The DrsC recorded Friday night's Olympics opening ceremonies so we could watch them later while fast-forwarding through the commercials and the boring, talking-head sections. We watched them tonight, and mostly wished we had used our time more profitably.
Out of the evening-long ceremony, there were four things I enjoyed: first, the fireworks were good, second, the march-in of the various national groups of athletes happened quickly. Third, I liked the creative design of the Olympic beacon, made up of many individual torches that pivoted up to cluster together. Fourth, the Arctic Monkeys' cover of The Beatles' Come Together was done well.
The entire early part of the ceremony, before the march-in, didn't work for me. I particularly found the celebration of the National Health Service with dancing nurses and kids bouncing on beds tedious and irrelevant to the rest of the world.
Kenneth Branagh is a talented actor, but was wasted doing what he did. Had he given the "we band of brothers" speech from Shakespeare's Henry V, that would have been a winner recognized around the world.
J.K.Rowling was wasted as well. Plus Sir Paul McCartney no longer has a voice and it's sad for him to embarrass himself trying to sing.
Dragging poor, sick Mohammad Ali out to stand mumbling by the Olympic flag was cruel. It appeared he had no idea where he was or why. And the Queen looked tired, which she probably was as she had no way to fast-forward through the boring parts.
My overall grade of the Olympic opening ceremony: C (average work).
