Thread: Opening Coverage

I only saw the latter half. I cam in about half way through the teams making their entrance but what I saw from there was quite nice. It wasn't really a big mind blowing thing but it was clean, crisp and well.

I was especially impressed by the raising of the cauldron as it really seemed to capture the essence of the games. The Olympics is the only event we hold on this planet where all nations are invited to compete in whatever capacity they can and as such it creates a contrast between the nations we have created and the world in which we live....and using Pink Floyd's "Eclipse" as the theme music for the raising was a perfect complement to that vision.

I was also a bit saddened while watching McCartney perform "Hey Jude" as it really hit home how he is very much nearing the end of his performing career.

All said, very nice ceremony and I think it did an outstanding job of capturing the spirit of the games.

I thought it was the greatest Olympics opening ceremomy in history.

Beijing's was very glum, humourless and regimental. It was very Chinese. It looked more like a Nuremburg rally than the opening ceremony of a great global sporting event. London's, however, was very British: full of humour, heart, oddities and quirkiness that could make you laugh. We could laugh at Mr Bean (or Blackadder) falling alseep whilst only having one note to play as a keyboard member of an orchestra and dreaming that he wins the race along St Andrew's beach as depicted in the classic 1981 British film Chariots of Fire, or the Queen supposedly parachuting into the stadium from a helicopter. There was nothing to laugh at in the Beijing opening ceremony.

The London Olympics opening ceremony has suddenly made British music more popular around the world.

Not only that, but it may also have hurt the new Batman film at the North American box office.

It shows that Britain is still a cultural superpower...

Olympic Ceremony Soundtrack Is Top Download

Hits by Dizzee Rascal and the Arctic Monkeys propel the soundtrack to the top of the iTunes album downloads chart.


The Arctic Monkeys sang two tracks during the ceremony

The soundtrack of the Olympics opening ceremony has stormed to the top of the charts, taking four No 1 slots across Europe.

The album, which went on sale as a download minutes after Friday's ceremony ended, is topping the iTunes album chart in the UK, France, Belgium and Spain.

It reached Number Five in the US, and was Number Five on the overall British album chart less than two days after its release.

Slumdog Millionaire director Danny Boyle's spectacular opening ceremony was a celebration of British music.

His Isles Of Wonder extravaganza depicted a Britain wrenched from its rural past by the Industrial Revolution before being thrust into a fast, exciting new world - all propelled by the throb of homegrown music.



It began gently with a piece by Edward Elgar, the hymn Jerusalem and Frederic Weatherly's ballad Danny Boy - but soon started to rock.

Olympic ceremonies often play it safe, but Boyle, who brought in electronic duo Underworld as musical directors, gave his show a cheeky edge.

The Sex Pistols, once the most outrageous face of punk rock, were included with their song Pretty Vacant.

Boyle even slipped in a few bars of the Pistols' God Save The Queen early on - although he respectfully did it before the Queen herself had entered the stadium.

The medley also included The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Queen, The Specials, The Jam, The Stone Roses and Eurythmics.


A giant effigy of Harry Potter villain Lord Voldemort during the opening ceremony

The list spanned generations, from The Who's My Generation, right up to live performances from Dizzee Rascal - who performed his hit Bonkers - Emeli Sande and Arctic Monkeys.

The musical continued during the athletes' parade, with members of the 204 national teams circling the track to everything from West End Girls by Pet Shop Boys and Rolling In The Deep by Adele.

The British squad entered to a roar of applause - and David Bowie's anthem-like Heroes,while Pink Floyd played during the fireworks display.

Former Beatle, Sir Paul McCartney, closed the show, leading a mass singalong of Hey Jude.

The album contains 36 tracks and a digital booklet.

Universal Music will also be releasing an album of the London Olympics closing ceremony on August 12, which will feature British acts including The Who.

Meanwhile, the new Batman film may have been hurt at the North American box office by Boyle's Olympic opener.

The Dark Knight Rises stayed in the No 1 spot for the second weekend in a row, making just over $64m (£40.8m), but is lagging behind its 2008 predecessor, The Dark Knight.

That film earned $75.2m (£47.9m) in its second weekend, but Hollywood.com analyst Paul Dergarabedian said the opening ceremony of the London Games saw many Americans and Canadians stay at home to watch instead of going out to the cinema.

Olympic Ceremony Soundtrack Is Top Download

I think it was feeble of NBC to censor the 7/7 tribute from their coverage.

In the name of political correctness, we got Ryan Seacrest instead. WTF, over?

Originally Posted by Sir Drinkalot

I thought it was the greatest Olympics opening ceremony in history.

But of course you would.



I only saw the first half and, from that alone, I thought the ceremony was very well done and is something the Brits should be proud of.

Originally Posted by Sir Drinkalot

I thought it was the greatest Olympics opening ceremomy in history.

Beijing's was very glum, humourless and regimental. It was very Chinese. It looked more like a Nuremburg rally than the opening ceremony of a great global sporting event. London's, however, was very British: full of humour, heart, oddities and quirkiness that could make you laugh. We could laugh at Mr Bean (or Blackadder) falling alseep whilst only having one note to play as a keyboard member of an orchestra and dreaming that he wins the race along St Andrew's beach as depicted in the classic 1981 British film Chariots of Fire, or the Queen supposedly parachuting into the stadium from a helicopter. There was nothing to laugh at in the Beijing opening ceremony.

The London Olympics opening ceremony has suddenly made British music more popular around the world.

Not only that, but it may also have hurt the new Batman film at the North American box office.

It shows that Britain is still a cultural superpower...

Olympic Ceremony Soundtrack Is Top Download

Hits by Dizzee Rascal and the Arctic Monkeys propel the soundtrack to the top of the iTunes album downloads chart.


The Arctic Monkeys sang two tracks during the ceremony

The soundtrack of the Olympics opening ceremony has stormed to the top of the charts, taking four No 1 slots across Europe.

The album, which went on sale as a download minutes after Friday's ceremony ended, is topping the iTunes album chart in the UK, France, Belgium and Spain.

It reached Number Five in the US, and was Number Five on the overall British album chart less than two days after its release.

Slumdog Millionaire director Danny Boyle's spectacular opening ceremony was a celebration of British music.

His Isles Of Wonder extravaganza depicted a Britain wrenched from its rural past by the Industrial Revolution before being thrust into a fast, exciting new world - all propelled by the throb of homegrown music.



It began gently with a piece by Edward Elgar, the hymn Jerusalem and Frederic Weatherly's ballad Danny Boy - but soon started to rock.

Olympic ceremonies often play it safe, but Boyle, who brought in electronic duo Underworld as musical directors, gave his show a cheeky edge.

The Sex Pistols, once the most outrageous face of punk rock, were included with their song Pretty Vacant.

Boyle even slipped in a few bars of the Pistols' God Save The Queen early on - although he respectfully did it before the Queen herself had entered the stadium.

The medley also included The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Queen, The Specials, The Jam, The Stone Roses and Eurythmics.


A giant effigy of Harry Potter villain Lord Voldemort during the opening ceremony

The list spanned generations, from The Who's My Generation, right up to live performances from Dizzee Rascal - who performed his hit Bonkers - Emeli Sande and Arctic Monkeys.

The musical continued during the athletes' parade, with members of the 204 national teams circling the track to everything from West End Girls by Pet Shop Boys and Rolling In The Deep by Adele.

The British squad entered to a roar of applause - and David Bowie's anthem-like Heroes,while Pink Floyd played during the fireworks display.

Former Beatle, Sir Paul McCartney, closed the show, leading a mass singalong of Hey Jude.

The album contains 36 tracks and a digital booklet.

Universal Music will also be releasing an album of the London Olympics closing ceremony on August 12, which will feature British acts including The Who.

Meanwhile, the new Batman film may have been hurt at the North American box office by Boyle's Olympic opener.

The Dark Knight Rises stayed in the No 1 spot for the second weekend in a row, making just over $64m (£40.8m), but is lagging behind its 2008 predecessor, The Dark Knight.

That film earned $75.2m (£47.9m) in its second weekend, but Hollywood.com analyst Paul Dergarabedian said the opening ceremony of the London Games saw many Americans and Canadians stay at home to watch instead of going out to the cinema.

Olympic Ceremony Soundtrack Is Top Download

I had about 4 separate invites to go to the opening ceremony and some of the events, they couldn't have paid me to watch that stuff. Had i known how into it you are i would have just thrown the tickets your way and told you to go to have fun with it.

Actually, the Arctic Monkeys did a really solid cover of "Come Together". It was a dead on faithful cover with just a hint of an edge to it.

Originally Posted by MattInFla

I think it was feeble of NBC to censor the 7/7 tribute from their coverage.

In the name of political correctness, we got Ryan Seacrest instead. WTF, over?

Roger that and the healthcare cracks by Laur were unnecessary but it is NBC the Obama network so should be expected