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my review of the rio opening ceremony

it started a bit of a mess i still don't get the upside down peace sign symbol and the national anthem could have been a success if the kept it simple and not add thoes children  

but from indigious section up to the end it's a sucess. i loved the immigration section and the favela was beautiful.

the transition for the gliesel to the favela scene was non-existant. it looked unfisinsh (i don't know if most of the media got that feeling)

thank god for projections because i have a feeling that they might do the sliperry spole of 'school play' mode.

in the parade of nation section, i hate the marshall outfit. looks like a pancho that never tried. i like the idea of a short ramp. the placebearer is inventive. the child mascot remind me of 2012 and i think it's a great addition to the OC.

the atlleathes plating seed is a great way to keep them distracted.

the doves were ok. kite have been done in atlanta but still an added element that they have an award with it.

the canival scene should have been after the lighting. it could have been thier paul macathney. but it just look odd

the couldrun was a meh. thier trying to make it  look like panam 2007 but it just went south. 

also the rings took so long to be presented. the peace sign thingy should have been replace with the rings or even the fireworks display of the rings. 

overall, bad start, great middle, luckluster ending.  

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Loved the artistic segments. They did a lot - a good lot - with few and simple tricks. And they can pull a lively party for sure. That environmental lecture a bit cringy, though...

As for the protocol, apart from the on-point, beautifully-rendered Olympic rings, the remaining segments seemed rushed and some (e.g. cauldron lighting) even drained of their importance and special magnificence.

Overall, great start... a bit disappointing end.

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Countdown Segment: I actually wasn't a big fan of it, since it were pretty much projections. I thought London was more original with the globes exploding, even if it was too short. I liked the pillows forming brazilian sidewalk patterns though.


Anthem: Best rendition of a national anthem since Sydney 2000. Calm but beautiful acoustic arrangement.

Cultural Performances: A bit of a hit and miss. The Natives segment was pretty nice and I liked the use of the chords. The Geometrization segment with all the cultures arriving to Rio was also nice. While the ceremony used a lot of projections much like Vancouver and Sochi, it doesn't necesarily has to be a bad thing, and these were of a very good quality. However it started going downhill the moment the dubstep/funk crap kicked out (it recovered after the Pais Tropical performance though it was very long and all over the place).

The Global Warming message was nice but i'm sure thousands of conservatives/republicans rolled their eyes today. Also a bit hypocrital considering Rio's pollution and the constant problems with the Amazon Jungle. But aw well.

Parade of Nations: I actually loved the parade of nations this year. Very colorful, very brazilian, the placard bearers were very original and i liked the idea of each athlete carrying a seed. The formation of the olympic rings at the end was better than I thought, and it was helped by the fireworks

Speeches: One of the most tedious ones. And Temer being booed will be a very ugly antecedent. At least we won't see that in Japan due to how respected the Emperor is there.

Olympic Anthem: Like i said before, i was glad it wasn't instrumental. But the kids performance was apalling, and I could feel a strong engrish on it. They should had done it in portuguese.

Olympic Carnival Segment: While a filler segment, I liked it. Rio is popular for its Carnival so a segment dedicated to it was a must. Also the music was pretty confy.

Torch/Cauldron: I'm glad it was actual athletes and not volunteers/nominated kids who carried the torch. Kinda dissapointed Pele had to leve at last second, but that's life. While the cauldron is very simplistic, it keeps the theme of enviromentalism. And the impressive kinetic sculpture made up for it a lot.

Fireworks: Very impressive, nothing to envy from London's.

Overall, I think I give the ceremony a 7.5-8/10. A very good ceremony considering the thight budget and all the issues Brazil had to go through to organize these Olympics. But sadly the shadow of Beijing's still lurms over today's ceremonies.

Will Tokyo finally kill Beijing? We'll have to wait in 4 years.

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I can see why some people are gonna feel a bit short-changed by the Rio OC. It was a bit lite compared to what we’ve become used to. But personally (and I’m only talking about the artistic portions here – the protocol bits are always boring) I loved it. It’s what a ceremony in this day and age should be. So glad they didn’t try and out-spectacle all the previous spectacles.

Toss up between which opening video sequence I liked better, London’s or Rio’s. Both suited their cities. I liked the bossa nova music playing in Rio’s – it set the scene and vibe for me.

The actual performance took a while IMO to get going properly, but once it did, I was impressed. The rainforest sequence I think was quite lovely, and did so well with so little props – just those hanging ribbons. It segued well into the obligatory story of Brazil, which, okay I’ll admit, was just sorta pretty standard and similar to those from Barcelona, Sydney et al.

But then the urbanization city blocks sprang up, the music started taking over, and I became entranced. Loved how Rio presented the urban city and favelas and sounds. I think Rio got the mix of props and projections and lighting and mass people movements just right – nothing was overdone, all was used quite surprisingly sparingly (or not so surprisingly considering the budget)

And then came the music. Now, I know a lot of members here have already said it felt more like a CC with its music focus, but for years I’ve thought that inevitably that was what was going to have to be the hallmark of Rio’s OC. The just stunningly rich and lively heritage of Brazilian musical styles and dances. Me and my latino partner for years have been saying we hoped Rio would celebrate its latin musical tradition, and not only did it not disappoint, it surpassed our expectations. From Girl From Ipanema on, it really pained for me my sultry expectations of Brazilian joy of life. The beats, the colour… just loved it. My hubby was sashaying his hips and dancing round the house all through the morning after those numbers (until he left for his haircut). London also did its musical heritage well, but I think Rio transcended it in that respect. It fitted. It caught the vibe. Even the simple acoustic guitar version of the anthem was great – IMO one of the best national anthem performances at an OC ever.

It was just a pity that the global warming segment was so off-key after that. I have nothing against it, though I think the trend from Glasgow to insert in some worthy cause or message will get tiresome quick.

Happily the music sequed back in nicely for the parade of nations. It was actually the first parade in a long time that I enjoyed – I’ve long lost my initial wonder at the traditional parade. But this one, with its music, its lively pace and beats and even the trikes was just more fun and celebratory for me than what I’ve ben more used to of late. It also just so well fitted the carnival vibe of the host. It seemed deceptively fast paced – I was surprised when I realized it ran just as long as ever. And liked how the athletes were not boxed up formally after they did their lap. Nice informal touch. Capped of by a lovely presentation of the rings – belated for some, but I think it slotted in just nicely, and again was very well presented without being over the top.

Okay, I’ll skip over the protocol segments. Nuzman just shouted and was annoying. It was such a relief that they got back to carnival and the beats again after that was out of the way. I’ll say it again – Rio could do no wrong as long as I focused on its music. It’s one ceremony I’d listen to the musical numbers again.

And then the cauldron! Nothing too special in the lighting, but the cauldron itself – it’s just so beautiful. I think I have a new favourite cauldron of all time. Just so, so… well I can gush for a long time about it.

 Not sure how I’d rank the ceremony overall. Because it wasn’t so lavish, it’s really hard to compare it or rank it to other recent ceremonies. It reminded me a lot of how I responded to Barcelona’s at the time. I just found I refreshing, free of pomposity and full of fun and life.

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Oh what a difference a lunchtime start makes for viewing an Olympic marathon Opening Ceremony:

Speeches were the only obvious yawn part for me--especially the OCOG head saying everything in broken English followed by Portuguese. He should've tried French rather than English. Bach's speech was OK and his French was pretty good (fur ein Auslander). 

The national narrative was staged well. Music overall was good rather than awesome: if the general axiom is OC for the global audience and CC for the home crowd, some of this would have worked better in the CC. The acting President getting booed was both unfortunate and totally predicable. Every recent OC has had a statement element of some controversy. The green message might not reflect all of Brasil today, but hopefully Brasilians will look back on the OC as a turning point on global warming. 

Athletes entrance was very well done! Loved the tricycles and escorts and the volunteers with the big pink arrow ponchos! It was well paced and the last two groups brought it to a perfect emotional crescendo. Yay refugees! Yay Brasil! Yaaaaay!!!!!!

Finally, the final torchbearer choice was inspired--perfect, really. And the cauldron really is breathtaking. 

My score: 8.5/10.

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Michel Temer looked like Mr. Burns throughout the ceremony. :lol:

That cauldron is hideous and its lighting felt kinda anti-climatic. Compared to the other very passionate parts of the ceremony it was such a cold moment.

I really like the idea of an athletes' forest and using this opportunity to focus on global warming. At least here in Germany I think people tend to forget about those issues recently, I don't know if it's the same in other countries. It gave me sort of a "new world" feeling.

Concerning the cultural segments, of course they were low-budget, but still there was so much passion and creativity to it.

In total I'd rate the ceremony a 7/10. Great, if you keep in mind their budget and political as well as economic situation, yet it was miles away from what we were used to recently from Beijing, London and Sochi.

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A sublime ceremonies with an 70's vibe. There should have been more athletes marching during the Parade of Nations. So what if it ends at midnight! Just deal with it! You're watching it on TV at the village anyways. You just allow for another hour before you return to the village.

A good way of highlighting the need to act on climate change. The video showing the effects on major cities woth rising sea levels could have shown more cities though.

A nice cultural segment showing the diversity of Brazil and its major multicultural facets.

An interestingly done Opening on a clear budget. Everything, announcments, anthem etc seemed to be compressed. 7 out of 10.

 

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3 minutes ago, Lord David said:

A sublime ceremonies with an 70's vibe. There should have been more athletes marching during the Parade of Nations. So what if it ends at midnight! Just deal with it! You're watching it on TV at the village anyways. You just allow for another hour before you return to the village.

The athletes have to be staged a couple of hours before the parade, then are queued up and standing for probably a minimum of 2 hours. If I were competing in the next 2 days I would absolutely skip it. 

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That cauldron is something else huh?

Very retro 70s feel. Pretty much confirming Brazil is where that look from. 

Overall a pretty good ceremony although the speeches dragged on a bit. Kyp Kayno probably shouldn't have run in...he was out of breath during his speech.

This ceremony also proves it is totally unnecessary to overspend on frivolous nothingness. 

As always the parade of Nations is  a drag. Still that's the way it goes.

The green theme and anti-war message getting through.

I liked it.

 

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The cultural parts  of the ceremony were passionate and well paced, it raced from prehistory to hip-hop in just 40 mins....the quieter moments like the Girl from Ipanema and The National Anthem were beautiful.

The Olympic Rings were inspired. The 'urbanisation' projections and race up the favelas/high rise was spectacular.

However, the speeches (and Kip Keino thing) were way too looong and self indulgent and killed the middle of the show.

The Carnvale parade seemed in the wrong place. Maybe the athletes should have come in at the end of the Carnivale...that would have been fun.

Also did anyone else notice the Carnival parade came in, stopped, they all look bored, and then they marched again...another pacing mix up.

Overall, a real Brazilian Opening, and spectacular considering the budget. Happy to finally see someone stop burning ng cash for a 4 hour show.

let the Games begin!

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The countdown was weird and improvised. 

My favourite part was the segment of the model and the airplane, but the next part was some generic and the action was only in the stage. 

And the part of global warming, i felt some obliged than wanted, is like due to low budget, they decided to put something which where almost only video necessary. 

And the lighting of cauldron, was decent but without appropriate music. 

But the bad part was the cuality of sound, for the first moments was to low. 

My final score is 7.7/10

 

And the hottest moment 

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Pros 

-Indians, portugueses, slavery

- Parkour -buildings

- Gisele Budchen and bossa nova

- ambiental massenge and judie dench made me cry.

-Athletes parade, less boring and faster then previous.

- olympic rings

- cauldron finish

 

 

Cons

-start and count down

- funk and capoeira segment

- speeches

- escolas de samba (samba schools)

- cauldron start looking like a witch cauldron

8-10

 

 

 

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 Quick notes from the stands... the Brazilian crowd loved almost everything (exception: Bach would have been whistled off had he gone on any longer). Yes, they do a kiss cam and the wave while waiting for things to begin. The main show was popular... lots of singing along to the music (lost on most non-Brazilians however). They sure do love Ms Tom Brady... I can't image how nuts they would be if Tom himself was in the show. Based on the parade of nations, Brazilians really do love everybody. There were a smattering of boos when Argentina came out, that was quickly drowned out by statement cheering. Not sure if this was shown on teevee, but many of the athletes bugged out after marching in and didn't stick around. The Samba was the biggest hit with the crowd. Based on what was shown on the scoreboards, I suspect the teevee cameras were focused on the performers instead of everything else that was going on. If so, you missed out. And I'm pretty sure you missed out on the party going on in the stands.

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I'd say a B+ (for Brasil!)  for the artistic portion -- but it had a very Brazilian vibe!!  Loved the projections -- but I think the strongest influence was Sydney 2000 (story of the land) and Sochi (for the projections; the Sao Paulo portion reminded me of the Soviet proletariat number.  But the very outright blatant "Environmental" message (I was right with the Amazon Flora & Fauna segments) was most fitting -- like their "South American card" they played in winning the Games!!

Loved the Rain Forest/Spaghetti Factory portion!  And then the African slaves was very "Lion King!!!  And the favela projections was like a video game!

Good job, Brasil!!  AM so glad I went in April.  Now I can really relate to the event!!

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Very first impressions

Given the money spent, it was a decent effort.

I liked it until the parkour segment, but i m afraid it went completely downhill after that.

Heavily based on projections. And lets face it, its 2016 and not many are still impressed by visual effects of that type...

7/10

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Hmmm, I'm still not quite sure how I feel about these ceremonies.

I think it was very much a ceremony which fit Brazil, so in that sense, it was a success. Just a few random points

* While the video intro was nice, the countdown didn't seem to have any impact, which was odd as the ceremony did by and large have a closing ceremony type feel to it. It missed the lone horseman, the Hola, the spirits of the tribes of the world, even the well crafted script and drum countdown of Athens. 

* The string segment looked fantastic, it would very much like a 3d vertical version of the Manchester 2002 closing ceremony segment around the human lantern figure (which I have always loved) . 

* The airplane part was visually stunning as well, all be it a tad cheesy and seemed stuck in the middle of nowhere with no real connection

* The urbanisation was fantastic, Baku could have used this and saved money all the countless lift mechanisms to give them their mountains. ;) I loved the flow on to the introduction of the box city, which worked well for the whole evening.

* The production and flow of the ceremony could have been better, which is surprised as the producers have had experience on an international level. I really thought Filmmaster had a good reputation, but I wonder how much they were involved. I can't help but think the touch of DAE, 5 Currents or JMW could have pulled everything together with better continuity.

* I really couldn't see much evidence of filmmakers in this ceremony, surprising as the key creatives were all from that industry as directors. In Athens it was obvious that there was a dancer at the help, and you could see the influence of Yimou in Beijing. But I really didn't understand how filmmakers conceptualised this ceremony.

I guess overall I'd go for an 7.5/10 perhaps, I would expect that to be boosted by half a point or so after a few more watches. 

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