XXIX Olympiad Closing Party

[Lianazhu]

I might be wrong on this but then again this is the posrts area of the forums so here goes.....

I watched (live last night) the Closing Party in Bejing, for one thing this place is a madhouse, for another it is a fun madhouse, for two reasons, one, i'm with Xue Tan right now staying at her place, and I'm pretty asure we all saw two of the three actorsrom The Forbidden Kingdom (feel free to correct me if I'm wrong on the ID'ing here folks)

I'm pretty danged sure by voice alone that Li Bingbing sang last night/today (today at 830 EST/last night and 830 CHI), her voice alone rang clear, (again feel free to correct if i'm wrong I've only heard a few of her songs and seen her on some movies so I might be wrong.)

Also on hand (and seen right on the TV as well) were Jackie Chan & Jet Li, both of whom were also singing, and from what I saw, they did great!

But now I wonder, who was the guy in the silver jacket when Li Bingbing was singing? I'm pretty sure she was the Lady In Yellow, ButI'm unsure if the guy in the silver jacket of who he is, his voice sounds oddly like one I have heard many times on other movies/music vids, but I can't place him.

What did you all think of the Closing/Opening Parties? I rate them 10/10 imo

[Guo Xiang]

I didn't like the English performance, save when the bus opened up. It was starting to look like some rock concert and worse of all, that sculpture part is a pure ripoff from the Athens opening. Smacks of a lack of interest, energy and originality. I hope that the London Opening will be far better than that.

The rest was good, with the Chinese performance great as usual. But the Chinese commentary was horrible and I switched to the English commentary after less than 5 minutes. The Chinese commentary seems to be struggling for words to describe what was going on with the performance and the music/sound of the closing was kind of muted. EWW. At least the English side did not have those problems so I guess all turned out well.

[cristal entity]

I didn't like the English performance, save when the bus opened up. It was starting to look like some rock concert and worse of all, that sculpture part is a pure ripoff from the Athens opening. Smacks of a lack of interest, energy and originality. I hope that the London Opening will be far better than that.

The rest was good, with the Chinese performance great as usual. But the Chinese commentary was horrible and I switched to the English commentary after less than 5 minutes. The Chinese commentary seems to be struggling for words to describe what was going on with the performance and the music/sound of the closing was kind of muted. EWW. At least the English side did not have those problems so I guess all turned out well.

Absolutely agree with this thoughtful analysis

[beansprouts]

The rest was good, with the Chinese performance great as usual. But the Chinese commentary was horrible and I switched to the English commentary after less than 5 minutes. The Chinese commentary seems to be struggling for words to describe what was going on with the performance and the music/sound of the closing was kind of muted. EWW. At least the English side did not have those problems so I guess all turned out well.

I feel your pain, I watched the Chinese commentary for a while and nearly puked blood, they were annoying to say the least, the English weren't exactly fantastic but at least they were not annoying.

I like the opening much better, with all the fancy shows and delightful fireworks. The ending ceremony was kind of boring, struggling not to switch channels in case they have something hidden up their sleeves and I'll miss it if I change channels. It was like a (bad) rock concert towards the end, I didn't enjoy it, even if the ceremony want to be concert like, it could have been done better. Just too many people singing too many songs with too many things going on at the same time.

The London introduction was pretty fun in the beginning when the London bus rolled in and up pops a stage containing Leona Lewis and Jimmy Page, the performance was a bit bleah, I couldn't really hear what she was singing. What's the significance of Beckham kicking the ball by the way?

I think the best part of the show was when the athletes came into the stadium and there's the whole Let's-spot-the-athlete game.

[Ken Cheng]

IThe London introduction was pretty fun in the beginning when the London bus rolled in and up pops a stage containing Leona Lewis and Jimmy Page, the performance was a bit bleah, I couldn't really hear what she was singing.

She was singing Led Zeppelin's classic "Whole Lotta Love." With all due respect to Ms. Lewis, only Robert Plant can do that song justice.

[LiarLiar]

Well, I thought the closing was good for awhile, than it just got too long. They should have ended it after the Memory Tower which was cool by the way. Everything before that was pretty cool too. Right when the singers came out, it started to get boring. The singing part just went on and on and on. If they had ended it on the Memory Tower, I would have consider it a really good closing.

[jadebunny9]

It was dragged on a bit too long. However I don't really mind cause I got to see Leehom.

What was Rain doing there though? Seemed a bit strange.

[Canuck21]

The Beijing ceremonies were simply magnificent due to the sheer size and number of participants, but their strongest point was originality. There is no way London will be as good and no other Western country could do the same, it's just not doable. No other country in the world can spend so much money and have as much human resource as China. Zhang Yimou himself said that only China and North Korea can still do such big spectacles. The London organizers have already said after the opening ceremonies that they will not be as good as Beijing.

[Canuck21]

Well, I thought the closing was good for awhile, than it just got too long. They should have ended it after the Memory Tower which was cool by the way. Everything before that was pretty cool too. Right when the singers came out, it started to get boring. The singing part just went on and on and on. If they had ended it on the Memory Tower, I would have consider it a really good closing.

The closing ceremonies are usually more boring than the opening ceremonies. Remember Athen? Gosh that was pretty bad.

[flamer]

I thought the early parts of the Closing Ceremony were too long and had nothing special in it.

[godiva]

It was dragged on a bit too long. However I don't really mind cause I got to see Leehom.

What was Rain doing there though? Seemed a bit strange.

Hey if they have Sarah Brightman and Plácido Domingo, Why not Rain?

[Guo Xiang]

How could Rain's vocals be compared to the likes of Sarah Brightman and Placido Domingo? I'm glad he did not take the big stage.

[PJ]

The pop singers were nothing special on both the Chinese side and the British side.

And Leona Lewis? Could UK not find a better singer to represent?!

[Tei]

I'm pretty sure that the lady in yellow was Han Xue, and not LBB.

[Lianazhu]

I'm pretty sure that the lady in yellow was Han Xue, and not LBB.

You think so? (remember I said to feel free to correct me if I'm wrong) Only thing though I have LBB's newst CD "My Self" and have been listening to it nearly daily and when I heard the voice of the singer in yellow my first thought was, "That has to be Lady LBB!" my parents though I was nuts. (If you have fallen head over heels over LBB raise your hand (if you are human, if not human raise eyebrow or something...), Am I the only one? )

Then I started thinking, "how long did the Chinese train for that stunt on the tower?" Any ideas gang?

[godiva]

How could Rain's vocals be compared to the likes of Sarah Brightman and Placido Domingo? I'm glad he did not take the big stage.

Rain is absolutely not in the same league as Placido Domingo and Sarah Brightman. I'm only referring to their race. I mean Beijing indiscriminately included Jang Nara, having Rain to them is not an oversight.
Speaking of the singers list, beside Rain and Jang Nara, I have some issue with some of the HK singers in that list, just not represetative enough.
And agree on Leona Lewis

[godiva]

You think so? (remember I said to feel free to correct me if I'm wrong) Only thing though I have LBB's newst CD "My Self" and have been listening to it nearly daily and when I heard the voice of the singer in yellow my first thought was, "That has to be Lady LBB!" my parents though I was nuts. (If you have fallen head over heels over LBB raise your hand (if you are human, if not human raise eyebrow or something...), Am I the only one? )

Then I started thinking, "how long did the Chinese train for that stunt on the tower?" Any ideas gang?

didn't one of the commentators said about 9 months?

[flamer]

I think I saw Han Xue, but not LBB.

[JamesG]

Enjoy this Japanese mime version of the Olympics.
http://shanghaiist.com/2008/08/21/vi...d_olympics.php