well that may represent your idea of London (or Cornwall if we're talking Aphex Twin), mine too, but not most people's.
Sadly, when we end up doing things like this, seemingly the safest option is to retreat into cliches.
I was going to start a thread about this yesterday.
a "quintessentially British moment" was what they were trying to achieve. Since when has utter naffness been quintessentially British?
Mind you I haven't actually seen it
Its not the cliche I hated as much as the tiny scale of it all. It was like they had designed a tableau for a small provincial studio.
It was cheap and looked it.
well, if you want naff... looks like the chinese are giving us lessons in that too.
Straight after our own rubbish attempt at naffness. They are even doing naff better.
Since when has utter naffness been quintessentially British?
Straight after our own rubbish attempt at naffness. They are even doing naff better.
Oh, our 8 minutes was great!
I can finally see what kind of Olympics we need to have - we mustn't take it seriously, or earnestly, or lose our sense of humour over it. We should do it our way, limpingly and drearily and cunningly cheap! And if it is ever in any danger of failing, then we should wheel out an old rock star - in fact, we should have old rocks stars on podiums hidden under the very streets for just such occasions.
We have, at various times, led the world in fashion, music, theatre, film - we should rely on our old staples like this, wheel out Paul McCartney if he's still alive, and the Queen, backed by Queen! Oh yes, I can see it now, glorious and hilarious and spectacularly ours. And cheap! So lovely and cheap.
We don't have billions of people willing to act like computers in choreographed dance routines, we didn't invent fireworks, we don't run a one-party state with unlimited budgets - we have a pissant, wet little island that is quite possibly the funniest, coolest, place on earth.
If we take it seriously, we will get another Millenium Dome. There's something a little distasteful about the efforts the Chinese have gone to to look good - we don't need to try that hard, FACT.
Aphex Twin would be even less representational of the UK's 'world image' than that funny, but frankly daft, little performance piece.
About the only point we have scored so far against the Chinese! I hate to say it but all this talk about us providing an 'intimate' Olympic experience just sounds like damage limitation in readiness...
