walei

Maybe it's just me but I never got the same feeling from London/Vancouver/Beijing/Torino/Athens/SLC/all other ceremonies I think it's because the two sides are empty and not surrounded by people, and the stage is a bland open area with no shapes or curves. The movement of the show is mainly moving pieces from right to left so I guess the camera work couldn't do much also for the in-between segments.

Watched the OC again over the weekend. I loved the use of music and the props, they were magnificently Russian. One thing I didn't like though was how empty the stage looked in-between... I think it's the way the spectators were seated, the stage floor looked like a huge empty street waiting for the marching parade to come through. The cauldron lighting sucked though... huge disappointment after the best ever from London.

I'm ethnically Chinese but was born in Taiwan so I consider my original nationality Taiwanese or Republic of China, and my family immigrated to Toronto when I was 9. I think Toronto really need to think of a way to play up the multiculturalism and tie it into why this is important to the IOC.

Is a compact game a top priority? Rio won 2016 despite being the least compact bid. That's not to say Toronto shouldn't focus on a compact bid, they absolutely should but this alone won't be THE attraction imho.

Well they were planned that way so I wouldn't call it glitches.

The waterfront concept is great but I don't think it's THE trump card Toronto needs to have in its hands also. Is a scenic waterfront concept more compelling or close to compelling as what other cities can come up with? I really don't know. I feel Toronto needs something along the line of what olympicsfan97 said ON TOP of the technically excellent compact waterfront plan and the legacy of cleaning up the Portlands. The diversity of Toronto, a metropolis where every nationality can be found (I think I read that somewhere), home game for every nation, the living success story of the Olympic ideal that different ethnicity and race come together and building a peaceful community. Make the IOC think coming to Toronto is the same thing as padding themselves on the back... we all know how the IOC likes to do that LOL.

So, if Toronto 2024 bid is a reality what do you think Toronto should do to improve its narrative besides an excellent technical bid to make it compelling? In 2008 it was pretty much a game by athletes for the athletes and it obvious wasn't enough to match the Juggernaut that was Beijing and China. If Toronto go ahead with 2024 our possible opponents will be Durban/South Africa, the last frontier for the IOC; Paris and their Centennial, and USA the biggest market for the IOC. What narrative direction should Toronto go for?

I'm talking about the stadium announcers. They miss the cue after the first runner and the names they called out didn't match whoever was actually holding the torch during the lap run, and finished way behind. World feed commentator was indeed horrible but that's independent from the OC.

I loved London's cauldron lighting segment but the two announcers totally screwed up their cue when announcing the young athletes.

Me too! Tired of looking at that maxipad...hope it contains strong Asian flavours.

Hi Gucci, can you please clear your inbox

Instead of letting athletes roam around the stadium they were compartmentalized for too long. There isn't much they could do so maybe some of them got bored or just left to join other compartments. Still disappointed not seeing a impromptu conga line Spice Girls were amazing, they were also the highlight for me!

I think London's lighting is probably my favorite of all time. LOGOC got everything right with the whole sequence, the music, and the progression. I love Caliban's Dream, probably my favorite original track composed for the Olympics. Sir Redgrave's entrance with 500 park builders cheering as the honor guard was brilliant. I wasn't too sure about the youths lighting the cauldron but London's motto IS "Inspire a Generation". The image of 200+ previous British medalists looking upon them waving and blessing the youth, the hugging embrace from the legends that nominated them, all with that hauntingly beautiful music gave me goosebumps. It's still very unfortunate that the cauldron cannot be seen outside of the stadium and had to be turned off to move it to another location.

Montreal's flame going out wasn't intentional, London's is. In the end I don't think I'm too worked up with the cauldron's flame being distinguished, but the attitude of LOCOG about it is kind of a turn off.