim. As danny boyle pointed out, it wouldnt matter what you did, there would always be some people who didnt like it. But those people wouldnt like anything, so you just have to ignore them.

In retrospect, i would have like to have seen more of a celebration of the wonderful sport of ladies beach volleyball, but im prepared to overlook that minor point in the interests of harmony and national pride.

Loved it all.....very well done..If we had just cut a ribbon everyone would be moaning about that.

The only bit I hated was Paul McCartney..should have give up performing ages ago. He was embarrassing. Still at least he helped clear the stadium lol

Linda ;-)

I got up before dawn to watch it but only caught it from when they were singing Jerusalem onwards. I missed the agricultural bit that I wanted to see particularly having a lot of hard working Ag. Labs ancestors.

The Industrial Revolution segment was amazing. Britain has a lot to be proud of and as I have a thoroughly British ancestry even though I don't live there and have never been there I still felt proud to be of British origin.

The whole format was very cleverly put together and showed a lot of imagination although I did not appreciate Paul McC. singing.

It was a nice change from the endless exhibitions of hundreds of people moving like one person. There have been a lot of boring opening ceremonies in the past. Well done London.

I cannot beleive after all this time they could put such rubbish on for the opening of the Games. I cringed at what the world must have been thinking It is suppose to be Games not the history of Britian. what that must have cost is beyond belief.

was the children singing the national Antheun suppose to sing God save the KIng. ? I thought the Quuen didnt seem to like that. she looked quiet stern. I shut it off and went to bed with a book.

Well, we did watch it, only from 9 o'clock, mind!

It wasn't what I expected at all as bits that I can remember from other opening ceremonies were more 'large' spectaculars which focused the eye on one scene.

It was all rather 'busy' with many things going on at once and if it weren't for the commentary we wouldn't have understood what was being portrayed. That's 'modern art' for you. May be if we were spectators in the arena we would have appreciated the over all effect better,

High lights for us were Mr Bean and HM + James Bond :-D
Despite SylviainCanada's comments, we were under the impression that Mr Bean was known through out most of the world as his character relies on facial expressions rather than speech. An older lady we know who can hardly speak English added 'Yay Mr Bean!' to facebook, bless her.

I really don't think they should have rolled out Mohammed Ali as he looked as if he didn't know what was going on, or what was expected of him. There must be other older sporting heros who could have been asked. Nice touch having up-and-coming young athletes to light the Torch. If nothing else it saved arguements about who should light it - they would have upset the supporters of the ones rejected.

Now then. Can anyone find a news channel which is NOT concentratiing on the Olympics? :-D

BRILLIANT !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

:-D :-D :-D :-D :-D :-D :-D :-D :-D :-D :-D :-D :-D :-D :-D :-D :-D :-D :-D :-D :-D :-D :-D

I was also disappointed at McCartney's appearance......I can think of 100s I'd have chosen to close the event over him.....real cringeworthy stuff.

Apart from that...i was dead proud...thought we put on a superb show for everyone. favourite bits were the Queen and James Bond and Mr Bean....my girls roared with laughter at him !!!

Well done to all involved !!! x

Seen clips on tv this morning,,,,,,

what a pleasure to see David Beckham.............not being pawed and mauled and slobbered over by the wife.

:-D :-D :-D.

light displayes are always good and without doubt anything that involes children taking part is lovely.

to watch the games wont be on the agenda though. :-)

I thought the whole show would have been more fitting as part of the Queens diamond jubilee celebrations.. e.g.The British Isles history throughout the decades....I am also glad though that the show was not in competition with Bejing's presentation because I hate the 'follow the leader' mentally to outdo the other!... all in all an excellent show and well presented.

I haven't seen it all, cos it started here at 5.30am :-D

I've seen a few bits & pieces on the internet, some good some, errr, went on a bit too long. Laughed at HerMaj pickering her nails :-D

Was thrilled to bits to see Chris Hoy as the GB Flag Bearer :-D

Hopefully there will be a replay, see it properly on a tv rather than a small computer screen.

Lots of energy, happy faces and a great 'feel good' atmosphere. Thoroughly enjoyed it, although couldn't stand the pace as I felt it was too long. Thank goodness I missed Paul McCartney bit but loved the Queen (yes, Hayley, thought she was looking a bit pale) and James Bond bit. What a huge amount of hard work and well done Danny Boyle. :-D

And, of course, David Beckham looked gorgeous <3

Enjoyed most of it; maybe just a bit too much singing and dancing for me though - but that's probably an age thing!


I know it didn't have the precision of Beijing but it needed to be something totally different. It would be very boring to watch the same type of military precision each time.


I think the fact that we portrayed some of our history in various ways; that it showed some truly 'Great' British moments that changed the world; that excited children were involved; that there was some humour and, that there were so many happy, smiling faces was just what was needed in this troubled world of ours.



:-D :-D :-D

Well, we watched the Canadian feed from the "show" ............. taped for showing during prime time evening.

Loved the first part

Really disliked, almost to the point of hating, the middle part of music and dancing and strobe lighting .................. I had to keep looking away and covering my eyes. I found it to be migraine-inducing for me

Loved the Athletes Parade, and the way in which they were allowed to mix with other countries.


And thought the cauldron was magnificent!


The last time young athletes were chosen to light the Olympic Cauldron was in Montreal in 1976, when 2 young athletes did it. A young girl was chosen to represent English Canadian youngsters and a boy represented the French Canadian young athletes.



Over all, my impression was overly long, with almost a Broadway or Hollywood production in the middle part.


Why oh why didn't they do more on the English history or peoples who have caused Britain to be what it is???





sylvia

Mary there are plenty of beds........I know someone who is never refused entry anytime.........and gets to stay,,,,,,,,,,, but also know someone whos had a vital life save op cancelled twice-----as no spare bed,!!,,,,,,,go figure......

Methinks its not the actual beds that are scarce.........its the staff needed to run them thats missing,at times

Absolutely Brilliant..!!
Well done Danny Boyle and all those that took part.
Everyone looked relaxed and even the Olympic Chairman had good words to say about us and our appreciation of sport.
Nothing wrong with showing pride in our history and the efforts of the working classes. I thought that was done well, not the usual perfectly turned out Opera singers and professional dancers but performers looking as though they were enjoying themselves as were the athletes and the children.

Thankfully It didn't rain :-D :-D :-D