Olympics Opening Ceremony

amacachi

Wow so far.

Poochie05

+1.
Absolutely breathtaking!

cherryghost

amazing precision

GhostInTheRuins

Unbelievable stuff really, superb.

Shivverz

Does anyone have a link where I can watch this online, quickkkkkk!

cherryghost

http://www.rte.ie/live/

ireland only, of course :P

Sherifu

It was fairly good.

cherryghost

how drone. the irish all dressed in a dull grey, in a sea of colourful and cool outfits by other countries...

KnifeWRENCH

Yeah Ireland looked pity dull compared to Estonia, who were walking behind in yellow orange and blue suits.
I like to see all the different countries marching.

juvenal

That's a pretty cool torch-lighting stunt . . .

jank

Is there a highlight of this anywhere, Missed it all cause of work

Mossy Monk

jank wrote: »

Is there a highlight of this anywhere, Missed it all cause of work

Eurosport.

Mint Sauce

all i caught earlier was the lighting of the torch, watching the re run now on eurosport, absolutly amazing

wow

Utopia Parkway

It was brilliant. Some spectacle.

Tristram

Very impressive.

Deflector

Typical RTÉ, they crassly cut out of the ceremony as soon as the torch was lit, leaving just every other broadcaster on the planet to continue showing the spectacular fireworks.

Similarly RTÉ's audio feed was typically as dead as a dodo, capturing nothing of the stereo atmosphere broadcast by other channels.

And finally we had George Hamilton and Jimmy McGee to convey the political nuances and 5000 year history of China's culture. Just great.

Where's Margaret Ward when you need her.

cherryghost

it truly was terrible, i switched over to bbc 10 minutes into the ceremony

Boxman

RTE's commentary was appalling.

George Hamilton and Jimmy Magee spoke continuously over the music.
I was unable to take in the atmosphere, listen to the music or generally enjoy the spectacle without being force fed statistic after statistic - the weight of this..the height of that..etc etc,

It was highly intrusive.

I too had to switch over to BBC.

ixoy

Boxman wrote: »

RTE's commentary was appalling.
...

It was highly intrusive.

They even commented at one point about how there was no need to comment on some things. The concept of STFU didn't seem to enter their heads.

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

i thought I heard one of them say that taiwan was 'the real and true china' ... was I just dreaming?

Mossy Monk

The BBC commentary annoyed me also. But they were ad free so got the nod.

Tristram

I'm thankful I watched on BBC. Was kinda surprised to hear Ciara pronounced Kee-a-rah but maybe that's how she says it

GhostInTheRuins

I switched back and forth between the two. BBC was much easier to watch, no ads, better sound and the two presenters knew when to shut up.

razorblunt

Right I have a question....

When the countries where coming out someone (a female voice) would announce them in Chinese, then a second voice (a male) would say the country in English and then a third voice (Chinese sounding male) would try and pronounce the name in English. Was hilarious at times. Why the need for the third voice?

Deflector

The first announcement was in French, second in English and third in Chinese.

Our man in Havana

BBC was in HD so they won!

Mr.Nice Guy

I thought it was spectacular. The British will have a tough time following that.

amacachi

Heh, yeah I was just thinking of Seb Coe and the lads' faces watching that. Especially when if they don't do something as extravagant they'll be slammed, if they do go all out the cost will be all over the tabloids.

Dave 2008

I caught the highlights on BBC1 at seven pm. From the cutting of the 3 hour cermony into half an hour it appeared as if the Chinese blew up half of Beijing with the amount of fireworks and other explosive yokes used. Absolute classic. I doubt it will ever be matched again.

snollup

the lad going on about losing weight because of the chopsticks was my highlight. quality entertainment.

1huge1

Those chinese sure know how to put on a show, that was amazing television

afatbollix

only get the people walking into the arena.. so watching the start on eurosport... it is amazing....

Tristram

RTE cant even ****ing broadcast Scott Evans' match live on the tv. God bless the internet.

Mossy Monk

razorblunt wrote: »

Right I have a question....

When the countries where coming out someone (a female voice) would announce them in Chinese, then a second voice (a male) would say the country in English and then a third voice (Chinese sounding male) would try and pronounce the name in English. Was hilarious at times. Why the need for the third voice?

FAIL

razorblunt

Deflector wrote: »

The first announcement was in French, second in English and third in Chinese.

Ah right so, that would make a lot more sense!

EKRIUQ

razorblunt wrote: »

Ah right so, that would make a lot more sense!

Are you Jade Goody?

minxie

Namesco wrote: »

Are you Jade Goody?

now, now...:P

razorblunt

Namesco wrote: »

Are you Jade Goody?

Well done sir, of all the remarks you could have chose you went with that one. Fair play.:o

minxie

razorblunt wrote: »

Well done sir, of all the remarks you could have chose you went with that one. Fair play.:o

think it was sent in jest:)

razorblunt

minxie1 wrote: »

think it was sent in jest:)

Took it the wrong way so, my bad.

1huge1

Anyone see how when the iraq team came out they showed george bush on camera, that was hilarious

juvenal

Apparently the young girl singing the song was miming, as the actual singer wasn't deemed "flawless" enough, and the organisers have to put the "country's interest first"

Shades of Singin' In The Rain. . .

A pretty girl who won national fame after singing at the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games was only miming.

Wearing a red dress and pigtails, Lin Miaoke charmed a worldwide audience with a rendition of "Ode to the Motherland".

But the singer was Yang Peiyi, who was not allowed to appear because she is not as "flawless" as nine-year-old Lin.

The show's musical director said Lin was used because it was in the best interests of the country.

The revelation follows news that a fireworks display used during the opening ceremony was apparently faked.

'Smiling angel'

Speaking on Beijing Radio station, musical director Chen Qigang said the organisers needed a girl with both a good image and a good voice.

They faced a dilemma because although Lin was prettier, seven-year-old Yang had the better voice, Mr Chen said.

"After several tests, we decided to put Lin Miaoke on the live picture, while using Yang Peiyi's voice," he told the radio station.

"The reason for this is that we must put our country's interest first," he added.

"The girl appearing on the picture must be flawless in terms of her facial expression and the great feeling she can give to people."

Singer Lin, who is being called the "smiling angel", has already become a media celebrity because of her performance.

She told state-run China Daily that she felt "beautiful" in the red dress she wore during the performance.

Her dad told the newspaper that she already had fans all over the country.

According to Chinese news reports, Yang said she did not regret the decision, saying she was satisfied to have had her voice featured in the opening ceremony.

This is the second "fake" story about the opening ceremony

Viewers around the world saw a display in which 29 firework "footprints" travelled across Beijing from south to north.

But a senior official from the Beijing organising committee (Bocog) confirmed on Tuesday that footage of the display had been produced before the big night.

This was provided to broadcasters for "convenience and theatrical effects", according to Wang Wei, Bocog's executive vice-president.

"Because of poor visibility, some previously recorded footage may have been used," he told a daily press conference.

p4poetic

I wish I hadn't been so lazy and watched the whole thing, I just watched the beginning. I also didn't tape it like I planned to. Next thing you know, I go on to the internets and everyone is raving about how great it was. It won't have the same affect watching it on the internet if it's available, trust me.