JO Opening Ceremony

[niemeyjt]

Reading a biased UK Press the opening of the JO is the worst ever.

So for those who have actually watched it - what do you think?

[Pathca]

I’m in the UK and we have really enjoyed it

[glazedallover]

I have never had any interest in opening ceremonies. But it's weird. I was living not far from Stratford in 2012 and working in Canary Wharf , so I often used to walk several miles to work to avoid the overcrowded tubes but also to experience the atmosphere as I often took a route that passed the Olympic Stadium. It was a great OG , but I must admit that I have never been more disinterested in a major sporting event this time round.

[Blaze]

We saw a little bit with the boats and athletes of different countries going down the Seine - it was tipping down with rain.
We've just watched a couple of minutes of an amazing light show .... and it's still tipping down.
I gather Celine Dion is being paid 2 million for one song ....

[Pathca]

It has got a bit draggy so we have given up

[Wilbro]

It went on far too long particularly at the end with the torch doing a tour of Paris and passing from hand to hand. The poor 100 year old in his wheelchair in the pouring rain will be lucky if he doesn't go down with pneumonia.
Some parts enjoyable but the boat parade also took far too long. Oh for the days when some geezer came up onto the podium and said "I now declare these games open" and they got on with it.

[Bayleaf]

I think I caught most of it, on and off. Shame about the rain, but it didn't seem to deter the spirits. Yes, some parts were a bit drawn out, and I wonder how the crowds enjoyed the extra bits we see on TV - there were big screens dotted around the place. Hats off to all the dancers and performers, maybe the rain helped keep them cool and refreshed!

Heck of an event to pull off - basically floating down a river. The choreography was brilliant. Low point for me was Lady Gaga - very underwhelming. I found I had a couple of tears when the youngsters were dancing on a float and the scene under their feet was of gradual fire and destruction of our planet.

Despite Ms Dion getting paid a huge amount, I was impressed by her performance - knowing what health problems she's had. I don't like her as a singer, but in French, she banged it out and it was authentic. Another tear! Goodness!!

Hazel Irvine and Andrew Cotter were outright a brilliant choice for commentating, as I watched it on BBC1. They got it all just right.

Allez! C'est partie!

[Blaze]

I agree Celine Dion was very good despite her health problems (stiff person syndrome). Apparently it's the first time she's sung publicly for 4 years so she did well, and it's probably a hell of a boost for her.

We certainly couldn't have watched the opening from start to finish. The whole thing with the Flame has been far too long (we were involved with it at Mont Saint Michel and Saint Malo) and drawn out .... but that's France for you, and the idea last night was to showcase Paris ....

[Wilbro]

It did a good job of showcasing Paris and the performers were generally excellent and we especially enjoyed the Parcours chap with the torch which led us to expect a spectacular end to his run but were disppointed as he just handed the torch over to the parade of athletes at the end which then dragged on. A shame about the weather as the forecast is good for the coming days but Paris did look it's spectacular best.

[Loup-garou]

I thought that Australia/Australie began with an "A"!