London 2012 Olympic Games

So the commentators said that the closing ceremony was supposed to celebrate English fashion and music. So where the hell was Led Zeppelin?
Not even a cover band or video piece. WTF?
 
So the commentators said that the closing ceremony was supposed to celebrate English fashion and music. So where the hell was Led Zeppelin?
Not even a cover band or video piece. WTF?

Yeah, that was a disappointing omission. Even in the opening ceremony there was just a 15-ish second passage from Trampled Under Foot during the long musical/dancing montage.
 
So the commentators said that the closing ceremony was supposed to celebrate English fashion and music. So where the hell was Led Zeppelin?
Not even a cover band or video piece. WTF?

Yeah, that was a disappointing omission. Even in the opening ceremony there was just a 15-ish second passage from Trampled Under Foot during the long musical/dancing montage.

It had to be representative of British music and also recognisable to a wide audience. We have over 50 years of rock and roll/pop music history so there was rather a lot to choose from. Most of what featured last night doesn't feature in my collection but it all worked pretty well for me in context
 
You don't think Led Zeppelin would be recognisable to a wide audience?!? :blink:

Not saying that. Plus Led Zep without Plant would hardly be the same and he has stated in the past he doesn't with to play with them again IIRC. The line-up was all subjective - you'd never put one together that pleased everybody - and all-in-all I think they did a pretty good job.
 
Commercial stations have different pressures upon them and no matter how good you manage it the coverage will always be inferior just because you have to cut away to advertisements.

Hey now, that's unfair to commercial stations that aren't utter shit. :p CTV only put in commercials when literally nothing was happening, so like hour long stretches with no pauses. I can't watch regular BBC shows on our channels though, they don't even just cut to commercials either they seem to always add a fadeout before them, that just sucks.

NBC's just awful no matter what they do - I tuned in a couple times, their hosts were terrible boring serious overly dramatic nbc people. We were in the states when the olympics started so had no choice but to watch nbc and watched a chinese guy beat out Lochte for a gold and then cut to Bob Whatshisface going something like "...and the chinese have become [newsman pause] quite a power [pause] in this sport." It was honestly like he was talking about a chinese invasion :lol:
 
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(2) Holy mother of god IOC please get someone even remotely alive looking, interesting, active, inspirational and capable of a smile as your president because Jacques Rogge is none of those things.
He looked and sounded like a pope.

Also, usually I would wear my smug face and rub the fact that TV in America is rubbish in American faces, but I will light a candle in honour of all of those who had to watch these glorious Olympic games including the ending ceremony on their miserable NBC.

BBC master race reporting in
 
Why did the let George Micheal to that second crap song? Serious low point was One Directions and Russell Brand did songs! Jessie J was good, but four songs was too much.

Emeli Sande did two numbers in the Opening and the brought her back for the Closing too.

Wished the were more bands something different or a collaboration. Remember the Bowie/Jagger duet on Live Aid.

Seems to be a lack of original music in the closing ceremony.

These were of two my fav's from the Opening Ceremony, especially Caliban's Dream which was used when lighting the flame:

And I Will Kiss - Underworld (feat.Dame Evelyn Glennie) London 2012 Olympic Games Opening

Caliban's Dream (Underworld feat. Dockhead Choir, Dame Evelyn Glennie, Only Men Aloud, Elizabeth Roberts, Alex Trimble)

Closing ceremony playlist
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/ol...70803/Olympics-closing-ceremony-playlist.html
 
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Closing Ceremony was a mixed bag. Personally the only parts I enjoyed we're John Lennon, Eric Idle and The Who. Although they did a fairly good job in trying to cover as many angles as possible.
However I shall not forgive the idiot who thought getting Russell Brand to sing a Beatles song and getting Jessie J to perform Queen songs. Whoever did that, your one way ticket out of the country is ready.

The worst part is the Olympics withdrawal. I have been so used to spending hours watching the BBCs Interactive service. Now to suddenly have nothing is like a slap in the face.
 
Some commentators have suggested the closing ceremony was almost a celebration of drugs through pop music, the opposite of the Olympic message!
 
Apparently they not only cut out The Who, but Ray Davies and Muse as well. Then they showed everything in non-chronological order, and beeped out Eric Idle's "shit". Condolences to anyone who's had to suffer through NBC's coverage this summer.

It wasn't so much a case of cutting out The Who, but relegating them to the late-night segment ONE HOUR LATER so they could air a preview of a most-likely-to-be-cancelled-after-three-episode "comedy." I was tweeting back and forth with a friend who was cross about omitting the Kate Bush song and the Muse performance.

I thought NBC's coverage was frankly rubbish. I don't know where to begin, but I'm sure it includes the Seacrest interview, Bob Costas and Matt Lauer being twats during the parade of nations, more Ryan Seacrest, the editing of the closing ceremony, and even more Ryan Seacrest.

At least now I only have to watch NBC for Sunday Night Handegg and the local news.
 
Didn't see a Paralympics thread so rather start a new thread thought I would continue using this thread.

Not impressed with the opening ceremony. Well, not the ceremony itself. More with Channel 4's coverage of it. I had been spoiled Way too much with the BBC's amazing coverage.
During the coverage, channel 4 would cut to adverts during the athletes parade. The china team was cut out completely. Krishnan Guru Murthy was at times downright insulting. Making comments like "oh they've got mobile phone, wonder if they can text home?" or while talking to another commentator, a paralympian from Canada, he would cut him off each time the paralympian would say something interesting.
Jon Snow commented that they were playing fast paced music in the hopes of getting the athletes to walk faster. Then they would cut to a pre-recorded interview with members of various teams.
It almost felt like channel 4 had been taking lessons from NBC. In the end, I muted the tv just so I could enjoy the show without commentary, which worked fine until they started showing adverts again.
It should be a rule in our country that when there is a big global sporting event, only the BBC should cover it.

Hopefully as the events start going the bugs will be worked out and things will sette into place. But channel 4 isn't exactly managing to win me over just yet.
 
Jedd, I think BBC 5Live is doing audio/radio, why not use their feed with the C4 pictures?
 
Will probably be doing that in the future. I was just unprepared for how bad channel 4's coverage was going to be and I figured I'd give them a chance before running back home to Aunty Beeb's place for her treats.
 
Indeed Channel 4 have already fucked up with this one. It's a shame that the BBC aren't doing the Paralympic coverage as well - millions of UK viewers simply won't tune in now where for the Olympics we had the choice of 24 special live feed channels. Sure C4 cant afford that but then this just shows that the Beeb would have been an Olympic/Paralympic monopoly worth having.

Another thing I'd like to say is wtf is this opening ceremony...? What's with the entire theme of space/science? Sure celebrating Stephen Hawking is cool, but surely they can come up with a better theme - maybe something related to the fact the Paralympics are directly from Britain (they even used the fact the modern Olympic are indirectly from Britain in that opening ceremony). I think one thing that doesn't help is the useless commentary from C4. I literally don't know what's going on; what is the significance of this Miranda? Then they don't mention Orbital (the duo playing the Spasticus tune before sampling Hawking who are awesome and from my hometown :p). And one other thing. No celebration of the reason the Paralympics were began in the first place? No real mention of rehabilitating victims (of war or otherwise) through sport? Disappointment.
 
I tried watching coverage today but unfortunately only lasted an hour. In that hour they played adverts 6 times. They barely showed any events instead focusing on studio debate and conversations. They only showed a handful of swimming and cycling events probably only lasting 15 minutes of coverage in that hour I watched.
The worst part was when Jonathon Fox broke the word record in his swimming event. They didn't show it live. They announced he had broken the world record, showed an interview with a cyclist, had an advert break, another interview and then showed the footage of him breaking the WR. I tried to watch it but the coverage is just awful. To think of the opportunity that has been given to Channel 4 and they have just absolutely ruined it.
If I do watch it, it will either be listening to the coverage of five live or seeing the sports news on BBC News.

You also know its bloody awful when even the Daily Mail is singing the BBC's praises.
 
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You don't have the digital C4 channels do you?

If you get TIVO on Virgin Cable a much better service is available. Too late now I suppose - oh well.

I agree not as good as the BBC I grant you, but not the unmittigated disaster that seems to be being portrayed.
 
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