Piotrec - maybe they didn't, I don't know. But I don't think that was abbo's point really. It's not about the Stones specifically, more like "is this really the best we have to offer"? And yes we all know one of Britain's main exports is music, but is music really all we have? That and "fashion"?
I didn't watch the closing ceremony live, but given that the opening ceremony turned out better than expected, I have since caught up with some of it through catch-up on the Internet. Clearly the organisation and the logistics were very good (such things really must take some organising), and I don't want to take anything away from those behind the scenes who were involved in the staging of it.
But from what I've seen, the "talent" was for the most part decidedly second-rate with a lot of artists lip-synching / miming and just turning in altogether second-rate performances. I've already dealt with the Spice Women and One Direction so I won't dwell on them any more. But who invited the godawful George Michael? What was he doing there? Representing Britons who play with themselves in public toilets? Or the embarrassing indulgence of the crashingly unfunny (and completely lost-up-his-own-arse) Russell Brand doing his 'I'm a rock star' fantasy. And as for Roger Daltrey and Pete Townsend, pack it in now lads and stop tarnishing a legend, because without John Entwistle and Keith Moon / Kenny Jones you aren't "The Who" any more than Brian May and Roger Taylor are still "Queen" without Freddie Mercury and John Deacon. Then there was the brief David Bowie bit. The different pictures, the different snatches of music, each of them moving us through his career, like a countdown to... no, it can't be ... surely not?! He's not actually going to appear is he!?! Well, erm, no. Cos it just stopped at 'Fashion' and a bunch of worthless "supermodels" appeared instead (and I'd wager that at least two of them were glad that it was only the athletes being drug-tested, not the performers
).
Talk about anti-climax. I could go on (Annie Lennox, Jessie J, Take That ... etc. etc.) but you get my drift. At least they didn't wheel Paul McCartney out of cryogenic suspension again to drone his way through "Hey Jude" for the gazillionth time.
But why does it always have to be about "pop" music anyway? If it's supposed to be about "Britishness", why can't they find a slot for, say, the London Philharmonic doing some stirring (and rip-roaringly British) classical proms type stuff? That appeals to all ages and never fails to create an atmosphere and get the flags flying.
"Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life" is wearing a bit thin now as well. It was funny in 1979/80 when the film came out, but has been completely done to death since.
I have to admit to having been rather sceptical of the whole Olympics thing in the run-up, but I've surprised myself by actually quite enjoying some of it as I've dipped in and out on the trusty old cathode-ray tube. Indeed the two and a half weeks of the Games have been, for the most part, pretty much ********-free in the sense that they've been about ordinary people doing rather extraordinary things, and about the value of community spirit and (for the most part) friendly and good-natured international competition (if you discount the female Ukrainian shotputter who looks like Sean Bean being disqualified for doping). At the closing ceremony though, things started getting back to normal, with borderline mass hysteria over second-rate pop acts and the idolising of egotistical "celebrities" of questionable talent.
- Steve
