Athensfan

Amen.

walking away.....

My final verdict: Not wonderful, but pleasant. The "gentle and welcoming" tone was achieved. The drones were magical. The pictographs were quirky. The cauldron was serene and beautiful. It is too bad there wasn't a more cohesive, mature artistic vision -- a la Papaioannou (my hero) -- but for pandemic Games delayed by a year, it's not a bad beginning.

Lol. I think you're right.

I have a feeling that the cauldron lighting may have been devised pre-pandemic. Seemed very cohesive and refined. The Mt. Fuji reference works. The sun flowering into that towering flame. Restrained, but beautiful. More successful than Nagano I think.

Incidentally, my money is on Michael Phelps and Simone Biles together in 2028...

Anyone else getting echoes of Midori Ito?

Yeah. It's an odd choice. I mean, it is one big crescendo, so in that sense I get it.

I hear you. At the same time, art isn't easy. Finding ways to represent character, theme and history (even on a smaller scale) when there's a chance the Games might not happen at all or might be entirely virtual, etc. -- it's not a cakewalk. I disagree about the pictograms. I don't think they're AMAZING, but they were quirky, memorable AND specifically Japanese, since they originated them.

C'mon, Baron. You poo-hoo pretty much everybody's ceremonies except for Atlanta. (eyeroll emoji here)

It was definitely unique! And since the pictograms were already designed it didn't take a ton of work.

I don't know. It was a tough call either way. I mean, most of the expenditure had already happened. So cancelling the Games wasn't going to save them much money. It would've cost the IOC a boatload. I think it would've hurt the Olympic brand as well. And there are the athletes to think of.

Bud, Covid has been demoralizing. There was a good chance these ceremonies wouldn't happen at all. The Games have been a money pit and the Japanese aren't getting any return on their investment. Public support is scant. Hardly optimal conditions for creative brilliance. I agree that the ceremonies are lackluster. I won't rewatch them. But in the grand scheme of things, I'm giving Tokyo 2020 a pass. The ENORMOUS financial losses that they have absorbed are mind-boggling. In the grand scheme of things, the ceremonies clearly weren't the top priority. And they shouldn't have been. Frankly, I think simpler ceremonies are going to become the order of the day as the Olympics try to be more cost-conscious. Rio's ceremonies were pretty humble. These absolutely are. Sure, Beijing will ratchet up the spectacle next year, but I think it's very possible that future ceremonies will look more like Tokyo than Sydney/Athens/Beijing/London.

I agree that the Field Marshals need a makeover.

Are those requirements for lighting the cauldron?