To say I loved the opening ceremony?

I think you’re wrong on all counts. Having a go at an opening ceremony does suggest you want billions thrown at it though. Totally unnecessary.

I love Paris so much!
It just made me want to visit again soon.

I think they should circulate information and running order to the main broadcasters. I’ve heard some interesting explanations on the sections after here and on radio this morning. If the presenters were able to say that as it went along would have been bettter.

God, it was so boring.

Nobody got their knob out. A classical dancer got a rip in his tights.

That picture is absolutely hilarious!

I might print it out as a single image summary of the wankiness of the Olympics.

I stopped watching when they started showing children and drag queens and that male dancer got his knob out.

https://x.com/radiogenoa/status/1817154323345793474?s=46&t=pmOAhiSHmmUhsEgr0GGQgw

The cancan dancers were terrible compared to the Dallas Cowboy cheerleaders.

I did re-read it before responding.

For me, the opening ceremony is part of the Olympics.

The point I was making is that people around the world aren’t hoping for any part of the Olympics, including the ceremony, to be shit. The press normally tries to be upbeat about reporting these things but the fact there’s been a fair amount of criticism supports the fact the ceremony wasn’t a resounding success.

Insert the word “ceremony” into my final paragraph if it helps.

It’s a prediction based on the acknowledged truths that a) outside the US it’s unlikely that any country will be able to afford to host in the future, b) the IOC demands measures and guarantees that countries now quite rightly turn away from, c) nobody any longer thinks it’s genuine competition, and d) it’s a laughing stock.

Best thing about it was the utterly brilliant. MN thread ripping the piss out of it, I haven't laughed so much in ages!

Reread your final paragraph in the post I responded to. It very much suggests the ceremony means it’s a ‘shit Olympics’.

That was my biggest gripe too tbh. I was really disappointed.

Mind you, there were apparently a couple of real gaffes too.

Apparently South Korea was introduced as North Korea, and they hung the Olympic flag upside down as well.

I didn’t spot either of those things but I may have been brain dead by that point 😂

For me, it was the lack of seeing the athletes. It's great to spot those you know and see them enjoying it. You barely saw them. 😟

No, but it’s about the Olympics.

It’s a celebration of the host country, its successes, and an opportunity to introduce the Olympic competitors.

So yes, it absolutely is about the Olympics as well as the host country.

No one wants a crappy opening ceremony - we all want it to be good!!

Maybe the reason I hated it so much is because I really do love the Olympics.

I love seeing the competitors for the first time, picking out the names and faces from each country that I recognise. In Paris, we got a quick glimpse of a boat sailing past - there was no flag bearer leading their country out. A brief close-up of the boat, sometimes not even that. No way to look for the competitors.

Where was the electric atmosphere with crowds cheering? Where was the celebration of French sport? Lots of sports stars from the Eiffel Tower onwards were non-French - Carl
Lewis, Nadal, Serena Williams, etc. Also lots of non-French pop music used which feels like a missed opportunity.

Discussion of the ceremony has been distracted by the debate over the drag queens and sexualised content. Just setting that aside….

I can see why some people might have enjoyed each of the performance elements. Some bits were amazing. But when put together, did it really feel like a tribute to the Olympics? A big occasion that you’d remember forever if you attended? Or did it feel more like a TV show?

For me (and many others) it was the latter.

The thrill of Olympics is the crowds roaring, everyone on their feet, the exhilaration of seeing the competitors emerge…. That’s why previous countries use stadiums because with everyone together there’s something very special.

Thank you, you've hit the nail on the head.

That the Olympics will come to an end in 20 years.

The ceremony is not the Olympics.

What? That the opening was shit or that the Olympics is a discredited and unwelcome farce?

Me. At least while it’s on. It’s people who have trained to the peak of what’s possible.
I don’t give a fuck about the football World Cup, but I don’t think that will make it end.

Why on earth would you think that?

Exactly.

I don’t think the concept of using the city really worked. The athletes were too distant, too slow, too bored. Everything looked spread out and disconnected. There was no atmosphere.
I don’t really understand why they had so many non french people in really prominent roles.
I thought the cancan dancers and the drag act were shit. If you must use dance then you must have people who can dance, a choreographer, and practice. The cancan should have been fabulous and it just wasn’t. The drag was hideously cringe and dated. It’s not “inclusive” to present something that women, Christians, children and anyone with any artistic taste, don’t want to be watching and it’s certainly not “diverse”. It’s a world show, not a time to pretend it’s 1992 and you are writing a comedy drama staring Timothy Spall trying to turn around the fortunes of a rough gay pub in a decaying northern town. I think drag is shit anyway, but this was shit drag. They were bad at it, and they should be embarrassed about showing it to a global audience.

I liked the wee angel playing the accordion, the people on poles, the Bizet, the poor bloke on the piano the La Marseillaise from the roof.

I don’t understand the minions and thought it was a bit soon for an exploding submarine. Celebrating the reign of terror was a bit odd I thought too.

I LOVED the balloon cauldron - and not just because it signalled that I had endured enough and it was finally over. All in all it was boring, which is the one thing a show really can’t be.

It was a man and a woman holding the torch at the end. Marie-José Perec and Teddy Riner.