Ruling Czar

This pic of Toronto is .......... breathtaking!

Should there be any major concerns about London 2012 at this time? It doesn't appear that there should be any. Let's keep looking. I don't like the Logo and it appears that this is universally regarded as the worst ever in Olympic history but other than that...everything seems to be "all systems go!"

Seems Sochi will be doing very well!

I totally disagree with your slaughtering of the OC. I am not Canadian ( as some ppl on this board tend to believe) but I got to understand what it is - especially the stunnning, absolutely stunning segment of the boy flying over wheatfields. I had no idea of the stupendous vastness and beauty o fyour country until for some reason, I noticed this acrobat flying true the air to the most amazing music and then landing perfectly on a field of wheat. Never before has a solo performace of that scale been attempted in an opening ceremony. I couldn't understand the part with the dancers tap dancing but the setting was beautiful.

Fifa made the right decision. Quite frankly, I am ashamed of England's behaviour in the wake of the decision. What if they had won? Would they be so boisterous in their calls for reform in FIFA? NO! When Paris lost the Olympic bid to London, the Paris team felt (and expressed) their disappointment for a single day then let it go. England does not have the right to assume possession of any global event - not even the queen has that right nowadays. I commend Mr. Blatter for his fearless leadership. When no one said Africa could do it, Africa did it and magnificently so. I remember the many questions the British media asked about Africa's worthiness and they were proven wrong. They even tried to portray Vancouver as balancing on failure when in truth, it was one of the most exciting winter games in Olympic History. Let's see what will happen for 2012 shall we?

Firstly, the opening winter scene of the cultural segment was convincing and executed very well. The emergence of the giant bear muppet from the stadium floor glittering against the lights the audience held was magical and breathtaking! The whales were out of this world and I believe they could have employed "Fantasia" music during this segment but nonetheless, it was remarkably vivid! Was there anything as humbly stunning as the climax of the Sarah Mclachlan segment? Only the arresting beauty of this guy flying over wheatfields! I think this segment captured the stupendous vastness of the canadian prairies wonderfully well. But one of the best parts in my opinion, which spoke to the orchestration of the audience participation was actually the transistion segment from the the wheatfield segment to the mountain segment. That indoor storm was so thoroughly convincing and the music was .....WOW! I wondered how the audience members were able to move their lights so that it looked like lightening! Incredible!

Okay..this might appear surreal but here goes (gulp) Two weeks ago I watched the opening ceremony of the Vancouver winter Olympics for the First time on You Tube! Imagine that! I just could not believe that this was the same ceremony that I saw being torn apart on these boards and was left questioning the appreciative artistic capabilities of some of the people who generated these comments. This ceremony was incredibly magnificent. Yes! They were a few faux pas which were indeed downpoints when I juxtaposed them with the high points. The segment with autumn was the poorest! And the malfunctioned culdron piece was tragic.But there was such arresting beauty encapsulated in the ceremony.

And let's not forget the Red Mittens which to date appears to have be the most successful winter olympics merchandise!

Well, let's see how many promises will be broken.

I can't really see a "Winter Olympics" in Sochi!

Well, it is clearly evident that all systems ARE go!

London's shaping up rather nicely!

Most innovative medal design ever!

I just don't know what to make of the cauldron.Sometimes it looks great then at other times it looks.....it looks....like angular crap. Nonetheless, Vancouver was spectacular. Two weeks ago (this sounds embarrassing) I watched the full opening ceremony for the FIRST TIME on You Tube.It was lasted as "Opening ceremony Complete Event". Can you believe it? Anyway, I was completely and utterly blown away by the ceremony and was very perplexed about whether or not I was watching the same thing you guys on Gamesbids watched. Now that I saw it myself, I was absolutely stunned at the beauty of the thing. The weakest part would have been the autumn segment for me but there were so many, many exhilarating moments. For sure the emergence of this huge, glittering bear from the stadium floor,the cracking of the ice and emergence of the whales! THE WHALES! The Classical ending to Sarah McLachlan's performance was so stunning. But the ultimate highlight for me, which shall go down in Olympic history as one of the most innovative and emotionally moving performances was the wheat field segment! OMG! I think the unrestrained beauty and superior vastness of the prairies and Canada were majestically captured here! How unequally stunning that was! I also have to give the prize for the best audience participation at an Olympic Opening Ceremony to the audience at Vancouver - especially during the transition segment from the wheat fields to the mountain segment. I still am quite interested in finding out how they got parts of the audience to flick the lights so that the lightening of the storm seem to flash throughout the stadium. Magnificently resplendent! I gave it an 8.5 out of 10

Okay. Let's get serious here. I would imagine any member from the British Isles would be head-over-heels pleased with these things but really? Is this a tribute to the World of the Cyclops or something? Not liking them at all!