Gamesbids Livechat: Opening Ceremony Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games

[yoshi]

That's a good point Rols and Rob - a few hours' distance has me thinking that Birmingham has really hammered home just how much the Olympics are having to apologise for their existence - and how little freedom the IOC are giving their ceremonies, especially the opening. I think that's why the Paralympic ceremonies are now always better than Olympic ones. (I give Tokyo a little pass because of COVID and how the organisers were done over by the industrial scale dodginess of Dentsu). I wonder what a London 2024 opening ceremony would've been like now it's more an IOC event that happens to be in the host city rather than the other way round. Hopefully Paris will restore some uniqueness to it with the Seine plan. 

(Also anyone have the media guide yet? They're always a good read)

[Australian Kiwi]

6 hours ago, JMarkSnow2012 said:

Understandable though, given that it was pretty much all downhill for Melbourne (and up to the skies for Sydney) after 1956 ...

Downhill? Have you been to Melbourne? 

[Australian Kiwi]

6 hours ago, JMarkSnow2012 said:

Urban areas get to be "much more liveable, and affordable" by being less attractive to capitalists than to politicians

Melbourne is one of the most expensive cities in the world - its not by any means cheap or affordable. Until the pandemic it was Australia's fastest growing city and is still on track to become Australia's biggest city again in the next few years. 

It doesn't have that glittering sparkle of Sydney Harbour - but no other city does because Sydney is one of the most beautiful cities in the world. 
 

[Australian Kiwi]

5 hours ago, Rob. said:

That's exactly it (I've run out of reactions for today otherwise I'd give that a big LIKE).

It feels like the IOC has disappeared too far up its own bum when it comes to these things.

And Birmingham has just wiped away any excuses in one stroke - you don't need an enormous budget to do this, and you can make solemn points about human rights, homophobia or whatever else you choose to use the platform for without sacrificing the entertainment.

So...next time we see an overly solemn ceremony, we know it's a dreary choice of the organisers.

Its because the IOC sees itself more and more as some sacred Olympic Holy See. They're so full of **** they can't step back and see the wood from the trees. 

I also loved CGF President Louise Martin's speech. She didn't waffle on in stupid platitudes or meaningless motherhood statements like Fencing 1976 - she kept it brief, sincere and happy. 

[Ikarus360]

8 hours ago, Rob. said:

That's exactly it (I've run out of reactions for today otherwise I'd give that a big LIKE).

It feels like the IOC has disappeared too far up its own bum when it comes to these things.

And Birmingham has just wiped away any excuses in one stroke - you don't need an enormous budget to do this, and you can make solemn points about human rights, homophobia or whatever else you choose to use the platform for without sacrificing the entertainment.

So...next time we see an overly solemn ceremony, we know it's a dreary choice of the organisers.

This. The IOC has been very slow and hypocritical regarding the themes of Social Justice, equality and LGTB, and yesterday's ceremony did 10x more representation of these elements than all the Olympic ceremonies since 2016 combined.

Some might think it was forced but for me it always felt very organic and honest, without being excesively preachy nor sacrificing other elements, giving us a very balanced result.

Its the first ceremony since 2018 I want to rewatch. Too bad the Astro (Malaysia) video in Youtube cut many of the segments and reduced it to just 50 minutes. Hopefully I can find a better version these days.

[JMarkSnow2012]

6 hours ago, Australian Kiwi said:

Melbourne is one of the most expensive cities in the world - its not by any means cheap or affordable. Until the pandemic it was Australia's fastest growing city and is still on track to become Australia's biggest city again in the next few years. 

It doesn't have that glittering sparkle of Sydney Harbour - but no other city does because Sydney is one of the most beautiful cities in the world. 
 

Meh. Erinsborough's much better.

[The Tower Bridge Fox]

I liked it .Over all better than London opening and much better than Glasgow.

YES! ,if you have people dancing they must be able to dance!!!!!

[yoshi]

I've seen conflicting reports on what's going to happen to the bull. Please tell me they're not going to dismantle him on the 9th, he's become an icon of the city in less than 24 hours, and it'd be such a waste of the art and engineering. I know they didn't give a specific location in the commentary but I don't see any reason why he can't stay right where he is in Centenary Square - a new landmark for Birmingham. 

[TorchbearerSydney]

Q: YES! ,if you have people dancing they must be able to dance!!!!!

YES..and if you are going to use volunteers to 'dance' on mass make it after dark, with lots of lights, colour and movement. Darkness really does hide a multitude of sins!

Q: I've seen conflicting reports on what's going to happen to the bull.

I hope it has a better fate than the Sydney Opening Mechanical Horse.....I stopped mid-way between Sydney and Adelaide one night at a Service Station (in Jerilderie) and looked across the road, and there it was, rusting in the Australian Outback!!

https://www.tissaratnayeke.com/public_art/h6f54e3b5#h6f54e3b5

[TorchbearerSydney]

Pic 2

https://www.tissaratnayeke.com/public_art/h6f54e3b5#h63feb394

[BigVic]

18 hours ago, Sir Rols said:

Finally caught up with it.

Nice to see a ceremony again that didn’t forget to be entertaining, showcased some memorable visuals and theatre, kept the music mostly upbeat and lively, and had it’s solemn moments but didn’t let those overshadow the levity.

Pay attention IOC, see how these things are so much better when they’re joyous

The last two CG OC's are better than the last few Olympic Games ceremonies. The IOC needs to take notice of how Ceremonies are done. Paris are doing theirs down the Seine River and LA are having two stadiums for their OC's 

[AustralianFan]

A few tidbits about the OC

 

[AustralianFan]

High praise of the OC from the British Sports Minister

 

[Australian Kiwi]

7 hours ago, TorchbearerSydney said:

Q: YES! ,if you have people dancing they must be able to dance!!!!!

YES..and if you are going to use volunteers to 'dance' on mass make it after dark, with lots of lights, colour and movement. Darkness really does hide a multitude of sins!

Q: I've seen conflicting reports on what's going to happen to the bull.

I hope it has a better fate than the Sydney Opening Mechanical Horse.....I stopped mid-way between Sydney and Adelaide one night at a Service Station (in Jerilderie) and looked across the road, and there it was, rusting in the Australian Outback!!

https://www.tissaratnayeke.com/public_art/h6f54e3b5#h6f54e3b5

Its kind of shocking how much of the Sydney Olympics creativity wasn't preserved. 

The Olympic Rings which adorned Martin Place are still rusting behind an IKEA near Sydney Airport. 

And the worst sin of all is that literally half of Sydney's Olympic cauldron was sent to the scrap yard (the pylon) with only the dish surviving on some stupid pick up stick fountain. I really hope one day they restore it to its original form. Perhaps that can happen before 2032 so there can be some kind of re-lighting ceremony. 

[Ikarus360]

Full Opening Ceremony (recorded from Singapore Channel 5). Make sure to enjoy before its shut down.

Hopefully someone can find a 4K version

 

[yoshi]

Unsurprisingly the idea of scrapping the bull after only 10 days has not gone down at all well with the people & press of Birmingham:

https://t.co/zX0fPm6Y2H

Hopefully people power will win...

[Aussie bum]

Just back from Birmingham and being at the ceremony in the stadium. So much better than I dared hope it would be. Need to watch on TV now and see all the detail but the crowd were so up for it. I was at the 2012 opening as well and it compared really well with it. 

The bull was the definite highlight. It poked its head out to the side of the stand I was in  before its entrance to the stadium and everyone looked and gasped. I saw it close up in town and the detail was incribible. The fact that the removed armour had the names of the Birmingham pub bombing victims on it seemed to have been over looked. I just wanted something more to happen with that as it moved to the end of the stadium. Maybe watching on TV will make it seem more special but we didnt get that in the stadium. 

The canal stage was really great and I thought the way that served so many purposes in the ceremony was really clever.

My highlight apart from the bull was the crowd doing the Queen clap as Team England entered. In the stadium that was so powerful, hopefully that came across on TV. 

Duran Duran and the fireworks were a great end. I just wanted a drone show : (

Such a great ceremony, best CWG ceremony since Melbourne...easily. Possibly the best ever.

They have to keep that bull somewhere I feel there would be riots if they dismantle it.

 

[AustralianFan]

15 hours ago, Ikarus360 said:

Full Opening Ceremony (recorded from Singapore Channel 5). Make sure to enjoy before its shut down.

Hopefully someone can find a 4K version

 

 

11 hours ago, Aussie bum said:

Just back from Birmingham and being at the ceremony in the stadium. So much better than I dared hope it would be. Need to watch on TV now and see all the detail but the crowd were so up for it. I was at the 2012 opening as well and it compared really well with it. 

The bull was the definite highlight. It poked its head out to the side of the stand I was in  before its entrance to the stadium and everyone looked and gasped. I saw it close up in town and the detail was incribible. The fact that the removed armour had the names of the Birmingham pub bombing victims on it seemed to have been over looked. I just wanted something more to happen with that as it moved to the end of the stadium. Maybe watching on TV will make it seem more special but we didnt get that in the stadium. 

The canal stage was really great and I thought the way that served so many purposes in the ceremony was really clever.

My highlight apart from the bull was the crowd doing the Queen clap as Team England entered. In the stadium that was so powerful, hopefully that came across on TV. 

Duran Duran and the fireworks were a great end. I just wanted a drone show : (

Such a great ceremony, best CWG ceremony since Melbourne...easily. Possibly the best ever.

They have to keep that bull somewhere I feel there would be riots if they dismantle it.

 

Thankyou so much Ikarus360, because of your post was finally able to watch it in full just now(am finally on holidays and vpns and weak wifi hasn’t worked until watching your full youtube replay).

Have to agree Aussiebum, loved this Birmingham Opening Ceremony.

So uplifting and creative, energetic - it hit the refreshing tone after the last two dark years.  Yes, I agree, I think it’s the best CWG OC I’ve seen.

Go Birmingham!

[yoshi]

Yeah it was, I think it particularly benefited from being at sunset, so it had to actually be human and not just bail into projections. I'm still not sure about the section with the puppets though - nightmares material . It gave attention to the famous figures of the Midlands though, which was its point. Other than that, it stands up just as well on second viewing. Also feels like the campaign to save the bull is gathering momentum, hopefully it will succeed. If nothing is confirmed by the 8th I wouldn't be surprised if the Brummies mount an overnight picket to stop his removal!

[Alexjc]

On 8/1/2022 at 1:24 AM, yoshi said:

Yeah it was, I think it particularly benefited from being at sunset, so it had to actually be human and not just bail into projections. I'm still not sure about the section with the puppets though - nightmares material . It gave attention to the famous figures of the Midlands though, which was its point. Other than that, it stands up just as well on second viewing. Also feels like the campaign to save the bull is gathering momentum, hopefully it will succeed. If nothing is confirmed by the 8th I wouldn't be surprised if the Brummies mount an overnight picket to stop his removal!

This OC brought back wonderful memories of Manchester '02, probably the best OC and Games overall this century so far...IMHO. (expect that to change on Tuesday 9th August).

The Bull will become Iconic like Matilda '82. 

[Nacholympic]

On 7/30/2022 at 9:22 AM, Ikarus360 said:

Full Opening Ceremony (recorded from Singapore Channel 5). Make sure to enjoy before its shut down.

Hopefully someone can find a 4K version

 

Fortunately thanks to this post I was able to watch the full replay of the OC, what I never did with the full OC of Gold Coast 2018.
This ceremony AT LAST!!!! Took us back to the pre-pandemic ceremonies… it was just AMAZING!!! And I think one of the best ceremonies for regional games ever…
Spectacular! Elaborated and too British!!!
Birmingham 2022 CG has brought back the glitzing  of ceremonies…
The best ceremony of the 20's so far.

[yoshi]

12 hours ago, Alexjc said:

This OC brought back wonderful memories of Manchester '02, probably the best OC and Games overall this century so far...IMHO. (expect that to change on Tuesday 9th August).

The Bull will become Iconic like Matilda '82. 

Did Matilda quickly become an icon of all Brisbane in the way that Bully has? What happened to her in the end?

[TorchbearerSydney]

Q: What happened to her in the end?

 

I tracked her down to a Petrol Service Station North of Brisbane...

 

https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-26.3417046,152.7307406,3a,75y,308.05h,92.91t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s9j4bcXTp5i_IklCNkYKbDw!2e0!7i16384!8i8192?hl=en-GB

[Alexjc]

12 hours ago, yoshi said:

Did Matilda quickly become an icon of all Brisbane in the way that Bully has? What happened to her in the end?

Not as much because Matlida was only created for the 1982 games whereas the Birmingham Bull is symbolic of that city.

 

[Rob2012]

I'm not sure how hardy that bull is. How good will it look after a year of British weather?

If they put it outdoors it could become the default photo for 'What was the Birmingham 2022 legacy?' opinion pieces in a few years time. Finding a good, public indoor spot is surely the way to go.

Mind you, at this moment in time I'm certain it's never going to rain again in this country, so maybe the bull will be fine whilst the rest of us are shrivelling up.