Olympics Opening Ceremonies...what do you think?

jujube

jujube

SF VIP
Location
I think I'm in Florida, but I'm not sure any more.
Ummm....I'm having trouble coming up what to say about them. "Odd" comes to mind. "Boring" is leaking in. "Disjointed" is definitely a contender. "Wet".....yes.

And I think there's at least a couple more hours to come.

And why oh why can't somebody design an attractive uniform for the US athletes? It looks like something Dick Van Dyke would wear in "Mary Poppins"....
 

The Opening Ceremony for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games was thrown in to chaos tonight as torrential downpours and grey skies marred the event, which is taking place along the River Seine in front of 320,000 soaked spectators.

France's unique plan to hold the opening event outdoors rather than inside a stadium failed spectacularly this evening as Parisians, celebrities, politicians and royals from all over the world were forced to shelter from the horrendous rain.

The carefully choreographed open-air parade kicked off at 6.30pm UK time, with an incredible performance from American superstar Lady Gaga who wowed crowds as she performed a stunning Folie Bergiere entirely in French.

France's tricolour flag erupted from the Pont d'Austerlitz Bridge with 6,800 athletes covered in plastic ponchos attempting to keep spirits high as they travelled down the famed waterway in a huge flotilla of 85 boats.

Athletes on Team GB's boat - lead by flag bearers diver Tom Daley and rower Helen Glover, with tennis stars Andy Murray and Katie Boulter onboard - decided to embrace the poor weather, forgoing raincoats and umbrellas as they beamed and waved to fans.

Meteorologists who predicted the unusual rainy July weather would be a 'disaster' for the outdoor ceremony appear to have been proved right, as the heavy showers drowned out the music for those watching at home.

Meanwhile the screen at the Trocadéro where thousands of spectators are gathered appeared to suffer a blackout as a result of the dreary weather.
87821915-13676637-image-a-329_1722020542345.jpg
87821581-13676637-image-a-320_1722019699107.jpg
 
Well, they made a drag Queen parody of the Last Supper, which was tasteless and insulting. Imagine the outrage if they parodied Muhammad. They shoved LGBTQ in my face. The can can dancers were totally out of sync. And what the heck was that masked and costumed parcour dude with the torch about? About the only thing I liked was the boat parade. They turned what should have been a non-political event into a festival of wokeness. Yuck.
 
I thought the Paris Open was unique. Normally, the athletes would march into the stadium in alphabetical order, but now there's over 10,000. After the first 2,000-3,000, it would get a little boring. Putting them on boats was a cool work around.
I have to say that I liked the enthusiasm of the athletes of the tiny countries, most of us couldn't find on a map.
 
I thought I might but couldn't get past the endless greetings of the dignitaries.

On another try, I saw this person on a horse. They were masked. They got off the horse and delivered the Olympic flag into someone's hands. I can't find a clip of that. I can only find clips of a metal horse on the river.

CarolfromTX said:
Well, they made a drag Queen parody of the Last Supper
Click to expand...

After reading the above, I looked for it. I only saw clips of commentators criticizing it. I don't understand this at all or how it helps anyone's agenda, if that's what it was meant to do.

So no, I didn't watch the ceremony, but I did see a clip this morning of Lady Gaga who is fabulous imo.
 
RadishRose said:
After reading the above, I looked for it. I only saw clips of commentators criticizing it. I don't understand this at all or how it helps anyone's agenda, if that's what it was meant to do.
Click to expand...
I don’t understand it either. Why do that tasteless parody at all? I guess it’s just enother way to shock and disparage. It was behind the “fashion show”. I thought the fashion show was ridiculous.
 
Judging it on the scale of difficulty, with NO REHEATSAL in the actual setting and all the audio and visual hookups and cues - it’s a 10.

Alas, most people have no idea of the technical and directing/producing crafts that go into all this live action combined with pre-recorded action. They only judge it by pacing and the visuals. Based on that it was a 7 or 8.

SIGH - I don’t know why NBC chose a Sports commentator to do the voiceover for this thing when he wasn’t even going to talk about sports very much. Peyton Manning seemed to take the, “They are paying me the same if I stay quiet so I’m not going to open my mouth to reveal my ignorance of French history and the Olympic Sports. I’m just going to play it safe.” Silent man.

Kelly Clarkson, brave woman, at least had complimentary things to say about the entertainers, and that is her genre so why would we expect more?

Here’s a tip for NBC - You have a stable-full of really good researchers and anchors over there at NBC News. They WILL bother to READ up a bit about French History. For an opening event like this, USE YOUR NEWS PEOPLE! Ali Velshi or Rachel Maddow or any number of other news people could have had many intelligent, interesting things to say. THEY would have done the research.

The French made a magnificent staging with the heavy metal band and all the Marie Antoinette mannequins and I kept saying, “What is that building - that glorious building? WHAT is it and tell us what it means, if anything."

But, no. The anchors were all clueless.

NBC truly screwed this up big time. IDK what internal politics leads them to make their choices, but I hope a lot of people are getting yelled at today.

Do you know it’s supposed to rain all week in Paris? I checked it on a weather app. I hope the track and field athletes have an indoor stadium.

ALL the singers and musicians, 10!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Perfect 10s. Loved them all. Should have built in time for encores.
 
jujube said:
Ummm....I'm having trouble coming up what to say about them. "Odd" comes to mind. "Boring" is leaking in. "Disjointed" is definitely a contender. "Wet".....yes.

And I think there's at least a couple more hours to come.

And why oh why can't somebody design an attractive uniform for the US athletes? It looks like something Dick Van Dyke would wear in "Mary Poppins"....
Click to expand...
The Parade of Athletes was dull, but it’s dull every time in a stadium or not. However, it is a huge moment for the athletes themselves so we have to think about their feelings and expectations too. They are not there to entertain us, after all.
 
jujube said:
Ummm....I'm having trouble coming up what to say about them. "Odd" comes to mind. "Boring" is leaking in. "Disjointed" is definitely a contender. "Wet".....yes.

And I think there's at least a couple more hours to come.

And why oh why can't somebody design an attractive uniform for the US athletes? It looks like something Dick Van Dyke would wear in "Mary Poppins"....
Click to expand...
Ralph Lauren designs them year after year after year after year. Ralph Lauren Unveils Team USA’s Opening Ceremony and Closing Ceremony Parade Uniforms for the Paris 2024 Games, Continuing Ralph Lauren’s Legacy at the Intersection of Style & Sport

They are safe. They are conservative.

The only saving grace this year is that they got to wear jeans with the jacket, or at least their pants looked jean-like. That is good because jeans are comfortable, they breathe, and they are pretty darned American having been invented here. But, he didn’t go with a dark denim jean. He went with a washed-out jean which looks kind of odd with the cream jacket.

The warm up jackets and polo shirts are fine, but still very safe and conservative. Big ol’ logo to promote Ralph. Never expect any happy prints from the House of Lauren (except in his ready-to-wear).

But I think he keeps getting the job every Olympics because he will not bring in many fashion surprises and I think that’s what the conservatives like about him. He will never make an asymmetrical blazer that might offend the conservatives.

From 2021: Solids and stripes. Classic blazer. Ralph Lauren adds wearable tech to the opening ceremony’s fashion mix. (Published 2021)

Winter thru the years. He did use some color blocking with these, but it’s still safe as can be solids. Here’s a Look at Winter Olympic Uniforms Through the Years
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top