2024 Summer Olympics

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Catspaw
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Post by Catspaw »

Woohoo! I always enjoy the Olympics. As a Canadian, I find a bit more joy in the winter Olympics than summer, but I'll still be watching. I'm looking forward to some of the swimming races, which can be pretty exciting, and Canada has some medal chances there. I might not be home tomorrow when the opening ceremonies start, so I have it set to record to make sure I don't miss anything exciting.
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Post by Laura Ingalls »

I love the Olympics! I probably won't be able to watch as much as I'd like, but it will be fun to catch what I can.
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Post by Justine Baker »

The Olympics is fun to watch but my family doesn’t watch sports so I usually don’t see it unless I’m at my grandma’s house while she’s watching it or I see it on tv at a restaurant. I’m more into basketball so March Madness is honestly more interesting to me but sports in general are fun to watch!
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Post by bookworm »

American viewers, this webpage has a great broadcast schedule that clearly breaks down what event will be airing at what time across all the various channels doing coverage. When there's a last minute schedule change they're good about updating it, and I like how it shows which events are going to be live and which are replays.
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Post by Catspaw »

I ended up getting to watch a bit of the opening ceremonies live, but missed a bunch of it, so I need to watch later when I have time. My day went later today than I had anticipated.
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Post by bookworm »

Well this was by far the worst opening ceremony I've ever seen. :| Such a massive disappointment after it had been set up as something that would be so spectacular. Yes the setting was historic and unique, being outside like that and so sprawling, but the show they put together did not match the expectations of the occasion.

That light show on the Eiffel Tower was very cool. But that was the only thing that I liked really at all.

The heavy metal segment with Marie Antoinette was a neat overall visual, just taking in the imagery, but a pretty bizarre concept as part of the show.

The Olympic Spirit riding over the river to deliver the flag was kind of neat, but the sequence could have been arranged better. The initial excitement kind of completely died when he got on land and had to walk up all those steps and then cross that endless stage to actually reach the flagpole.

I sighed out loud when they played Imagine. Every year they prolong that "tradition" as if it's an actual requirement I hate it even more. (reasoning here)

It was very strange how they kept interrupting the parade of nations to do their various performances, instead of bringing everyone in and having the show after like is usually done. I'm wondering if it actually happened like that live or if NBC cut their broadcast up that way? They've been known in the past to rearrange parts of the ceremony differently than how it really played out in person so I'm not sure.

They came up with quite a unique cauldron idea for these Games. The balloon will sit on the ground during the day and rise up each night. If you've followed my Olympic commentary over the years you'll recall an ongoing disappointment I have is when the cauldron is confined inside a venue so it can't be seen from the surrounding area; at least I can credit Paris with getting that part right even if the overall ceremony was a dud.
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Post by Catspaw »

I finally finished watching the opening ceremony today. (Edit - two days ago - there was an odd glitch when I tried to post on this thread (but not elsewhere) the last couple of days.) Just a little late, I know. ;) I saw a few minutes here and there on Friday, then watched part of the recording later, but even with some skipping, it still took me a while. I was prioritizing watching all the live sports over the recording.

I liked some of the light show stuff and some of the spectacle was cool. I liked the lighting of the torch, but boy, it sure took a long time to get there.

The Phantom figure was cool. I know I still missed a little piece of it, despite me skipping less than I would have otherwise trying not to miss the Phantom storyline.

I don't think NBC messed with the broadcast, or at least not based on going back and forth between the show and the boats. It seemed to be that way on purpose (I think) since CBC did things that way too.

I also do not like the song Imagine. I've heard it tons of times watching people figure skate to it (for some reason people seem to like it for that?) and I totally agree with you, bookworm.

I liked Celine Dion at the very end! Maybe it's a Canadian thing ;) but wow, she really does have a beautiful voice and I enjoyed her performance at the end.
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Post by bookworm »

Wow what a turnaround, France! One of the worst opening ceremonies ever, but one of my favorite closing ceremonies I've seen. :)

Cohesive story, memorable visuals, meaningful message. Really nice show.

The Phantom and the Olympic Spirit coming back to join the Golden Voyager to present the Greek flag was cool. I liked the sequence of the mummy archaeologists excavating and raising the Olympic rings. (They said they were supposed to evoke Greek statues, but come on those were mummies.) The levitating piano was wild! I even enjoyed the concert portion, which I don't usually get into in things like this.

I definitely did not expect to hear Thomas Bach drop that Seine-sational pun in his closing speech.
And I didn't realize these were his last Games as IOC President. It's hard for me to imagine the Olympics without him.

That handover to LA was something. Tom Cruise jumping into the stadium to take the Olympic flag by motorcycle onto a plane then skydive it to America was so silly it was perfect.
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Post by The Top Crusader »

I didn't get around to watching any of it, but I heard there was a naked blue man dancing around so I am disappointed I missed out. :(
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Post by Catspaw »

If there was a naked blue man, I missed it. ;)

It was a nice closing ceremony! I enjoyed it overall. Tom Cruise was definitely a highlight! Good times.

I enjoyed the Olympics more than I thought I would. I prefer the winter over the summer, but the swimming, racing, gymnastics, and more did make for a good show. :yes: Canada has a respectable showing. I'm always more interested in an event when we have good medal chances. ;) Hammer throw, anyone? \:D/
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