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2016 Olympics - Opening Ceremony and beyond....


Howdyphillip

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11 hours ago, baxus said:

Serbian national TV (3 channels) as well as Eurosport (2 channels) will broadcast a lot of the events but there are bound to be cases of overlapping of our athletes competing with something I'd much rather see and our national TV will of course broadcast our athletes.

You complain? I am stuck in Montenegro and God only knows what their national broadcaster will choose to show. Needless to say (and every Montenegrin knows this), I will mute because commentaries are like listening to hysterical crying baby. 

7 hours ago, baxus said:

It will be a happy day indeed when we get the option of watching sports with commentary muted and sounds of the game and crowd in the stadium still on.

Amen to that...

Gymnastics, tennis (although the competition is rather bad this year without many players) and those -thlons whose names I can't recall are sports I am looking for. I am very sad for Serbian volleyball team and it would be really nice if our basketball team goes far.

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It started very slowly, but just as the atmosphere began to build they moved onto a global warming segment showing how cities around the world may be flooded, killing it dead in its tracks. An important message certainly, but rather out of place.

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So, was the opening ceremony really only a couple minutes long (the spectacle at the start I mean) long, or was that all that NBC choose to show?

I understand why that would be the case, but still, a bit disappointing.

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1 minute ago, Fez said:

So, was the opening ceremony really only a couple minutes long (the spectacle at the start I mean) long, or was that all that NBC choose to show?

I understand why that would be the case, but still, a bit disappointing.

About 50 minutes from the start to the athletes' entrance.

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1 minute ago, Fez said:

So, was the opening ceremony really only a couple minutes long (the spectacle at the start I mean) long, or was that all that NBC choose to show?

I understand why that would be the case, but still, a bit disappointing.

The later, It lasted almost 1 hour

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Oh, nevermind, it looks like there's more happening now. 

Its just that, there had been a bit of something, then fireworks, then NBC cut to a commercial, and when they came back the lights were up, the IOC president was getting introduced, and than the Brazilian anthem was being played. It seemed like that was the end of it.

But now I see metal spider-crabs in the snow, so that's a thing.

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32 minutes ago, The BlackBear said:

Just joined. Judy Dench is telling us how to plant a tree. What have I missed?

It was Judi Dench and Fernanda Montenegro... Really have no idea what is Dame Dench's connection to Brazil.

They obviously had the idea but boy, was that poorly executed. Music was truly unimpressive. Thoroughly meh.It had some visually nice, but the music was... Oh, so bad.

10 minutes ago, The BlackBear said:

Shame. I did hear somewhere the budget was a fraction of London which was itself a bit step down from Beijing. Then all the worries and schedule issues running up to this, it's not wholly unexpected.

20 times lower than the Beijing 2008, 10 times lower than London 2012, according to Montenegrin commentator.

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1 hour ago, Risto said:

They obviously had the idea but boy, was that poorly executed. Music was truly unimpressive. Thoroughly meh.It had some visually nice, but the music was... Oh, so bad.

Which part of the music? I thought the music in the beginning where they showed the formation of the jungle was pretty good. And some other bits were quite impressive. The singers... since I don't listen to Brazilian music, I don't have an opinion.

Also was that Gisele's longest walk?

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 Brilliant... This was everything that I could have hoped for in this show. Economics dictated that the show not be as elaborate as other years, but man did the Bazillions tell an absolutely fabulous story in a gripping way. The projection on the floor of the stadium was outstanding all of the way through. It is probably the best we have ever seen on that scale anywhere. 

The opening montage of the top down video at the start was beautifully shot. Some of the best photography I have ever seen. The perspective was almost jarring in places, but by the end, we get the message that our focus has come to Rio, and we will be looking down upon them with great interest to see the spectacular. 

 We are then invited into the stadium, and the cast performs a piece about joining together. The lighting upon the reflective costumes and prop blankets is in cool blues to welcome us in, and we see a performance based in synchronicity telling us that the overall objective of the night is that of unity. The music is modern, yet reaches back into classic influence.

Then we come to a brief segment on the history of the country, starting first and foremost on the rain forest, the abundant animal life and indigenous people. The use of the cordage coming down from a truss was amazing, especially when we come to the part of the story where the Portuguese arrive. It is told with props representing the bow of the ships that quickly become entwined in the forest. The introduction between these two people groups were one of conflict, and the producers of this show didn't shy away in the least in telling this story. The actors told us by their physical performance that their response to one another was that of fear and distrust. Then the slaves were introduced and yet again, the show didn't pull any punches in their introduction. Finally other groups started to appear, like Asians, and those from the Middle East. 

 This bring us to the modern day, and this is where I expected the show to give us the usual BS about how everyone just gets along in their country, and that racial strife and cultural difference is something that is already overcome. Instead, this show addressed the conflict. It placed the various people in blocks, separating them from each other. It painted the picture clearly that there are differences, and those difference could lead to strife.

 It is with this in mind, that the show called for a celebration. It asked people to recognize their difference and instead of being afraid of one anther to use them to add to the overall culture. The dancing started in earnest then, and the music became a mixture of all the various cultures in the region combined. Highlighted in this performance was a 12 year old pop/rap star singing a song about ending racism and sexism. This to me was the heart of the show. It was a call to be unafraid of one another and that by recognizing our differences and culture, we could come to a place of embracing one another and creating something new. 

 That is why the next segment was about the race to the city or the modernization of country. What emerged from the celebration was fearless individuals not afraid to leap over hurdles and obstacles to bring the country into the new. We have finally reached a point of the show that the story of Brazil has been told.

 The next step is to bring in the world, and they did so by highlighting the greatest single problem that we face today in climate change. We were given a frank discussion about the consequences of it if we don't act, and then we are given a piece (by Judy Dench) about how it is not too late, and that we can cultivate this lone, ugly flower and make the world renewed. I had actual tears in my eyes while watching this. 

 Then, as the next step in bringing in the world, they brought in the world with the parade of nations. This is the reason that I watch the Olympic Games. No matter how much strife, conflict, and hatred there is among us, every four years we set that aside and come together in the spirit of sportsmanship. We act as a global unit to achieve greatness. To see 10,000 athletes to come together as one unit in celebration is always amazing to me, and this year, we need a little hope like almost none other. 

Finally, we have the raising of the flag and lighting of the torch. The flag ceremony was fine, but the torch was absolutely amazing. Almost every year, the torch has been getting bigger, and bigger. The choice this year to make it smaller, but more artistic and beautiful was inspiring to me. It told the world that we didn't necessarily have to be the largest to be the best, and if we work with what we are given we can create the astounding.

I really loved this show.

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17 hours ago, Criston of House Shapper said:

I'll try to watch as much as possible and already switched around my day/night-rhythm so I can watch all of the swimming and athletics competitions. Other than that, I'll just watch what's on. It would be really great to have a website like the one mentioned above. Was it for free?

Yes, it was. And it was legal and everything, not some dodgy site streaming live until they're shut down. They may have even been a partner of the Olympics, that's how good it was.

Of course, Rio Olympics website didn't even provide an event schedule the last time I checked (a couple of days ago) so something like that website really is out of the question.

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3 hours ago, baxus said:

Yes, it was. And it was legal and everything, not some dodgy site streaming live until they're shut down. They may have even been a partner of the Olympics, that's how good it was.

Of course, Rio Olympics website didn't even provide an event schedule the last time I checked (a couple of days ago) so something like that website really is out of the question.

BBC website was fantastic for the Olympics last year; and as host broadcaster, was available in A LOT of places.

There's also been a change in EU law, beforehand a lot of hosts were able to set up in Spain(?) where it was legal to stream otherwise illegal torrents.

 

For those with access to the Beeb this time, they've got BBC1 and BBC4 showing the live highlights-type programmes; 9 red buttons showing live stuff; and I think they said (up to) 28 streams available on their website. Not quite as comprehensive as 4 years ago; but still damned good.

 

1 minute ago, Slick Mongoose said:

The setting for the rowing is amazing.

(I've never been to Rio)


Yes; pity about the raw sewerage they were still piping in as of yesterday.

 

 

My highlights for day 1 are going to be Rugby's debut (women's 7s) rowing and road-race cycling.

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