[AngegepeM]

Where were our gymnasts and Michael Phelps? I didn't seen any Russian gymnasts, either.

As far as the ceremony, it was good but I have seen better. The models on the catwalk weren't necessary, imo. The skating nuns were cute!

[FailiaFelay]

it was like watching a really bad acid trip unfold... sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo awful compared to the Opening (which I LOVED)

[RalfDweflywex]

I was disappointed that Brazil didn't bring it at the end. I was hoping for this.

http://static.ibnlive.in.com/ibnlive...braz14_630.jpg

[BgpOoGI2]

yeah I wasn't too keen on the Brazil bit, either...

[shieclulaweew]

The closing ceremony was totally different in function and form to the opening. The opening was mainly about telling stories about Great Britain's history, which it did with a grand vision and lots of emotions. There were lots of musical acts sprinkled in, but they were more incidental. The closing ceremony was basically one giant concert showcasing the past and present of British popular music. Could it have been arranged and presented better? Very much so. But it is what it is and I liked and enjoyed a great many of the musical numbers in it.

My favorite moments:

The most emotional moment for me was Emeli Sandé singing an acoustic version of "Read All About It" while a montage of athletes crying from sadness, and not the usual triumph that these official montages involve. It was a beautiful song with beautiful lyrics beautifully sung, and the montage was perfect with it. It was very much part of the inclusive spirit of the games, telling the athletes that we're not just here to celebrate those of you who succeed and are happy, but we will also console and sympathize with those of you who fall short. That your display of very human emotions, and showing just how much you wanted to succeed did touch people and have a worthy and important place in the games. It was a very thoughtful and original gesture.

The whole Brazilian presentation, but especially Seu Jorge, one of my favorite Brazilian singers, coming out to sing some samba in that deep voice of his. Then, to make it even better, another one of my favorite Brazilian singers, Marisa Monte, joined him in a duet with her honeyed voice. It was musically orgasmic.

And I admit even though I was never a big Spice Girls fan, seeing their reunion was exciting. I got a good buzz and chuckle out of their entrance (when the mysterious taxi cabs pulled up, then flashed into the colorful motifs of the spices, I went, "WHEE!") And I have to say they gave a very good performance. Scary Spice still has the swagger, and Sporty Spice still has the voice. Posh Spice looked miserable at being there, but that just made it even more fun for me!

[sXVUOUVC]

I was disappointed that Brazil didn't bring it at the end. I was hoping for this.

http://static.ibnlive.in.com/ibnlive...braz14_630.jpg

And yet there we saw on the stage the only athlete to ever win the WORLDS biggest sporting event three times, the legendary Pele.

Would you have preferred Ryan Seacrest?

Not sure if you want sport or entertainment?

OK, am sure like the rest of us you want both.

[HBPujWBe]

To further pile on poor Mathman, there were many elements of the Brazilian carnival in their presentation! I'm a huge fan of the Rio carnivals, and during the presentation, you see many elements from it, done even better than I've seen in Rio. The line of women wearing samba float outfits that were colorful neon tubes one-upped carnival by going electric. Seeing those things pulsate and change color in time to the samba music was delightful. And a giant parade float even got in on the action, a vehicle of spinning umbrellas wheeled across the stage with an opera singer belting it up top. It was better and more beautiful than most samba school floats I've seen. No, they didn't have enough people and equipment to stage a full-scale carnival, but they brought the best of it and even improved it.

[Aozozbag]

I liked the Brazilian presentation; after all, the British weren't too dynamic in their presentation during the Beijing's closing ceremonies, and look how they gloriously came through. My favorite part with the Brazilians was Marisa Monte singing Villa Lobos' Bachianas Brasileiras No.5 , dressed as Iemanja--the goddess of the sea. Fantastic!

[Psymoussy]

NBC cut the ceremony short! Can't they ever get anything right?

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/olympi...0497--oly.html

[FilmCriticAwezume]

NBC cut the ceremony short! Can't they ever get anything right?

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/olympi...0497--oly.html

And yet surprisingly...the world did not come to an end

For better or worse this is what NBC cares about:

"Despite the complaints about the defects of the Closing Ceremony, the ratings were through the roof. NBC reported that 21.8 million viewers tuned in. The London Games also had a record number of viewers, on average 31.1 million in prime time, making it the most-watched non-U.S. Summer Olympics since Montreal in 1976, according to Forbes."

ETA: NBC will be featuring Olympians all week on the Today show and Leno.
Tonight Gabby will be on Leno.

Also the NBC Sports channel will be replaying Olympic events all week.

[BigMovies]

Where were our gymnasts and Michael Phelps? I didn't seen any Russian gymnasts, either.

As far as the ceremony, it was good but I have seen better. The models on the catwalk weren't necessary, imo. The skating nuns were cute!

I thought I saw US gymnast Kayla Ross among the athletes. I did get 'tired' of the cameras showing the athletes clutching their medals in mugging for the cameras. I would've preferred more of just watching the athletes enjoy the concert.

The closing ceremony is always a lot looser than the opening ceremonies - it's more a party for the athletes vs a showplace for the host country.

The UK has produced lots of good music - so, I enjoyed the concert. I actually thought it was kinda funny that several of the athletes weren't even alive when the acts had their hits. The younger athletes were borin in the 1990's and I recall a lot of music being from the 80's since I listened to much of it during my college years. Of course, some acts are too iconic to not know....

[jaydicassdhy]

^ It was a great lead-in to the preview of the new NBC sit-com Animal Practice, shown at 11:00. Highest rating ever for a sitcom sneak preview.

I liked the Brazilian presentation; after all, the British weren't too dynamic in their presentation during the Beijing's closing ceremonies, and look how they gloriously came through. True...but...we expect the British to be reserved. I was hoping for an explosion of sound and color from Brazil. Oh well.

I like the new Olympic symbol, though.

http://dailyhouse.com/wp-content/upl...mpics-logo.jpg

But they could have made it look more like a toucan.

http://rateeveryanimal.com/wp-conten.../09/toucan.jpg

As art, I still like the Incredible Stone Man from Vancouver the best.

http://www.gamesbids.com/english/ima..._2010_logo.jpg

[mikajuise]

^ It was a great lead-in to the preview of the new NBC sit-com Animal Practice, shown at 11:00. Highest rating ever for a sitcom sneak preview.



As art, I still like the Incredible Stone Man from Vancouver the best.




http://www.gamesbids.com/english/ima..._2010_logo.jpg

If you consider NBC's overall situation 21.8 million viewers in a country of what....300 million is a good rating.

Maybe you can help me with the stats but anyway you cut it a whole lot of Americans did not care to watch the closing ceremonies.
Those who did had a choice....watch the preview, take a break and come back later or do what I did and call it a night.

After watching 2-3 times more of the summer games than I ever could in the past, with by far the best chances and choices to see what I liked I don't have too many complaints about NBC.

It seems a simple concept that without the ratings the games won't have this type of coverage in the future.
Without a certain amount of fluffs and entertainment value the ratings would drop like a rock.

So pick your poison. And how far would the IOC go without NBC's billion dollars?

Think ISU and losing ESPN's money.....

Anyway, not sure if broadcasting the Olympics is as easy as some might think.

I do like the "stone man" although I thought it was a totem pole...

[expabsPapsgag]

All I can say is, thank god I didn't watch the NBC broadcast of the closing ceremonies! They apparently cut short their prime time broadcast of the closing ceremonies to show a preview of their new sitcom. Even worse, the part they cut short was the set from legendary rock band The Who, which announcer Bob Costas had been promising all night long. This is just baffling. The whole broadcast took place many hours after the event actually wrapped. The people at NBC had hours to configure, edit and time their broadcast. If they wanted to, they could've easily cut more of the preceding musical acts out to show The Who, the headliner of the whole thing. Instead, nope, they kept in Russell Brand's awful Beatles cover and Fatboy Slim's pointless DJ set rather than show The Who. Best of all, they declined to tell Bob Costas.

If you recall, NBC did the same thing to the Vancouver Olympics closing ceremony, cutting it short to show a preview of Jerry Seinfeld's TV show The Marriage Ref. Yeah, The Marriage Ref. Boy, that sure worked out! There was some hope that after Dick Ebersol got fired from NBC afterwards, this sort of ridiculousness would stop. But nope, NBC is worse than ever.

[MYMcvBgl]

True...but...we expect the British to be reserved. I was hoping for an explosion of sound and color from Brazil. Oh well.

I have no doubt they're saving up that explosion of sound and color for four years from now! I can hardly wait!

That IS a a very cool Olympic symbol.

[praboobolbode]

All I can say is, thank god I didn't watch the NBC broadcast of the closing ceremonies! They apparently cut short their prime time broadcast of the closing ceremonies to show a preview of their new sitcom. Even worse, the part they cut short was the set from legendary rock band The Who, which announcer Bob Costas had been promising all night long. This is just baffling. The whole broadcast took place many hours after the event actually wrapped. The people at NBC had hours to configure, edit and time their broadcast. If they wanted to, they could've easily cut more of the preceding musical acts out to show The Who, the headliner of the whole thing. Instead, nope, they kept in Russell Brand's awful Beatles cover and Fatboy Slim's pointless DJ set rather than show The Who. Best of all, they declined to tell Bob Costas.

If you recall, NBC did the same thing to the Vancouver Olympics closing ceremony, cutting it short to show a preview of Jerry Seinfeld's TV show The Marriage Ref. Yeah, The Marriage Ref. Boy, that sure worked out! There was some hope that after Dick Ebersol got fired from NBC afterwards, this sort of ridiculousness would stop. But nope, NBC is worse than ever.

I don't know who's responsible, but I'm just glad I didn't give up and turn the channel, because at about midnight, they showed the rest of it. I was also kind of bummed that instead of showing the final footage to the last movement of Beethoven's Ninth, they used generic movie music that they always use for TV film ads before the film's soundtrack has been released. Peeve.

And to interrupt the OLYMPICS for an obvious classic of deathless dramaturgy like Animal Hospital....Be still, my heart.

[statistica]

Where were our gymnasts and Michael Phelps? I didn't seen any Russian gymnasts, either.

As far as the ceremony, it was good but I have seen better. The models on the catwalk weren't necessary, imo. The skating nuns were cute!

Johar, I read that once the competition of your event is over, it costs money to stay in the Olympic village. So the gymnasts likely scattered based on heir commitments, went elsewhere, returned home. Gabby and the fab 5 have a lot of media appearances. maybe some chose to get on that jet and skip the closing ceremonies. I think some people, want to head home to their families and the parades planned in their towns. I have not been paying much attention but Aly reisman has a lot of fans in two town here who are dying to see her.

I personally don't care about hometown parades. I do know gabby is on Leno tonight, so she has had to make a long trip from Uk to LA. Some could not stay, and some maybe are feeling blue and want to go home and lick their wounds. So many medal hopes dashed.

And I do not get the nun bit. Offensive to some.

[Ijkavylo]

I saw some glimpses of Kyla Ross and McKayla Maroney briefly during the NBC coverage of the closing ceremonies, but it looks like all the girls except Gabby were there from this picture. Gabby probably had to fly home early for Leno. Didn't see Michael Phelps, but Missy Franklin was definitely there.

[Evoryboypoto]

I really would've liked to have see the Who and not that dumb sitcom which will probably be cancelled.

[hLabXZlK]

I really would've liked to have see the Who and not that dumb sitcom which will probably be cancelled.

I am sure "The Who" put on a good show. Having seen them play Live twice I decided to go to sleep. But if I really wanted to see them....I would have stayed up.

Sometimes it's a simple matter of choices......

To be as honest as I can here, if I live 100 more years I will never see even the slightest connection between "The Who" and the Olympics.