I think we can all agree that the Olympic Closing Ceremonies did not live up to expectations in any way, shape or form, even if all the good intent in the world was there. It was a quintessentially British production, so of course, I preferred the Brazilian portion to finish up the ceremony. potential was there, and much of the music throughout was fantastic, but we’ve picked out a couple of classic Brit tracks to get you going again this Monday in the right way! No Russell Brand or Jessie J nonsense.
First off, for future reference (and this is directed at everyone in the world), please do not let Jessie J sing multiple songs, and do not let her sing Queen’s “We Will Rock You”… a giant video screen version of Freddie Mercury would have 452974602 times better. I just don’t get it. So to start us off, and right a wrong, here you go, the real Queen deal:
https://youtu.be/XMLiqEqMQyQ
Another place where the organizers missed out was by quickly running through a David Bowie mix and then going into his song “Fashion” as famous British models were pushed to center stage. You couldn’t get Bowie to come and “perform” like everyone else? What a shame. “Let’s Dance” would have been a better song anyway…
https://youtu.be/N4d7Wp9kKjA
George Michael’s “Freedom” was awesome, even if he was lip synching. Hey, so was everyone else!
https://youtu.be/qGtFiygV0f0
Russell Brand singing the Beatles? Oh God, why? He did not sound good coming in to the stadium, but the auto tuning helped a ton for his prerecorded Beatles cover. Still, it was lackluster to say the least. Again, giant video screens would have elicited more screams and excitement.
https://youtu.be/RG73Pk1yUj8
The Fatboy Slim portion was quite good, even if FBS now bears an uncanny resemblance to a Bruce Willis and Ninja (from Die Antwoord) mutant clone. He clearly still loves music, and to be honest, I still listen to his first album regularly.
Needless to say, I was a little let down when they got to the end of the British portion of the show, but maybe that is just because my expectations were so high. British music has such a good reputation, and I enjoy a good chunk of it, but the show just didn’t deliver on it for me. Thankfully, the Brazilian portion got me all kinds of excited for 2016 in Rio… so if that was the hidden point, it worked!
I always enjoy listening to Seu Jorge, and the Brazilian performers looked so much more natural out there, especially in contrast to their British counterparts. Maybe they should have had Seu Jorge sing some Bowie?
https://youtu.be/pDWGSzOfXEg
Yeah, I’m going to Rio in 2016 now for sure. See you there? I’ll be wearing the Olympic Lax gear in the meantime, to make sure we keep on the goal on seeing lax in the Olympics!