47 replies to this topic

[Lucydevil]

Here are a few suggestions for the London Comittee:

Things I want in the ceremonies:
Beefeaters
Bobbys
Men in Kilts, with bagpipes, even better
Wills, maybe riding the torch in on a horse
The queen!

Things that could go very wrong:
Elton John, Rolling Stones, and Paul McCartney (unless they all do a song together?)

Come on folks, what else to we want to see?

[soymilk]

All archers must wear green tights.

[whyistherumgone]

Screw pomp and circumstance, I say.

Give the whole opening ceremony a Monty Python theme. I want horseless knights who say "neigh" while their porters bang coconut shells, etc.

[kel]

Macca and Ringo.

IF they haven't already started begging them, they need to get on the ball with that.

[EmbiggenedSoul]

Stonehenge dropping from the sky. Midgets trodding upon it.

Punk rock - Johnny Rotten singing God Save the Queen. 2012 slamdancers in the world's largest mosh pit.

[cherry malotte]

Yes! I want a Terry Gilliam produced Opening Ceremonies! With dead parrots!

They have a feast of music to celebrate, and could theme various songs with sports - a real British Invasion.

[Teagan1]

Speaking of God Save the Queen, I saw the gala where Brian May played it on top of Buckingham Palace and it was great. If they could have him do it again at the Opening Ceremonies, my husband and I would be thrilled.

I've seen a lot of suggestions about Pop Culture and I think they're great. And I think the Closing Ceremonies should include as many of the artists that came from England and made it huge in the industry as possible (The Stones, Led Zepplin, The Who, Queen, etc, etc.....)

[Sarcastico]

Torchbearer to be a young English actress portraying this lady.

I vote for Kate Winslett. Shave her from head to toe; paint her blue; and have her bring in the torch on a chariot. Torch in one hand, reins in the other, screaming her lungs out.

[Constantinople]

A re-enactment of Henry VIII chopping the heads off his wives

A salute to English food.

[OHgamer]

Make the closing ceremonies one massive rave

(and if the handover is to Rio de Janeiro for 2016, oh man what a party could be made at the closing ceremonies!)

[davidmello]

How about the Tardis appearing out of nowhere, and the 11th Doctor (whoever that may be since Tennant will retire before then...darn it) coming out, carrying the torch--then finding out it['s not the 1948 Olympics at all. He shrugs, and hands it off to the next guy on the relay.
Oh, and add a dash of Russell Brand, either as a musician or sports columnist since he does both.

[RainOnATinRoof]

Quidditch as a demonstration sport! Woo!

Also, I'd totally be down with Monty Python.

[amityisland]

Not so much a suggestion as a prediction: "London Calling" by The Clash will be used in NBC advertisements...many, many, many times...fortunately its an awesome song. Unfortunately (or hilariously depending on your pov), no one at NBC will grasp the meaning of the song or the incongruence of using it to promote the olympics....but it will rock!

Speaking of God Save the Queen, I saw the gala where Brian May played it on top of Buckingham Palace and it was great. If they could have him do it again at the Opening Ceremonies, my husband and I would be thrilled.

That would soooooooooooo awesome!

Also, I'd totally be down with Monty Python.

Yes! It must open with just the sounds of horses...then have two people dressed up as knights, with coconuts clacking, "ride" into the arena...illuminated by a single spotlight. It will be beautiful!

Edited by amityisland, Aug 25, 2008 @ 1:02 PM.

[Sarcastico]

In another thread, someone suggested a re-enactment of Agincourt. But only with real soldiers, bows & arrows, and a massive slaughter of Frenchmen.

Parade of Prime Ministers: Pitt, Peel, Disraeli, Gladstone, etc.

Demonstration sports: snooker and darts!

[cherry malotte]

I say they should have Pub Crawling as a demonstration sport.

London Calling is a great song - I wouldn't get sick of it. I'm thinking we'll hear Ferry Cross The Mersey quite a bit, it's one of those pretty songs.

Please oh please will somebody take Mayor Boris to one of those fabulous suit shops and get him fitted? And get him groomed up a bit? A little bit of manscaping goes a long way. I dig the guy, he just needs to smarten up a wee bit for the Olympics.

[loveisthedrug]

It must open with just the sounds of horses...then have two people dressed up as knights, with coconuts clacking, "ride" into the arena...illuminated by a single spotlight. It will be beautiful!

Where can I nominate you, amityisland, to produce the opening ceremony? We must also have a special appearance by the Knights Who Say Nee.

[gilaymar]

From the Closing Ceremonies thread

Or perhaps a world map on the ground where they light up all the former colonies.

I would enjoy seeing this and anything involving a giant cup of tea.

Edited by gilaymar, Aug 25, 2008 @ 2:28 PM.

[xaxat]

I'd like to see Team Top Gear present motorsports as a demonstration sport.

[ChocolateCherry]

Or perhaps a world map on the ground where they light up all the former colonies

.

Here's the map

[CdnTVwatcher]

I said in the Closing Ceremonies thread that I'd like to see a re-enactment of the battle in Braveheart. Or the Spanish Armada. That or a replication of the opening scene of the first Austin Powers movie. Complete with dancing bobbies.

I'd also like to see:
Sherlock Holmes can make an appearance, I'm just not sure how.

Quidditch, of course.

Everone in the audience gets samples of fish and chips, steak and kidney pie, sticky toffee pudding, and chicken tika masala.

Some sort of tribute to Gilbert and Sullivan. (The British athletes chant "We Are the British Team" to which the audience replies "They are, they are the British Team!") Or Learner and Lowe (My Fair Lady, Camelot, etc).

Highland dancers and bagpipes (already mentioned, but hey, Scotland is a part of Britian).

The flame is lit by launching a flaming cow by catapult.

And lastly, someone dressed as Queen Victoria opens the Games and says, "We are not amused."

Edited by CdnTVwatcher, Aug 25, 2008 @ 2:31 PM.

[cutecouple]

U2. (Yes, I know, Irish, but when the heck will Ireland get the Olympics?)

Edited by cutecouple, Aug 25, 2008 @ 2:55 PM.

[Sarcastico]

Too funny to keep to myself, from thefirstpost.com.uk:

And then came Bojo [Boris Johnson], the entire stadium bathed in the glow of his custardy bonce, to formally take possession of the Olympic flag, symbolising the passage of the Games to London. His outlandish presence spoke of a change of tone and style. The next Games, it seemed to be saying, will be a complete shambles, but, probably, much more fun.

Read the whole thing here

[CdnTVwatcher]

From the article linked to above:

I was expecting a couple more to arrive at the same time, but, instead, the top opened and Jimmy Page, the raddled former Led Zeppelin guitarist performed a Bowdlerised version of Whole Lotta Love, accompanied by X-Factor winner Leona Lewis. Then David Beckham booted a football, which was meant to land in the crowd, but missed and floored a Chinese acrobat.

Maybe it's a good thing that Beckham's been benched for a while.

[Dandesun]

Eddie Izzard... perhaps talking about flags.

[kel]

Eddie Izzard... perhaps talking about flags.

Indeed. That would be amazing.

[Teagan1]

Eddie Izzard... perhaps talking about flags.

Indeed. That would be amazing.

That'd get my vote!

I was expecting a couple more to arrive at the same time, but, instead, the top opened and Jimmy Page, the raddled former Led Zeppelin guitarist performed a Bowdlerised version of Whole Lotta Love, accompanied by X-Factor winner Leona Lewis.

Ha! And did she sing the lyric: "Gonna give you every inch of my love"? 'cause that just doesn't work for me coming from a female artist.

I think that a lot could be done with a Harry Potter sequence.

[Quiddler]

I wrote about this in another thread, but the Cauldron lighting I'd like to see in London is: Sir Ian McKellen dressed as Gandalf the White, riding Shadowfax up a winding path built around a set of Minas Tirith, and lighting the Beacon of Amun Din with his staff. Oooh! wait, we could have John Noble (as Denethor) standing on a pyre, and Gandalf passes the torch to him ... and Denethor promptly sets himself on fire, thus lighting the Olympic Cauldron! </LOTR geekiness>

heh

[cutecouple]

I like many of the ideas here, but I'm a little leery of incorporating characters and elements that have already been highly commercialized. Then again, my country had monster trucks.

[Quiddler]

Then again, my country had monster trucks.

And cheerleaders! Don't forget the cheerleaders! U-S-A! U-S-A! <heh> Actually, cutecouple, I think a lot of the suggestions here involving things like Harry Potter (mine included) are more tongue-in-cheek than anything.

[isiscloud]

Commentary with appropriate snark brought on by a Jane Austen impersonator. I can see this if Phelps is at 2012...please say he will be!

Re: LOTR wouldn't that be New Zealand more than UK?

Using Big Ben as a stopwatch.

ETA: They're going to have to get things ready right after Wimbledon!

Edited by isiscloud, Aug 25, 2008 @ 8:19 PM.