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2016 Olympics - Opening Ceremony and beyond....


Howdyphillip

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 I thought that I would start a thread to discuss the games for those of us who are not boycotting them. I always take a special interest in the opening ceremony as I know a lot of the people behind the scenes doing the show, and have been invited to work them for years now (although I have always refused). They are generally the best productions in the world. I don't think anything will ever top Beijing, but every single one is unique and beautiful. I'm looking forward to this one tomorrow night. 

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I'm actually not sure if I'll be able to watch the Olympics, certainly not the opening ceremony.  My antenna doesn't pick up NBC where I live and anything online requires a cable subscription.  I tested out SlingTV with a free trial but that service was just really terrible.  Obviously there is always pirating, though with that I might as well just wait until everything eventually ends up somewhere on youtube.

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3 hours ago, Howdyphillip said:

. I don't think anything will ever top Beijing, but every single one is unique and beautiful. I'm looking forward to this one tomorrow night. 

You hated the London one.as I recall. You felt the lack of authoritarian precision was amateurish.

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50 minutes ago, Hereward said:

You hated the London one.as I recall. You felt the lack of authoritarian precision was amateurish.

 I do remember that now... I think the biggest disappointment about London was that it paled in comparison to Beijing all the way around. The production scale was much smaller, the lighting wasn't as intense, the video production was weaker and even the choreography was sloppy. It was also cheesy in places.

 I think that looking back and judging by its own merit, it was probably a fine show. It just really suffered because of the direct comparison, 

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I'll not be watching the opening ceremony (at least not live) due to time differences, and the fact I am working Friday night and am back in Saturday morning, I usually enjoy watching the opening ceremony though, so I will at least try and catch some highlights or something.

As always, the event I am most interested in watching is the gymnastics. Apart from enjoying the sport, it's one event where Team GB have a decent shot at medals.

I'll also watch the trampolining this year, though I don't usually, as there is a local(ish) woman competing. I think a local(ish) woman also made the gymnastics team, I'll need to check (if she did, I can point at the screen and go "I met her!" :P)

Aside from that, I'll watch what I can of the athletics, and the swimming. I may watch the tennis, but not so fussed on that

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I've enjoyed a long love affair with the Olympics that began when Carl Lewis set Los Angeles alight in 1984. But all the controversy surrounding these games has dampened my enthusiasm for Rio. Hoping that changes once the action gets underway.

As for opening ceremonies, while Beijing was spectacular (and mostly faked :P), I much preferred Danny Boyle's ceremony in London. Then again, I loved everything about those games. London 2012 was one of the best things to happen in this country for years.

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I agree with HelenaExMachina about the gymnastics and swimming. I find those two the most beautiful events in the game.

I haven't checked the schedules yet, but probably I'll miss a lot of things about this game due to work (they gave away the tv we had there :angry: so I won't be able to catch anything during the day mainly).

And as many people do, I'll try to watch the sports where my country is participating.

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I'll watch as much as I can, that's for sure. Because of the time difference it won't be anywhere near as much as I watched London Olympics, when I took a week off work to watch the first week of the Games (mainly swimming and rowing).

This time around, I'll try to catch up with as much of swimming and rowing as possible, with athletics joining in the second week. Other than that, I'll try to watch as many of our athletes in the competition, especially those with a shot at the medal (basketball both men and women, water polo, kayak sprint, shooting, tennis).

I'm still making up my mind about watching the opening ceremony or not, since it starts 1 a.m. and ends at 5 a.m.

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I forgot to ask a question that's been bugging me lately.

During London Olympics, there was a website that provided live stream of all European TV stations that broadcast Olympics, plus live streaming from all events (without commentary). For the life of me, I can't remember which website it was, so I would appreciate it very much if someone could provide that info.

Just to point out, it was legal. ;) 

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27 minutes ago, baxus said:

I forgot to ask a question that's been bugging me lately.

During London Olympics, there was a website that provided live stream of all European TV stations that broadcast Olympics, plus live streaming from all events (without commentary). For the life of me, I can't remember which website it was, so I would appreciate it very much if someone could provide that info.

Just to point out, it was legal. ;) 

Can you access BBC content from Belgrade? AFAIK, they will be broadcasting more or less everything via their website.

 

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30 minutes ago, Spockydog said:

Can you access BBC content from Belgrade? AFAIK, they will be broadcasting more or less everything via their website.

I'm not sure I can. I have BBC World (I think) in my cable package but don't know if they will broadcast Olympics.

The website I mentioned earlier had the BBC content, too. I watched BBC rowing broadcasts and it was a thing of beauty. Having 10+ Olympic gold medals among the pundits was great.

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.

That website was pure genius and I can't forgive myself for forgetting it or not bookmarking it or whatever.

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The BBC coverage is decent, but not without its issues. They have developed an annoying tendency to make their coverage more about the presenters than the action itself. As a result, you often end up with barely articulate 'experts' droning on and on in the studio, while the actual action takes place in the background.

During London 2012, I often found myself switching over to Eurosport because I actually wanted to *watch* events like the pole vault and high jump.

ETA: And I really have no desire to watch Gary Lineker awkwardly interviewing a medal winner in an event he knows absolutely nothing about. It's like having teeth pulled.

 

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1 hour ago, Spockydog said:

ETA: And I really have no desire to watch Gary Lineker awkwardly interviewing a medal winner in an event he knows absolutely nothing about. It's like having teeth pulled.

Yeah, but when it's Sir Steve Redgrave or Sir Matthew Pinsent or James Cracknell interviewing medal winners in rowing, it's quite different.

That was my biggest surprise regarding BBC's London 2012 coverage.

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13 minutes ago, baxus said:

Yeah, but when it's Sir Steve Redgrave or Sir Matthew Pinsent or James Cracknell interviewing medal winners in rowing, it's quite different.

Indeed. Lineker should stick to the football, but even his newly-introduced MotD interviews are cringe-worthy.

 

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1 hour ago, Spockydog said:

Indeed. Lineker should stick to the football, but even his newly-introduced MotD interviews are cringe-worthy.

Hey, I'd trade you any and all Serbian football pundits for Gary Lineker.

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.

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