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IMO, the opening ceremonies were a complete and dismal failure. I kept trying to put the Beijing ceremonies out of my mind because I’m not sure anyone could ever top those, but even on its own merits, I thought it stunk. The only part I even mildly enjoyed was kd lang (and boy, she’s put on some pounds, hasn’t she?). That is probably my favorite Leonard Cohn song and so profound. Even the most important part (the lighting of the cauldron) got screwed up. I love the Canadians but putting on a spectacular doesn’t seem to be one of their strong points. I was just so disappointed. Plus, it ran way to late, they could have started a little earlier. Even if it was a Friday night, us senior citizens can’t stay up that late.
And how tragic for Georgia to lose their luger. No way can I spell his name. I can’t imagine how those other guys must feel now having to go down that run. My sympathies go to them all.
but they did comment that the Beijing ceremonies cost around THREE HUNDRED MILLION DOLLARS, whereas the budget for Canada was 30 to 40 MILLION. No drop in the bucket by any means, especially in this economy; however, it would explain why most of Canada’s ceremonies were done with computer images and projections of light and motion. I like K.D. Lang’s voice a lot and she still sounds fabulous, but yes she did put on a lot of weight since I last saw her. A little over-the-top for my taste with the man’s suit, though, regardless of her preferred sexual orientation. To me, it’s just not attractive when a woman dresses like a man, or vice-versa. She sort of remined me of a young Wayne Newton up there when I first saw him perform Dankeshane (sp?).
,,,and I wouldn’t expect the same budget as for the summer Olympics but I didn’t think any of it was that good. There wasn’t one single thing that made me say, wow, that was really neat/nice/cook/innovative/imaginative.
And you’re right, she did remind me of Wayne Newton too. But she sure can sing.
IMO it’s unfair to compare Beijing summer games ceremonies to winter ceremonies anywhere.
As a Canadian I found the ceremonies to be culturally significant, and the celebreties were appropriate – although I didn’t like the Bryan Adams duet with Nelly whomever…
And I wasn’t big on the arrangement for O Canada. The singer has a lovely voice, but I didn’t like the interpretation of the anthem… but hey, we’re all critics. I sure as heck couldn’t have done better.
KD – she gained weight a while back (at least last time I saw her) and for years she’s dressed with her own rather androgenous style. That’s just who she is. She’s got an amazing voice, that’s for sure.
I was very glad that they had Terry Fox’ father run with the torch in Vancouver yesterday and his mom, Betty carried the Olympic Flag. For any Canadian over about age 40, Terry Fox was an inspiration in his Marathon of Hope and he put fundraising for cancer research on the map in Canada.
I thought the ceremonies were true to showing the culture of the host nation. It’s not all about who spends the most, has the most glitz and glamour or special effects – it’s about the people and the country hosting the Games, and IMO, the producers achieved that.
A lot of my American friends seem to have been disappointed with it. That’s unfortunate, because I think they missed the message. Canadians aren’t grandstanders in the first place, so to have tried to upstage any prior effort, would have been, well, Un-Canadian, eh!
Jenn
I don’t think the remarks made here were intended to downgrade, in any way whatsoever, the cultural or ethnic aspect of the show; that was clearly beautifully done. My daughter-in-law is Native American and she and my granddaughters loved the cultural display of the early heritage depicted in the opening ceremony. They especially loved the dancing and the beautiful costumes, since they, themselves, are extremely active in their Native American pow-wows here in Maryland. Maybe it came across that way in the post, but surely it was not my intent to belittle the opening ceremonies. It was simply a comparison factor, meant only to comment on the flare for the dramatic that some other countries have shown in the past. Sorry, but I just thought I would like to clear that up. Personally, I don’t think any country will be able to top the archer who shot an arrow high into the air and, on the first try, lit the Olympic flame. That just about took my breath away, and I can’t even remember now exactly where that took place, but I do know that I will never forget it.
I thought it was a great show. The only disapointing part for me was the lighting, but that stuff happens all the time. The whales on the floor and the all of that stuff was amazing. I thought they put a great show together and considering timezones, I don’t think they could start it any earlier than they did.
I did love the concept of four major people lighting the caldron. I also liked the people they picked to carry in the flag, not all athletes.
I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I was pleasantly surprised, even my husband watched and loved it. Which is is hard to get him to like that kind of stuff.
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