sebastien1214 Posted February 6 Report Posted February 6 Imo, it's likely to be less passionate than the previous thread... 1 1 Quote
JMarkSnow2012 Posted February 6 Report Posted February 6 Not very "Wow" but rather more sophisticated and elegant than Torino 2006 Quote
Bear Posted February 6 Report Posted February 6 Kirsty Coventry's excessively long speech has been forgiven as she has killed Imagine. BEST PRESIDENT EVER! Full review coming soon. 1 Quote
Sir Rols Posted February 6 Report Posted February 6 FYI had also started a verdict thread, but you put in the trademarks ™, so I guess you’re official 1 Quote
sebastien1214 Posted February 6 Author Report Posted February 6 1 minute ago, Sir Rols said: FYI had also started a verdict thread, but you put in the trademarks ™, so I guess you’re official Damn, I didn't see it. I did check to see if there wasn't already a thread about it. But indeed, @FYI, trademark registered here. Sorry, I can now sue you for copyright infringement. Quote
StefanMUC Posted February 6 Report Posted February 6 I‘m just glad it‘s over. Some great bits but overall too much artsy stuff, endless babbling and a murdering of Volare. Still felt refreshingly normal after the last three winter openings. And the booing of the sofa****** was the best anyway. Quote
FYI Posted February 6 Report Posted February 6 Just now, sebastien1214 said: Damn, I didn't see it. I did check to see if there wasn't already a thread about it. Uh, huh. Sure. Where have I heard that one before! 😉 Quote
FYI Posted February 6 Report Posted February 6 2 minutes ago, StefanMUC said: And the booing of the sofa****** was the best anyway. I hope that can be found on youtube from other country broadcasters. Cause NBC definitely didn't show it. Quote
sebastien1214 Posted February 6 Author Report Posted February 6 3 minutes ago, FYI said: Uh, huh. Sure. Where have I heard that one before! 😉 Ah, but I really don't have your topic in the forum list at all, are there parts of the forum that I don't have access to? Quote
JMarkSnow2012 Posted February 6 Report Posted February 6 3 minutes ago, StefanMUC said: I‘m just glad it‘s over. Some great bits but overall too much artsy stuff, endless babbling and a murdering of Volare. Still felt refreshingly normal after the last three winter openings. And the booing of the sofa****** was the best anyway. The artsy stuff was in acceptably short chunks, but yes I agree there was too much speech-making, and just about the right amount of VP-booing Quote
Guilga Posted February 6 Report Posted February 6 Ok, i got to deduct some points for the sloppy Ai animation on the memory throwback sequence, but it was fine indeed. It was a celebration of Italy, elegantly and simple. The parade of nations was something, though. Brasil's dance at Cortina must be one of the highlights of that! Thinking about it makes me wonder, however. It was really fine indeed, the Nessun Dorma as the flame passed trough the San Siro was the only real goosebump moment, but it wasn't the intent of the ceremony to be bombastic, isn't it? My grade is 7,5/10, -0,5 deducted for sloppy AI animation, otherwise a solid 8. PS: Speeches are long indeed, but if i have to guess, that in their self-importance, they must see it as their moment i guess. Quote
FYI Posted February 6 Report Posted February 6 3 minutes ago, sebastien1214 said: Ah, but I really don't have your topic in the forum list at all, are there parts of the forum that I don't have access to? Hmmm, you're right. I thought I started one. lol But I'm mainly joking with you. We just wanted to get one-up on a certain you-know-who. lol 1 Quote
sebastien1214 Posted February 6 Author Report Posted February 6 Ok. In a way, that's what I expected. When I saw that someone who had already organized numerous ceremonies was in charge of this one, I was afraid it would be something far too classic and predictable: and that's exactly what happened. I mean, the ceremony itself wasn't bad. I quite liked the sequence with Italian Sign Language. I cringed a lot at the AI-generated video. But otherwise... "yeah, okay." I actually got the impression that it's the usual pattern for all the ceremonies, as if Balich had simply reused the structure of all his past ceremonies, adapting it to Italian tastes, of course. I didn't watch Turin 2006, so I can't make a comparison; but I have the impression that the design of this ceremony was simply a matter of checking off a list. "A reference to cinema? Check. A reference to the country's past history? Check. A lighthearted scene with people dancing and moving around the stage? Check. etc etc" And perhaps that's ultimately my problem with this ceremony: it's good, but forgettable. No doubt those nostalgic for stadium ceremonies and the "haters" of Paris 2024 will feel some joy, and frankly, good for them, and good for the Italians too if they liked this ceremony. But personally, I'm convinced that in a year, I'll have forgotten almost everything about this ceremony (except perhaps the scene with sign language). In the end, Balich made the deliberate choice to hold a consensual, non-divisive ceremony. But a ceremony, while certainly political, is also art. Art is supposed to evoke emotions in people, whether negative or positive. By refusing to take risks, by embracing conformity, Balich ultimately denies making his ceremony a work of art. So yes, he may have hated Paris, but at least everyone still remembers Paris, and will undoubtedly remember it in 10 or 20 years. What I take away from this is that it convinces me once again that no one should direct multiple ceremonies for different Olympic Games and become some kind of "official director of Olympic ceremonies." I would have loved to have another iconoclastic, innovative Italian, full of surprising ideas, direct this ceremony, even if it meant taking risks. 6.5/10, then. + on the Olympic cauldron: I really get the impression that it's a fake cauldron, like Paris. I had my doubts about the lighting in Milan, but in Cortina, given the distance between the torch and the heart of the cauldron, it became obvious to me. I'm not going to get into the "real flame" vs. "fake flame" debate; I don't mind a fake flame, but in this case, I found it less convincing than in Paris (where we all genuinely believed it was a real flame, right up until the next day). Quote
Sir Rols Posted February 6 Report Posted February 6 (edited) I thought that was fun and quirky. I actually laughed out loud with glee a number of times, which I can’t recall having done so for an Olympic ceremony for a long time (actually, Paris also gave me some chuckles but not as much as Milan). I think they got the tone just right - joyful and celebratory and even a bit self-mocking. And, yes, it also had solemnity, but that didn’t overwhelm it (apart from the speeches). All done with only minimal big props. What it dispensed with in grandiosity it more than made up with a joyful human scale. And, I guess there’s going to be some differences of opinion over the use of AI animation, but I actually liked that part as well - great tribute to the centenary of the WOGs. And Oh So Italian! It felt much more Italian to me than Torino ever did. Just little things in it just made me laugh in recognition. And nice mix of music, from grand opera to techno. Even the parade worked well (actually, the splits between Milano to Livorno and Cortina etc throughout the ceremony worked seamlessly IMO. I actually liked the parade parts in Cortina the best - nice to see the streets of an Alpine town feature in a ceremony. it wasn’t groundbreaking. It wasn’t grand scale. But it was Probsbly the most fun ceremony I’ve seen in a long time. Bravo! I’ll give it 8.5/10 Edited February 6 by Sir Rols 2 Quote
sebastien1214 Posted February 6 Author Report Posted February 6 1 minute ago, sebastien1214 said: Ok. In a way, that's what I expected. When I saw that someone who had already organized numerous ceremonies was in charge of this one, I was afraid it would be something far too classic and predictable: and that's exactly what happened. I mean, the ceremony itself wasn't bad. I quite liked the sequence with Italian Sign Language. I cringed a lot at the AI-generated video. But otherwise... "yeah, okay." I actually got the impression that it's the usual pattern for all the ceremonies, as if Balich had simply reused the structure of all his past ceremonies, adapting it to Italian tastes, of course. I didn't watch Turin 2006, so I can't make a comparison; but I have the impression that the design of this ceremony was simply a matter of checking off a list. "A reference to cinema? Check. A reference to the country's past history? Check. A lighthearted scene with people dancing and moving around the stage? Check. etc etc" And perhaps that's ultimately my problem with this ceremony: it's good, but forgettable. No doubt those nostalgic for stadium ceremonies and the "haters" of Paris 2024 will feel some joy, and frankly, good for them, and good for the Italians too if they liked this ceremony. But personally, I'm convinced that in a year, I'll have forgotten almost everything about this ceremony (except perhaps the scene with sign language). In the end, Balich made the deliberate choice to hold a consensual, non-divisive ceremony. But a ceremony, while certainly political, is also art. Art is supposed to evoke emotions in people, whether negative or positive. By refusing to take risks, by embracing conformity, Balich ultimately denies making his ceremony a work of art. So yes, he may have hated Paris, but at least everyone still remembers Paris, and will undoubtedly remember it in 10 or 20 years. What I take away from this is that it convinces me once again that no one should direct multiple ceremonies for different Olympic Games and become some kind of "official director of Olympic ceremonies." I would have loved to have another iconoclastic, innovative Italian, full of surprising ideas, direct this ceremony, even if it meant taking risks. 6.5/10, then. + on the Olympic cauldron: I really get the impression that it's a fake cauldron, like Paris. I had my doubts about the lighting in Milan, but in Cortina, given the distance between the torch and the heart of the cauldron, it became obvious to me. I'm not going to get into the "real flame" vs. "fake flame" debate; I don't mind a fake flame, but in this case, I found it less convincing than in Paris (where we all genuinely believed it was a real flame, right up until the next day). Oh, I forgot. If there's one major problem with this ceremony, it's undoubtedly the music. It was absolutely awful. For the parade of nations, I was expecting a playlist of the greatest Italian hits, with a nice tribute to Italodisco. Instead, it was a completely forgettable DJ set that you could find in any mid-tier nightclub on the planet. Even beyond that, the music specially composed for the ceremony during the various segments was frankly nothing memorable. Sorry, I'm going to talk about Paris again, but Victor Le Masne is far superior, on this point. Quote
sebastien1214 Posted February 6 Author Report Posted February 6 3 minutes ago, Sir Rols said: Even the parade worked well (actually, the splits between Milano to Livorno and Cortina etc throughout the ceremony worked seamlessly IMO. I actually liked the parade parts in Cortina the best - nice to see the streets of an Alpine town feature in a ceremony. Yeah, for me it was a really pleasant surprise of the ceremony. Personally, I was expecting it to go wrong, but in the end it went very well. It will probably be used again for the Alpes 2030. One small thing: I still have the impression that overall, it lengthened the Parade of Nations. But that can be fixed quite easily. Quote
FYI Posted February 6 Report Posted February 6 2 minutes ago, sebastien1214 said: If there's one major problem with this ceremony, it's undoubtedly the music. It was absolutely awful. I'm telling ya, you must do French Alps 2030! Quote
Sir Rols Posted February 6 Report Posted February 6 1 minute ago, sebastien1214 said: Oh, I forgot. If there's one major problem with this ceremony, it's undoubtedly the music. It was absolutely awful. For the parade of nations, I was expecting a playlist of the greatest Italian hits, with a nice tribute to Italodisco. Instead, it was a completely forgettable DJ set that you could find in any mid-tier nightclub on the planet. Even beyond that, the music specially composed for the ceremony during the various segments was frankly nothing memorable. Sorry, I'm going to talk about Paris again, but Victor Le Masne is far superior, on this point. I agree with you on the parade of nations, and yes, overall Paris had a better soundtrack. But Milano’s was pretty good too to my Boomer-Gen X ears. Wasn’t impressed with Mariah. Quote
sebastien1214 Posted February 6 Author Report Posted February 6 Just now, FYI said: I'm telling ya, you must do French Alps 2030! I'm going to apply for the handover in two weeks, I hope I don't get fired by Grospiron! Quote
sebastien1214 Posted February 6 Author Report Posted February 6 Just now, Sir Rols said: I agree with you on the parade of nations, and yes, overall Paris had a better soundtrack. But Milano’s was pretty good too to my Boomer-Gen X ears. Wasn’t impressed with Mariah. I thought Mariah's performance was very good, but actually, I don't know the original song she performed at all; so maybe she might have butchered it without me realizing it, idk. Quote
baron-pierreIV Posted February 6 Report Posted February 6 (edited) A B+ Opening. The "Italian arts" opening w/ the paint tubes was quite magical. Except for the split "March of the Athlets which I found CONFUSING, REPETITIVE and POINTLESS, everything seemed to be withint the bounds of reason. A few firsts: - No "Imagine" (THank God) but no banditieri either which I was expecting. - "Armonia" there rang false to me., Dances of PyeongChang 2018 were far SHARPER and more dramatic. - After Paris 2024, first time the main "cauldron" was NOT within the periphery of the main stadium. - First time all the final torchbearers ONLY walked. NO running. I guess so it wouldn't make Alberto Tomba look bad since like a doll, he was merely raised to reach the bottom of their "cauldron." - Abbreviated protocol moments repeated in Cortina pointless. A lot of stupid, pointless choreography. - First time the honor guard of the Olympic flag dressed in BLACK! (as was Charlize Thieron) WHY? My subtitle for this ceremony: Two Small Pizza ovens in the mountains of northern Italy with Two White Women from southern Africa trying to bake pizza!! P.S. First time I slept through an Oly ceremony!! 😄 Edited February 6 by baron-pierreIV Quote
FYI Posted February 6 Report Posted February 6 1 minute ago, Sir Rols said: Wasn’t impressed with Mariah. I don't know why she was even there. I was surprised. Is she even part Italian? I don't think that she is. Quote
sebastien1214 Posted February 6 Author Report Posted February 6 Just now, FYI said: I don't know why she was even there. I was surprised. Is she even part Italian? I don't think that she is. I think that it's like Lady Gaga with Paris (wasn't she originally supposed to be in Tokyo, by the way?): the IOC negotiates a contract every year with a big American star and imposes it on the host country. Quote
BigVic Posted February 6 Report Posted February 6 3 minutes ago, FYI said: I'm telling ya, you must do French Alps 2030! Let's hope French Alps 2030 rectify Paris 2024 A fantastic Opening Ceremony, best since PyeongChang 2018 which I enjoyed 8 years ago. The 2006 parade of athletes had YMCA in it. Both Tomba and Compagoni participated in the 2006 Opening Ceremony with Tomba carrying the torch into the stadium and Compagoni the penultimate torchbearer Quote
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.