Those wacky Brits

The headline in the New York Times said it best--"A Five-Ring Opening Circus, Weirdly and Unabashedly British."  As a friend of mine tweeted during the Olympics Opening Ceremony telecast last night, the British are like your weird uncle--goofy yet fun, quirky yet often traditional.

Last night, the ceremonies included Mary Poppins, sheep, a reading (by Kenneth Branagh, no less) from Shakespeare, the Sex Pistols, and dancing nurses and sick children from their hospital beds.  The music, which was the best part until late in the production, was an awesome soundtrack of the best from the United Kingdom over the past five decades.

As intriguing as it was, the ceremony reinforced that the Olympic Opening Ceremonies have erred more on the side of host city commercial and less on the participating athletes.  The ceremony has become an excessively produced show which is much too long and showing far too little of the Olympic athletes and those who have come before them.  (For example, the best British Olympians of the past were no more than a footnote in last night's celebration.)

Were there great moments?  Of course--the segment with the Queen and James Bond (Daniel Craig) was priceless.  But, conversely, have you ever seen a more sour dignitary than Her Highness who didn't crack a smile or grin all evening.

The highlight was the ending and the lighting of the Olympic cauldron--240 bowls, representing each participating country, which elevated to form one gigantic flame.  We then were treated to Sir Paul McCartney, naturally, and an awesome fireworks display which lit up the stadium and the gorgeous London Bridge.

As Sarah Lyall wrote in that Times article, "With its hilariously quirky Olympic opening ceremony, a wild jumble of the celebratory and the fanciful; the conventional and the eccentric; and the frankly off-the-wall, Britain presented itself to the world...a nation secure in its own post-empire identity, whatever that actually is."

Finally, I have to also comment about the NBC production last night.  While I'm a fan of Bob Costas, and ambivalent about Matt Lauer, last night's voice-over was excessive in what these two hosts had to tell us about each country.  The tone of the commentary felt like I was watching a New Year's Day telecast of the Tournament of Roses Parade.  Dial it back, fellas...