<p>I liked the opening ceremony, though I thought the part with the popular music and the house went on a little too long.</p>
<p>Those smokestacks were amazing!</p>
<p>I liked how Paul McCartney got the crowd to sing along on “Hey,Jude.” At the beginning of the song, Paul’s voice broke for a moment. I almost couldn’t believe I’d heard a sob from him, but the commentators verified that it had happened.</p>
<p>With all of Paul’s professionalism and many decades of performing, I thought it was rather touching that the Olympics moved him emotionally like that.</p>
<p>When the beautiful singing by the children was taking place at the beginning, the cameras showed the faces of people playing farmers who were weeping.</p>
<p>I thought Danny Boyle’s film of the journey along the Thames was wonderful.</p>
<p>I hadn’t realized the 7/7 tribute was omitted. That should have been included in NBC’s coverage. Especially considering the fact that the parade of nations was much speedier than usual!</p>
<p>Even though the Queen looked dour, poor dear, Kate and William exhibited nice facial expressions every time the camera showed them…more so than Harry.</p>
<p>I saw Paul McCartney last year at Wrigley and fell in love again. He still pulled off the legendary Macca scream. He’s still adorable - and he can sing the phone book for all I care. He’s still going strong, collaborating w other musicians, scoring ballets and classical music. Truly a legend - and so much better than what John Lennon would have become at this age.</p>
<p>I actually loved both Beijing and London. They were both very different, and I enjoyed each for its itself. </p>
<p>I think a lot of Americans missed the real humor of the Queen’s bit. When they showed Bond going up the stairs, I frankly assumed it was a set, not the real Palace. And when they showed the back of the queen, I (and I’ll bet, most Brits) assumed it was an actress. When she turned around and you realized it was really the Queen, it was hilarious. The element of surprise adds a lot to the humor. Most of us Americans who are used to things like the videos at the annual Press dinner where the President does amusing things, don’t realize that the Queen has never, ever done anything like that before. Unexpected endings always make funny things funnier.</p>
<p>Beijing had stunning visuals, while London was more about content. They did a great job of showing change through the centuries, celebrating music, humor, history, science and technology. I’d never before seen the guy who began the world wide web. That was really cool. From Shakespeare to the Beatles, to computers, to JK Rowling, I thought it was fascinating. The underlying theme was bringing people together in everyway, and I thought they did a good job.</p>
<p>I agree with Hayden; when I realized the person in the chair with her back to “Bond” was really the Queen I about lost it. However, I was more focused on her Corgis than anything else. An endless loop of those darling dogs would cheer me up any day. One looks just like our late pet and I miss her so much.</p>
<p>On the whole, NBC’s handling of the Opening made me really appreciate TiVO.</p>
<p>I agree, silpat. The corgis were adorable. :)</p>
<p>Really enjoyed the beauty of the countryside and the London architecture shown during the roadrace this morning. Sad for the Brits that Cavendish didn’t medal as expected.</p>
<p>Great game by Christine Sinclair in Canada’s win over South Africa 3-0 in women’s soccer. Looking forward to the U.S./Colombia game which will start shortly.</p>
<p>I actually liked this opening ceremony much more than the Beijing opening ceremony: Shakespeare, JK Rowling, Mary Poppins, Voldemort, Peter Pan, James Bond, dancing NHS employees, AND the queen - what’s not to love?! Oh, and the children’s choirs were great.</p>
<p>I am already sick of NBC, though. Not only did they do their best to ruin the opening ceremonies - but what’s with the “Michael Phelps All The Time” show? Good grief. When he barely qualified for the 400 IM finals i thought the NBC announcers would faint! There’s a local girl on the U.S. Olympic swim team - very strong swimmer, favored to win several gold medals - but you so rarely hear ANYthing about her in the national media; it’s either Michael Phelps or Missy Franklin.</p>
<p>Harumph. Isn’t there enough air time for everyone?</p>
<p>I was waiting and waiting for Duran Duran and Spice Girls. Was that even televised, and is there anywhere I can catch it, maybe Youtube or time delayed, replayed?</p>
<p>As for Michael Phelps, I like his athleticism, but he’s always so down on himself. And not in a humble way, a negative way. Oh, I did terrible, blah, blah, blah.</p>
<p>On the other hand, Ryan L is always so upbeat and has such a great attitude. He’s not bad to look at, either.</p>
<p>Speaking of that, David Beckham, yes, I wouldn’t mind running into him in a fast food restaurant, either. I loved the shot of him on the powerboat bring the torch to the ceremony. He was a good replacement for Simon LeBon.</p>
<p>Has anyone, by any chance, found a good Olympic event schedule that is user-friendly? I have looked at several and haven’t found one that I like. </p>
<p>I don’t often watch gymnastics other than at the Olympics, but I always enjoy it. The qualifying today sure is fun and Japan’s Kohei Uchimura is amazing.</p>
<p>I fail to see why it’s necessary to rank Opening Ceremonies. I see them as a reflection of the history and personality of the host nation. Beijing – gigantic, controlled, militaristic, delicately beautiful. London – pastoral, industrial, hip, monarchical. Two very different countries, two very different Opening Ceremonies. Both highly successful, IMO.</p>
<p>Dionysus58, I’m one Yank who loved the Opening Ceremony, and we thought the Queen’s acting debut was hysterical. I think my favorite part was when she was waving out the helicopter window.</p>
<p>ETA – alwaysamom, go to nbcolympics.com. They also have live streaming of events that don’t make it to TV.</p>
<p>I hate NBC coverage on swimming events this morning. They had too many comments that distracted the competitions in progress. I had a hard time to figure out which lane belonged to each country. They only showed one leading swimmer. Why not showing at least 3 with overlayed flags?</p>
<p>Thanks, lasma, I’ll have a look at that one. I don’t need live-streaming, though. With a choice from NBC and four different Canadian stations, I am already having difficulty choosing what to watch!</p>
<p>I thought some of the show was okay but didn’t like the sitcom in the middle of it with various video segments and the lost phone, house, etc. that was essentially meaningless and of no significance to the event or world. The whole kids in the beds with monsters and Mary Poppins was just weird and went on too long. Many of the segments went on too long. The whole show seemed disjointed.</p>
<p>It didn’t need to be made more spectacular or cost more but something with more in the way of actual cohesive production and something that was more relevant and tied together would have been nice.</p>
<p>I would like to see more segments of the UK in general. I’ve traveled in the UK quite a bit and it has beautiful countryside. I enjoyed the initial flyover presentation of the UK.</p>
<p>were the kids in the beds with the doctors dancing around really meant to represent how proud the Brits are with their national health care?..that’s what the NBC announcers claimed.</p>
<p>The incessant yammering during the opening ceremony really got on my nerves, on the other hand if someone hadn’t explained all the agrarian to industrial revolution to whatever I wouldn’t have had a clue. The whole cell-phone was a bust.</p>
<p>Why are the US women wearing prison uniforms today?</p>
<p>Every four years, it’s fun to watch sports that we don’t get a chance to see much on US TV. Last night, I watched mixed doubles badminton and women’s handball on the live online feed. It was fun!</p>
Since they happen to speak English there, I would have liked to see the opening ceremony presented by a local person working for the Olympics speaking to a script who would have explained and presented the pertinent parts and left the idle chatter out of it. There was no need for American commentators on it.</p>
<p>I hope that’s the last we’ll hear form Meredith - she was just awful and out of her element of sitting around idly gabbing with a bunch of ladies. </p>
<p>I didn’t get the interruption to have a studio discussion with Phelps. I guess NBC thinks he’s a star and that’s what we care about. Phelps swims and that’s about it. Seeing him in the pool competing is enough. Regardless, it was a poor decision to interrupt the flow of the ceremony with a studio interview stuck arbitrarily in the middle of it.</p>
<p>I wonder if NBC pays attention to any of the comments on their commentators and if so, if they’re dynamic enough to tone it down moving forward in these Olympics?</p>
I told him that it matters not what they wear, they sure are fun to watch!</p>