In fairness the 86year old monarch has sat through many seemingly endless parades this year, albeit that many were in her honour, and the parade of athletes does go on a bit. It would not have been out of place (though somewhat out of character) if she had pulled similar faces to Rowan Atkinson during the rendition of Chariots of Fire. If that was the reaction she gave to Team GB what reception was given to all of the other 204 countries competing in London? Where many spectators were left wondering if the IOC were just making up some of the countries, I suspect Prince Phillip spent much of the parade whispering to his Mrs "Is that one of ours?"
Her disinterest was further evident when it was time for her to utter the scripted and brief official opening. She more muttered than uttered the few words and was already turning towards her seat before the final syllable had moved from the tip of her tongue past her bottom lip.
Highlights of the ceremony include Rowan Atkinson, the Queens acting debut - playing herself, the forging of the Olympic rings and the flame, both the lighting of it and the cauldron itself. These highlighted perfectly Britain's irreverent honour and industrial ingenuity.
Watching scenery appear out of the ground and then disappear later from whence they came left a sense of wonder and no question about director Danny Boyle's creative talent.
As with all creative talent, their ideas will be viewed as brilliant and inspired by some, and leave others bemused and confused. Boyle achieved both in the one event. Live animals that were herded into the stadium and handled in the dark by countless volunteers were led out of the arena only moments after the ceremony commenced only to be replaced by rap dancing men in top hats showing off their massive erections to the world. Knowing the the Britts has a repressed sexual appetite it seemed fitting that the industrial revolutionists needed mechanical assistance to get their towers to grow skywards. The tribute to British music and its associated dance styles was fantastic, the story of young love crow-barred into the sequence to create some time of relevance, was...well...awkward. It needed detailed description by the commentators for television viewers to even know that a story was even being told. Other than that it provided excellent product placement for official partner Samsung as the two lovers texted each other. It also provided two young Britons with that opportunity to pash on the world's biggest stage. And pash the did. If it got any more heated it would have needed one of the NHS beds.
Whilst on the topic of NHS, yes health care is very important and the concept may have started in England, but their service is far from perfect and isn't the service facing massive funding cuts? The inclusion of government initiatives in an international sporting event is unusual. If only the games were being held in Australia again we could include a segment on GST, carbon tax and gun buy-backs. Beijing really missed an opportunity when they hosted the Games in 2008. Lets face it the Chinese government has a wide range of unique systems for their people.
A tribute to those "who could not be with us in the stadium" with the song Abide In Me was an unusual choice. Morbid. It has been interpreted as a possible memorial to those people who lost their lives in the 7/7 bombings in london, the day after it was announced that London won the 2012 Games. If so, whilst moving, it is very political for a supposedly politics free event. If not I am glad that they only showed approximately 50 people's faces, it would be a long event if they showed the face of every human being on the planet who had died since the last Olympic Games. The Queen may have moved on to picking her toe nails if it lasted that long.
The doves on bicycles were so much more classy than Australia's kangaroos on bikes during the closing ceremony in Atlanta.
Proving his immense musical talent Sir Paul McCartney sang backups for his own lead vocals in the opening verse of Hey Jude.
How did organisers choose which musical talent get to perform during the ceremony, from a music industry that boasts the like of Cliff Richard, Elton John, Spice Girls and One Direction.
Talking about obvious omissions from the potted history of Great Britain; Beefeaters, their battles conquering and then relinquishing countries from their Empire, convict deportations, royal decapitations, warm beer and bad dentistry.
Most surprising was the absence of any of the pomp and ceremony from the ceremony. In many aspects it was almost an organised shambles.
The greatest is of course the uniforms of athletes as they enter the stadium, islanders in their grass skirts/warrior garb, the headwear of the middle east and eastern Europe and the overly designed uniforms of richer nations. Standouts are the rubber boots and umbrellas of the Czech Republic, Germany's blue-for-boys-pink-for-girls blazers and Sweden who were wearing off-the-rack rugby tops from Gap.
If only Prince Philip whispered racist remarks into Her Majesty's royal ear about the nations costumes, then maybe she would have paid attention. And smiled.
No comments:
Post a Comment