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Friday night’s much-anticipated Olympic Opening Ceremonies were certainly something to talk about. The multi-sensory extravaganza -- a dreamlike romp through Britain’s history that included everything from the industrial revolution to the UK healthcare system – was alternately whimsical, bizarre and hilarious, in a British kind of way.
Surprise celebrity appearances included Paul McCartney, David Beckham, JK Rowling, James Bond, (Daniel Craig), Mr. Bean (Rowan Atkinson) and even the Queen herself. Whether jumping out of helicopters, goofing off in orchestras or reading excerpts from Peter Pan, there was never a dull moment.
Entitled Pandemonium, the production was the brainchild of film director Danny Boyle (Slum Dog Millionaire, 127 Hours and Trainspotting) – a man known for taking artistic chances. The Olympic Opening ceremony on Friday night was no exception. By Saturday morning, reaction to the show went from awe to outrage as evidenced by viewers’ Tweets:
Favorite Tweets from the 2012 Olympic Opening ceremony:
“The Opening Ceremonies are the Super Bowl halftime show meets the UN meets Cirque du Soleil.” -- #OpeningCeremonies awful announcing @awfulannouncing
“The opening ceremonies have won me over. Any show that combines pyrotechnics, top hats, The Beatles and sheep is okay in my book.” -- #OpeningCeremonies Conan O'Brien @ConanOBrien
“Loved the "industrial revolution piece of the opening ceremonies. Glad they cut the black lung ballet.” -- #OpeningCeremonies Michael McKean @MJMcKean
“JK Rowling owned the #OpeningCeremonies” -- Bellatrix Lestrange @UndeadBellatrix
“That awkward moment when it took Harry Potter 7 long books to beat Voldemort... and Mary Poppins did it in 2 minutes.” --#OpeningCeremonies That Awkward Moment @SoVeryAwkward
“The Queen is NOT amused.” -- #openingceremonies #olympics http://instagr.am/p/NnX8q4sm7B/ Trent Vanegas @trentvanegas
“The Queen, James Bond, Mr Bean, David Beckham and A Beatle. Bloody well done Danny Boyle!” -- #OpeningCeremonies afdhel aziz @afdhelaziz
“Mr Bean = the strangest and yet best thing I have ever seen during an opening ceremony for the Olympics.” -- #OpeningCeremonies TylerBaldwin @tylerbaldwin
“No way the people that thought this up were sober at any point during the development process.” -- #OpeningCeremonies Brent Dougherty @brentdougherty
“Really, shouldn't everything in life end with a sing-along to "Hey Jude"? -- #olympicsceremony Devin Fuller @DevFull
“Dear British People, You COULD NOT make this night any better! You impressed the whole world. Thank you.” -- #OlympicCeremony Sadek @Hazem_Sadek
“The Queen is sitting there saying mine, used to be own, wouldn’t want it, mine, mine, got rid of it, mine.” -- #2012LondonOlympics Andrew Wallis @CllrAWallis
“London, I’m really happy for you, imma let you finish. But China had one of the best #OpeningCeremonies of all time! - Kanye West.” -- #OpeningCeremonies Corey Cialeo @CoreyCialeo
“Somewhere Simon Cowell is sitting in a black V-neck drinking bourbon from a coca-cola cup, saying, "this is dreadful"#OpeningCeremonies Rory Albanese @RoryAlbanese
Bitpusher
10:20 am on Sunday, July 29, 2012
Loved the Industrial Revolution. It started the "Age of Mircles and Wonders" that we live in that has made the ordinary people richer than the riches kings of prior days could even imagine.
satish
12:13 pm on Sunday, July 29, 2012
Bitpusher, I respect your opinion about what you like, however regarding this Industrial Revolution are you kidding me? "Ordinary poeple" got richer? Where do you get your facts from? As Fudual lords were replaced with Industrial owners, people still remained poor. Infact they were even poorer as the cities exploded in size creating vast slums with extremly large poverty rate amongs the working class. This is where socialist ideology started. And the queen of England still is one of the ritchest persons in England!
Bitpusher
4:23 pm on Sunday, July 29, 2012
Look at yourself and the life that you and your neighbors have. When in the history of the world (othere than Versailles) have so many have some much for doing so little. Not even the Sun King himself could get the medical treatment available to someone on medicaid. The welth that we enjoy is the direct result of the industrial revolution.
satish
12:18 pm on Sunday, July 29, 2012
I noticed an arrogant, egocentric emphasism of the British Imperial Empire and British worldwide dominance. I was shocked of how they did it in total disregard to anyone else. I also learned a new history that claims that Olimpics came from British Industrial Revolution and had nothing to do with anyone else! Arrogance! The technological aspect was great, but the message was ZERO.
Bob Andres
2:03 pm on Sunday, July 29, 2012
Danny Boyle...Don't quit your day job. The opening ceremonies were outrageously bad. The NBC announcers had to explain what was happening and why. Even that was ridiculous. Most offensive was the sour puss face of Queen Elizabeth. She must have had a bad case of indigestion. Doesn't she get paid to do that? Why must the Olympic opening ceremonies be an extravaganza and must the Hitler conceived practice of running the torch into the stadium and lighting the urn be continued? Kinda like paying homage to that piece of you know what.
B
6:32 pm on Sunday, July 29, 2012
Great story for the stage, not so much for an arena.