The Greatest Show on Earth ("Be not afeard, the isle is full of noises")

[elisi]

Although really, the best word is magical.

♥

(We were at my in-law's last night, and put up a big screen, and ended up staying the night due to lateness. Hence the lateness of this post.)

ETA: I think The New York Times might have said it best: "With its hilariously quirky Olympic opening ceremony, a wild jumble of the celebratory and the fanciful; the conventional and the eccentric; and the frankly off-the-wall, Britain presented itself to the world Friday night as something it has often struggled to express even to itself: a nation secure in its own post-empire identity, whatever that actually is."

(And Kenneth Branagh as Isambard Kingdom Brunel was just... *hands* And Jerusalem! So much there. A million brilliant little touches. Really, in a nutshell, this show was like Doctor Who: Madman with a box Stadium.)

Comments

[adoxerella.livejournal.com]

Alright, so it was started by a tumblr RP blog, but I figured you would appreciate the post, regardless. Of course that could just be the lack of coffee talking. Anyway, here we have a message regarding the unfortunate side effects of the opening ceremonies.

[elisi]

Pft. Time can be rewritten. ;)

ETA: And even IF time ends up all broken, then it was TOTALLY worth it!

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

Wasn't it cool? I liked the whole thing pretty much - but the Forging of the Rings of Power was neat, and I liked their 'Tynwald Hill' with all the flags being planted in it, along with the more obvious things like the queen - I loved that!

[elisi]

It was truly a cornucopia of delights! <3

[a-phoenixdragon.livejournal.com]

BRITAIN AT IT'S FINEST THEN!!

*CACKLES*

S'no wonder he is the national icon...to everyone across the pond, lol!!

*TACKLES*

[elisi]

BRITAIN AT IT'S FINEST THEN!!
YES IT WAS! \o/

[masakochan.livejournal.com]

Madman with a Stadium

Yaaah- as soon as I'd read somewhere that Danny Boyle was the main person working with creating the ceremony- my first thought was "This is the same guy that directed Trainspotting, 28 Days Later, and Slumdog Millionaire.... This ceremony is going to kick some official ass. x]"

[elisi]

It was MAGIC! *firm nod*

[promethia_tenk]

The *other* NYTimes article about the ceremony pointed out bemusedly how out-of-tune the American broadcast commentary was with the tone of the show:

NBC didn’t share the British art of playfulness. Even though the ceremony was shown with a time delay (no live streams allowed), the network prefaced the opening ceremony with its own opening, a solemn and pompous video celebration of the Olympics, narrated by the actors Ewan McGregor and Emily Blunt. Ryan Seacrest came next, interviewing two members of the American gymnastics team. Later, Seacrest returned to ask the swimmer Michael Phelps whether he could emerge from these games as the greatest Olympian of all time. Phelps shook Seacrest off like a leg cramp.

The NBC anchors Matt Lauer and Meredith Vieira did their best to get in the spirit of British nuttiness, but at times their energy flagged, and their bewilderment became obvious. After a hospital sketch that morphed into a children’s nightmare — and a giant fake baby floating on a bed — Lauer said, “I don’t know whether that’s cute or creepy.”

But I would not change that for the world. It is in the GRAND TRADITION of American Olympics coverage for the commentary to be BLAND and INANE and scrubbed shiny to the point of ridiculousness. Our main anchor, Bob Costas, has been at it for . . . as long as I can remember, and he makes Wonder Bread look exciting. The sheer manufactured inoffensiveness of this man is a marvel to behold. And every year we turn on the Olympics it's like BOB, WE MISSED YOU! Which rapidly descends into *oh, Bob!* I wonder if there's a Twitter of lame things Bob Costas says . . .

[zanthinegirl.livejournal.com]

It was magical! And a little hallucinogenic! I love the whole thing even if I had no idea who Kenneth Branagh was supposed to be!

[eilowyn.livejournal.com]

I didn't exactly get everything (the twitter/British pop music/romance thing was kind of lost on me - she lost her cell phone and he found it? And there was a house in the middle?), but I caught enough British pop culture references to enjoy it!

[elisi]

Isambard Kingdom Brunel. Victorian engineer. Awesome. Third from the left in this image, and I'm sure you can see where the show got its inspiration:



Someone has even made a LEGO version:



Anyway - magical. Yes. <3

[elisi]

I didn't exactly get everything
There were THAT many injokes & British references that I am still in a daft happy place.

she lost her cell phone and he found it? And there was a house in the middle?
Basically yes. It was all about how the internet/mobile phones/social networks have transformed people's lives. Hence the ending with the inventor of the internet.

but I caught enough British pop culture references to enjoy it!
Well it was just too darn enjoyable. *g*

[elisi]

he *other* NYTimes article about the ceremony pointed out bemusedly how out-of-tune the American broadcast commentary was with the tone of the show
*snerk* We're eccentric and proud of it!

Our main anchor, Bob Costas, has been at it for . . . as long as I can remember, and he makes Wonder Bread look exciting.
Oooh we have a similar thing. Well, for YEARS AND YEARS we had Terry Wogan doing the commentary to Eurovision, and he was alsways fabulous and a bit snarky and dafter as the night went on and he got more drunk... He quit a few years ago, but they replaced him with Graham Norton who carries on the tradition in FINE style. Anyways, I understand the importance of traditions. *nods* Our commenters were rather good - quiet a lot of the time, informative when necessary and generally OK.

[yourlibrarian]

Probably the most curious thing about the opening ceremony was the coverage of it. As usual, our coverage here managed to spoil much of it, either by not informing us of certain things or, more often, by simply not showing things. I'm always curious to see every Olympic opening ceremony and find it constantly irritating that I'm only ever permitted to see parts of it due to the network terror that people will leave the broadcast if things aren't either completely recognizable or American focused. Thus all our commentators had to discuss post-ceremony was the Bond-Queen bit because those are the only two figures the average American would recognize. And I suppose they weren't wrong in some ways because a lot of people only want a major celebrity or pyrotechnics every 3 minutes to hold their attention (http://www.forbes.com/sites/anthonykosner/2012/07/27/london-olympics-the-most-embarrasing-opening-ceremony/).

I quite enjoyed it myself especially the first third which I thought was a wonderful approach to the history of the Isles. We didn't get as good of a look at parts 2 and 3. In fact, I'm a bit baffled by all the discussions of quirkiness. My vote for that would go to the Winter Olympics ceremony a few decades back that passed quirky and managed to hit weird. Although I expect the hometown crowd was better able to appreciate its messages just as in this case.

[elisi]

And I suppose they weren't wrong in some ways because a lot of people only want a major celebrity or pyrotechnics every 3 minutes to hold their attention
I'm guessing these be the people who voted for Dubya... *cough* Anyway, over here, about half the country watched. For 4 hours straight, pretty much. No breaks. (And everyone more or less adored it, so we will just look down on anyone 'foreign' who doesn't get it. *g*)

In fact, I'm a bit baffled by all the discussions of quirkiness.
You missed Mr Bean and the whole hospital/fairy tale part? I'm guessing the giant Voldemort counts as pretty quirky...

[yourlibrarian]

I guess I'd just use the term "clever" when a raft of governesses beats back the giant Voldemort threatening the NHS and its patients ;)

[elisi]

I was mostly flailing. If I wasn't busy trying to get organised (we're going on holiday tomorrow), I'd probably be writing meta just about now...

[easytheretyger.livejournal.com]

Ah it was fantastic.

The Brookie lesbian kiss being broadcast all around the world really warmed the cockles for me. :)

And Tim Berners-Lee.

The part that got me most was Emeli Sande singing Abide With Me and the interpretive dance. I was sobbing like a baby.

I loved the literal passing of the torch to the next generation, it was really fitting and beautiful. Cauldron is bloody gorgeous, I want one of those petals.

[elisi]

Fantastic and magical!

The Brookie lesbian kiss being broadcast all around the world really warmed the cockles for me. :)
First lesbian kiss on Saudi telly, or so I hear. *g*

And Tim Berners-Lee.
Just... so many wonderful touches.

The part that got me most was Emeli Sande singing Abide With Me and the interpretive dance. I was sobbing like a baby.
Oh that was beautiful. And that song really gets me.

I loved the literal passing of the torch to the next generation, it was really fitting and beautiful.
All these Big Names thrown around, and then it was the symbol of the future. Just beautiful.

Cauldron is bloody gorgeous, I want one of those petals.
I'm sure I was just staring as they all began rising. Unbelievable. *hands*

[yoshimi.livejournal.com]

we dvr'd the whole thing, and now you're making me want to watch it again.

[elisi]

If I'd had the time, I would have rewatched it. And written meta. Seriously.

[promethia_tenk]

Oh my god *headdesk*

Access to most of NBC's online coverage of the Olympics, like all the online streaming, is restricted to people who can prove they pay a cable bill, and my (very, very) basic cable has been deemed insufficiently pricy to count.

Dear NBC:

Are you or are you not a national broadcast network, available free over the airwaves to anyone with an antenna? Because if not, there's some pubic spectrum and probably a bunch of tax breaks and other government incentives that I'd like back so that I can give them to the internet corporations that are plotting your inevitable demise.

No love,
Promethia

[mrs-underhill.livejournal.com]

Absolutely beautiful and delightful and inspiring! Genious work, including TV inserts with Isles of Wonder, the Bond and the Queen (hee she gave me Naked Gun flashbacks with, well, the Queen and Barbara Bush hanging off the balcony).
The opening historic part was my favorite, but the rest was amazing too!

I have it recorded and going to rewatch, definitely.