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Opening Ceremony


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I guess he'll be the act they play at the end so everyone dosen't all leave at once like they did in Beijing with Jackie Chan and some others, though McCartney might be famous and well liked enough to have the opposite effect and make everyone stay instead.

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If they wanted Paul McCartney as closing act for the opening ceremony, then he'll most certainly sing a Beatles song. I mean, nothing else would justify why he should get such a prominent position -- he and John Lennon composed their best songs during the Beatles years. And I doubt he'll sing any kind of theme song. Baron once explained why it's more and more difficult to get such top acts singing theme songs, due to contract/marketing issues, I believe.

But which Beatles song could it be? I think very appropriate (although it was mainly written by John Lennon) would be "All You Need Is Love", because it's a joyous song and it was first played on the first global television link "Our World" in 1967, so it has a very international and "Olympic" message. ;)

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How do people feel about Paul McCartney closing the opening ceremony?? I would have thought he'd be an act for the closing ceremony... Unless he is singing the official Olympic song. I, personally, do not like his music, but many are in awe of him.. So I guess he's a good act to have.

I also don't get the whole Paul McCartney thing. No denying he is Britain's national treasure where he is always given the headline slot in all important event eg jubilee and Olympics. Sorry but I just don't get his music/ stage persona at all. Yes he was part of Beatles but him solo just doesn't do it for me.

His act last night was greatly helped with a lot of staging effect and pyrotechnics. Otherwise, god forbids I say this but i find him quite boring esp him doing a singalong of Let It Be (or Hey Jude) for the millionth time. Personally I felt Elton John has more stage charisma and great songs than McCartney if want to compare artistes from that era.

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I didn't know there were projections on Bjork's dress until afterwards either. I was seated in the very center of the stadium halfway down the bottom tier right across from the media and the VIP's. I got the back of the Cycadic head, but it still worked.

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^^AustraliaFan, Baron has been the troll champion of this forum for many years. If you can't stand his comments I suggest you to just ignore him :P. Believe me.

Also, I knew about the orchestra mimicing. It seems Boyle wasn't very glad about this, since he hoped the orchestra to perform live. But again, no big surprise because stadiums usually have horrible acoustics. The last two ceremonies had prerecorded music and they were still great.

Also, Sydney Symphony Orchestra was miming as well back in 2000 (and it wasn't even their music but Melbourne Orchestra one :lol: )

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Unfortunately I couldn't see anything projected on to Bjork's dress from inside the stadium during either the Tuesday night Dress Rehearsal or during the OC itself. This thread is the first time I have heard that there was meant to be something projected on to the dress at all..

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^^AustraliaFan, Baron has been the troll champion of this forum for many years. If you can't stand his comments I suggest you to just ignore him :P.

Uhmmm, I resent that. Pls redefine a troll. I just post different views; I am brutally honest; and I leave the gushy, rosy-colored-glasses-view to others. Just because I am realistic, or come across as 'cynical' doesn't a troll make.

@AussieFan -- Now, how boring would it be if we all posted--isn't it wonderful, yeah that was magnificent (which I have posted), etc., etc.. This is an open forum so we get all POVs from everywhere. I didn't know Tiesto was an inviolate "god;" and that one couldn't say less-than-positive things about him...which in some small internet forum, would in any way harm him. For me, posting here is a fun diversion--which is what it should be. A lot of the stuff here I let slide unless they are direct attacks. Again, I am sorry if it upset you so...didn't realize that that person was in your pantheon. Shall we move on?

226150339_f7a858598e.jpg

On the west coast, NBC edited the full spreading of that skirt. I have never seen that shot; and indeed if it must've taken around 10-12 mins for that thing to do its job, I figure NBC would've rather used the other minutes to show some ads. Geez, I hope that comment was neutral enough? :ph34r:

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It wasn't any 12 minutes though. Just the length of the song, Oceania. I'm guessing three or four minutes max. They worked really hard to pull the sheet back quickly for the next segment -- I think it was the bit about the previous hosts leading into the global torch relay with the flying torch bearers, but I'd have to watch my DVD to be sure. There were a bunch of guys grabbing armfuls of fabric as fast as they possibly could.

I have to say that Pappioannou (I'm sure I spelled that wrong) did a superb job with the transitions. You can't tell that in the edited footage, but inside the stadium each segment blended seamlessly into the next and the spectators' attention was deftly redirected away from the various logistical maneuvers. It was really superbly done.

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I read this post in SSC forums, at the opening ceremony thread (originally from southseasteve)

The guy that did the projections on Buckingham Palace during the Madness song was being interviewed and said his colleagues were very busy working on the projections for the Olympic Opening Ceremony.

If they're half as good as the ones we saw on Monday we're in for a treatsmile.gif

The interview happened in BBC Breakfast, according to him

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lki3VMPy2RE

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Just out of curiousity. Which Commonwealth nations will get the biggest cheers at the Opening Ceremony when the teams enter the stadium? Australia? Canada? New Zealand? Jamaica? Singapore? Malaysia? Nigeria? South Africa? India? Pakistan? Cameroon? Trinidad and Tobago? Malta? Cyprus? Belize? Grenada? Solomon Islands? Tonga? Nauru? Papua New Guinea? Kenya? Zambia? Tanzania? Sierra Leone? All of the members, I'm certain. Hong Kong, though no longer a Commonwealth member, will surely get a nice response. Ireland will too despite never being one. How about Burma (Myanmar), a former British Southeast Asian colony never a Commonwealth member and just getting its toes wet into democracy? I have to wonder about Zimbabwe given Mugabe's antagonisms and hatred with the British government as they're likely the last nation to walk in alphabetically, having left the Commonwealth at least a decade ago. And the cheers coming will more than likely result from Team GB coming very near as the last team to march.

Like what was pointed out here about Argentina flaring up with the Falklands again, we ought to separate the nation's athletes from their governments, no matter how convenient and surrogate they may be emotionally for us to vent, sometimes mindlessly for some.

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Yeah but the Aussies are everywhere! They even made Oi! Oi! Oi! chants at hockey games in Vancouver 2010 that had nothing to do with them! They'll be there to make sure the Aussies get an ovation at the OC.

Besides, are the Olympics too "nice" to jeer? They may even politely cheer Argentina. :ph34r:

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Yeah but the Aussies are everywhere! They even made Oi! Oi! Oi! chants at hockey games in Vancouver 2010 that had nothing to do with them! They'll be there to make sure the Aussies get an ovation at the OC.

Besides, are the Olympics too "nice" to jeer? They may even politely cheer Argentina. :ph34r:

I do remember seeing the Iraqis getting jeered in the Parade of Nations in Barcelona while holding up peace signs.

You may be right about the Aussies being too much of a sports rival for Team GB these days, Sir Rols.

And don't forget there's a nice community of every nation in the Commonwealth, even those that aren't in it like Burma and Hong Kong, in London that is no doubt a very international city. So there's something for those nations to tap into.

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There was a piece in a paper here recently saying London 2012 was almost a home games for the NZ team due to the huge number of Kiwis doing their OE in London.

I don't see there being anything too negative or feral towards any of the teams though.

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Uhmmm, I resent that. Pls redefine a troll. I just post different views; I am brutally honest; and I leave the gushy, rosy-colored-glasses-view to others. Just because I am realistic, or come across as 'cynical' doesn't a troll make.

@AussieFan -- Now, how boring would it be if we all posted--isn't it wonderful, yeah that was magnificent (which I have posted), etc., etc.. This is an open forum so we get all POVs from everywhere. I didn't know Tiesto was an inviolate "god;" and that one couldn't say less-than-positive things about him...which in some small internet forum, would in any way harm him. For me, posting here is a fun diversion--which is what it should be. A lot of the stuff here I let slide unless they are direct attacks. Again, I am sorry if it upset you so...didn't realize that that person was in your pantheon. Shall we move on?

On the west coast, NBC edited the full spreading of that skirt. I have never seen that shot; and indeed if it must've taken around 10-12 mins for that thing to do its job, I figure NBC would've rather used the other minutes to show some ads. Geez, I hope that comment was neutral enough? :ph34r:

I can not believe it!!!

Why we could not see that on TV???

I always thought that that part was a big fail in the ceremony...

After Bjork song, they started inmediately with the video previous to the olympic runner of "Athens to Athens" segment...

Don't forget that the flying segment previous to light the flame in Beijing was taken from the Athens flying athletes....

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I would be shocked if there were negative reactions to Australia, or indeed any other team. Most people hold Australia in high regard and often have close connections so even if it is a rival I cannot imagine people jeering the team.

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I can not believe it!!!

Why we could not see that on TV???

I always thought that that part was a big fail in the ceremony...

After Bjork song, they started inmediately with the video previous to the olympic runner of "Athens to Athens" segment...

Don't forget that the flying segment previous to light the flame in Beijing was taken from the Athens flying athletes....

I'm not sure why NBC didn't show that (or the broadcast you watched in NZ). The globe projection shows in the official DVD. Thanks for confirming the program order. I thought that's what it was, but hadn't gone back to watch....

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Three opening ceremony rehearsals in Olympic Stadium. Anyone knows how to get tickets for dress rehearsal? Are they sold/ given out in previous games? And also isn't there a big chance some audience will leak out major plot details after seeing the dress rehearsal? It's easy to control the performers but for the 80,000 crowd why would they care?

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/olympics/olympic-news/london-2012-olympics-60000-people-to-practise-their-routines-in-three-secret-opening-ceremony-rehearsals-7827271.html

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Allegedly the song Paul McCartney will perform at the opening ceremony will be "Hey Jude":

http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/music/news/a385840/paul-mccartney-ditched-hey-jude-from-jubilee-concert-for-olympics.html

Frankly, I could imagine better scenarios than the stadium's audience chanting "Naaa-na-na-na-na-naaaaa-na-na-na-naaaa!", especially towards the end of the ceremony. It could take the magic of those moments shortly before or after the cauldron lighting away.

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