Olympic Opening/Closing Ceremonies - Page 2 - Canadian TV, Computing and Home Theatre Forums

gbamber · 2012-07-28, 09:38 PM

Needed more Dr. Who and less hospital.

Fry1989 · 2012-07-28, 09:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by flaminghomer

Also, I don't know much about royal protocol, but couldn't the Queen have done a little more than just declare the games open? Like maybe even "Welcome to England everyone"? And why did she have to read that off a card?

It's nothing to do with Royal Protocol, but rather Olympic Protocol. You're supposed to just say "I declare these games of the blah blah blah, open", some throw in a little flair like the Greek President did when he said "As President of the Hellenic Republic, I declare...", but adding "Welcome to England everybody" would be out of place, especially considering it's the United Kingdom hosting the games, not just England.

reidw · 2012-07-29, 06:50 PM

@flaminghomer: I'll second what Fry just told you. The Head Of State who opens the games is actually reading from a script prepared by the IOC. It never says more than "I declare the games open". I think this has been done to remove any possibility of the Head of State "grandstanding" or politicking for the home audience by giving a long winded speech. It works well and keeps the ceremony moving.

@fry: I agree with your UK comment but based on the Opening Ceremonies you could have fooled me. It was an ENGLISH affair from start to finish. Almost nothing about the cultures of Wales, Scotland or N. Ireland. No use of Gaelic, no bagpipes or kilts, and just a wee bit of Danny Boy. Hardly representative of the whole United Kingdom.

Fry1989 · 2012-07-29, 07:16 PM

reidw, it may have focused probably 80% on England, but it's still anachronistic to say England's hosting just as much as it would be to say Flanders is hosting if the games were in Brussels.

reidw · 2012-07-29, 09:02 PM

@fry1989: I agree with you regarding the Flanders example. What I was trying to say was that based solely on the Opening Ceremonies England seemed to be the sole host. Britain is a multicultural society made up of several different and distinct people's and cultures. This may not be as clear to us here but I assure you that if you were to tell an Scotsman, N. Irishman or Welshman that they're "English" you'd better duck. They're not a homogeneous mass. Those distinctions were not recognised in the Opening Ceremonies. It was an English show not a British show.

One thing by the way that has occurred to me is that the rest of Britain may be part of the Closing Ceremonies and that may be why Boyle downplayed their roles last Friday. If after the Closing Ceremonies I still haven't heard any Gaelic or heard a bagpipe or seen a Scottish sword dancer then I'll be very disappointed and ready to support (in spirit) the Scottish and Welsh separatists. (My surname is a Scottish Reid after all).

Biggles · 2012-08-14, 10:50 AM

I really enjoyed the Closing Ceremonies. I grew up with much of the music played.Some of the references were a little obscure,but as a Brit,I picked up most of them. Loved the Freddie Mercury/Queen songs (saw them live in '76 and remember the Brighton Rock guitar solo very well) . Eric Idle was another highlight for me !
The whole event was very British !

phycomp · 2012-08-17, 08:01 AM

I really liked the Spice girls and George Michael in the wind up performance, even though I dodn't recognise the second GM track.

Danster · 2012-08-17, 05:08 PM

The second song was a new one.

Obed · 2012-08-17, 06:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by reidw

If after the Closing Ceremonies I still haven't heard any Gaelic or

Officially there is a host city in the Olympics and that was London.

There are probably more speakers in London alone of each of the Urdu, Punjabi, Gujarati, Arabic, Hindi, and Bengali languages (not to mention the host of European languages) than there are Gaelic speakers throughout the whole of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. How far do we want to push this?

If they had used any Gaelic very few of the Scots or Northern Irish or Manx today would have understood a word of it.

And why not Norn or Cornish or Scots (yes it is a different language to Gaelic) or Welsh? (And my surname is Welsh in origin.)

The Olympics opened with four songs (one of which is expressly anti-English) representing the four nations. The four nations were well served.

reidw · 2012-08-17, 10:03 PM

@obed: Don't agree. Britain is becoming and more willing to acknowledge the non English part of its heritage these days.Anyone who vists Wales quickly becomes aware of the increasing use of Welsh. Ditto for Gaelic in the appropriate places. However I would really like to know is which song was anti-English?

Obed · 2012-08-17, 10:17 PM

Hi,

Quote:

Originally Posted by reidw

@obed: Don't agree. Britain is becoming and more willing to acknowledge the non English part of its heritage these days.

Not sure what you disagree with, that was exactly my point. The four nations were well served.

Quote:

Originally Posted by reidw

However I would really like to know is which song was anti-English?

Suggest you take a look at Flower of Scotland and the four-fold refrain aimed at Proud Edward's English army and sending him home to think again.
Now English people could not care less about the defeat of Edward II at Bannockburn in 1314, but for some reason the Scots had to compose a song about it in 1967 and treat it as their de facto national anthem. Chips and shoulders and all that.

If they had sung about the Wembley wizards of 1967 that would be more fitting for a sporting national anthem.

vmpv · 2012-08-19, 09:34 AM

I was waiting for The Who to play "Behind Blue Eyes" as a tribute to the Olympic officiating.

gbamber · 2012-08-20, 12:28 AM

Were there any bagpipes?

mrvanwinkles · 2012-08-20, 08:24 AM

Closing ceremonies rocked.

QUEEN w/ images of Freddie Mercury - great.
We will rock you! - A song that just about everyone in the audience knew and sang along with.

The WHO - also rocked.

Classic rock ... Rocks.

Nice show.

SPICE GIRLS - fun music for all.

Thanks ! Nice and entertaining.

2012-08-14, 10:50 AM	#21
Biggles Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Calgary,AB Posts: 577	I really enjoyed the Closing Ceremonies. I grew up with much of the music played.Some of the references were a little obscure,but as a Brit,I picked up most of them. Loved the Freddie Mercury/Queen songs (saw them live in '76 and remember the Brighton Rock guitar solo very well) . Eric Idle was another highlight for me ! The whole event was very British ! __________________ KDLW4100,BDP-S550,Wii,PS3,Shaw DCT 3416 HDPVR with 1TB exHDD,ATV2,Mission M2V 5.1 ,Klipsch RW-10D sub,HTR4063)

2012-08-17, 05:08 PM	#23
Danster Moderator Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Lincoln.NB Pop 465,123 Posts: 5,307	The second song was a new one. __________________ Home Theatre: Yamaha HTR-6190, Klipsch Speakers, SANYO PLV-Z4, TOSHIBA HDDVD, LG BD555C, Cerwin Vega HTS12 Sub, VIP2300, XBox 360, HTPC.

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2012-07-28, 09:38 PM	#16
gbamber Join Date: Apr 2007 Posts: 413	Needed more Dr. Who and less hospital.

2012-07-29, 06:50 PM	#18
reidw Veteran Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Stratford, PE. Posts: 2,471	@flaminghomer: I'll second what Fry just told you. The Head Of State who opens the games is actually reading from a script prepared by the IOC. It never says more than "I declare the games open". I think this has been done to remove any possibility of the Head of State "grandstanding" or politicking for the home audience by giving a long winded speech. It works well and keeps the ceremony moving. @fry: I agree with your UK comment but based on the Opening Ceremonies you could have fooled me. It was an ENGLISH affair from start to finish. Almost nothing about the cultures of Wales, Scotland or N. Ireland. No use of Gaelic, no bagpipes or kilts, and just a wee bit of Danny Boy. Hardly representative of the whole United Kingdom.

2012-07-29, 07:16 PM	#19
Fry1989 Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Orillia, Ontario Posts: 543	reidw, it may have focused probably 80% on England, but it's still anachronistic to say England's hosting just as much as it would be to say Flanders is hosting if the games were in Brussels.

2012-07-29, 09:02 PM	#20
reidw Veteran Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Stratford, PE. Posts: 2,471	@fry1989: I agree with you regarding the Flanders example. What I was trying to say was that based solely on the Opening Ceremonies England seemed to be the sole host. Britain is a multicultural society made up of several different and distinct people's and cultures. This may not be as clear to us here but I assure you that if you were to tell an Scotsman, N. Irishman or Welshman that they're "English" you'd better duck. They're not a homogeneous mass. Those distinctions were not recognised in the Opening Ceremonies. It was an English show not a British show. One thing by the way that has occurred to me is that the rest of Britain may be part of the Closing Ceremonies and that may be why Boyle downplayed their roles last Friday. If after the Closing Ceremonies I still haven't heard any Gaelic or heard a bagpipe or seen a Scottish sword dancer then I'll be very disappointed and ready to support (in spirit) the Scottish and Welsh separatists. (My surname is a Scottish Reid after all).

2012-08-17, 08:01 AM	#22
phycomp Rookie Join Date: Aug 2012 Posts: 8	I really liked the Spice girls and George Michael in the wind up performance, even though I dodn't recognise the second GM track.

2012-08-17, 10:03 PM	#25
reidw Veteran Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Stratford, PE. Posts: 2,471	@obed: Don't agree. Britain is becoming and more willing to acknowledge the non English part of its heritage these days.Anyone who vists Wales quickly becomes aware of the increasing use of Welsh. Ditto for Gaelic in the appropriate places. However I would really like to know is which song was anti-English?

2012-08-19, 09:34 AM	#27
vmpv Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Whitby, Ont. Posts: 756	I was waiting for The Who to play "Behind Blue Eyes" as a tribute to the Olympic officiating.

2012-08-20, 12:28 AM	#28
gbamber Join Date: Apr 2007 Posts: 413	Were there any bagpipes?

2012-08-20, 08:24 AM	#29
mrvanwinkles Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Eastern Ontario (Ottawa/Kingston) Posts: 1,381	Closing ceremonies rocked. QUEEN w/ images of Freddie Mercury - great. We will rock you! - A song that just about everyone in the audience knew and sang along with. The WHO - also rocked. Classic rock ... Rocks. Nice show. SPICE GIRLS - fun music for all. Thanks ! Nice and entertaining.