Watching the Olympics?
 

Just watching the Opening Ceremonies, pretty grand scale and different.

Are you planning on watching?

Good to see Aussie Rick Birch has done it again! I know he co-produced it with an Italian, but it still contained a lot of Rick's thinking and ideas.

We watched them last night. Thought they were very stylishly done; an elegant spectacle that only the Italians could pull off. Loved the bird of peace acrobats. Could have done without the Yoko Ono appearance, but to each his own.
We liked watching the outfits of the national teams. A lot of them seemed to be wearing longer coats and looser clothes than at previous Olympics. And more fur trim than we'd ever seen before. We tried to decide who was wearing the most fur and think it might have been the Russians. The silver Armani parkas worn by the Italians might look odd on the street but looked good for the ceremonies.
Have to say, we didn't like the Canadian outfits though (and my husband is Canadian)--they looked like workers on break from a meat packing plant.

YES!! Loved the lighting of the flame!

Don't have satellite tv, but channel-hopping between the luge qualifying runs and the Six Nations Rugby - France currently hammering Ireland 43-
31. England v Italy in an hour or so.... and Wales v Scotland tomorrow afternoon!

Have plans to be glued to the TV for the next couple of weeks, except for the day when we are planning on going skiing/snowboarding at the nearest indoor slope... (Well, if we can't be at Torino, at least we can fantasise!)

I am embarrased to admit to this, but I absolutely loved the 70's medley played for the national selections entry....so cool! :-D

However, why/where/how/when/what Susan Sarandon's selection????

I thought last night's ceremony was beautiful, but I liked the Athens ceremony better. I was happy to see the little homage to Botticelli, and the cameo appearance by a Boccioni sculpture (replica) during one of the dance segments. The flag throwing segment was great! And Sophia Loren and Pavarotti, what more can one say?

Yeah, Yoko Ono and Peter Gabriel could have been left out, and I wouldn't have minded much.

I loved the torch lighting but I also loved the dresses the girls wore who carried the countries names. They looked so pretty with the trees and skiers on them.

Yes fabulous! The costumes were great ( as you would expect from the Italians) especially those mountain village dresses! Spot on Down Under, when that little girl ran on I thought this is pure Rick Birch! I particularly like the dove and the torch lighting!Viajero, I would include Susan Sarondon in ANYTHING!!! Yoko is a bit of a pain but nice to remember Lennon.

I am really upset Michelle Kwan pulled out of the ice skating competition! I have been watching her skate for years!

Planning to watch? Not really. Perhaps the highlights on the late-evening news.

For a different perspective, obtain and read a copy of an out-of-print book, "The History of the Olympic Games," by John Kieran. It takes you up to 1936 from the start of the modern Olympics in Athens in the 1890s. You will be amazed how this once-amateur event has become a theatrical festival.

As fine as the individual and team performances are today, there is something sad and disturbing when so much noise and chest-pounding goes into all the false nationalism and "we won more gold medals than you did" thinking and reporting.

Interesting. We watched the opening and thought it was pretty bad--except for Pavarotti. Lots of fire which is always fun to watch, but the rest seemed either trite, inappropriate to the Olympics, or forced. To us. Just to us.

Yoko Ono? Susan Sarandon?

Well, we are all different from one another, and have differing likes and dislikes.

Re Susan Sarandon's selection: she starred in a few Italian telemovies in the 1980s. Her mother was/is Italian American.

Here in Australia free-to-air TV is only showing the Olympics from 9.30pm [except Saturday, when it starts at 7.30]. Unimpressed!

I am just waiting for the curling to start. Hubby thinks it is as exciting as watching paint dry.

I'd give anything to have Sophia Loren's posture--what a great walk that was.

Did anyone else catch Top Gear's Olympics special last night? Very clever. The Volvo v. Audi biathlon and the Mitsubishi v. bobsled were my favorites.

I just wish Pavarotti would have been longer. Yoko Ono- not needed. And the rendition of "Image" wasn't done well, IMHO.

Anything that gets people to meet under conditions that require peoples to mix without weapons, and at which all the battlegrounds are places where the people get up and walk away when it is over, are ok by me.

Absolutely watching the Olympics -- in TORINO!!!!
I have tickets to the curling bronze and gold matches for both the mens' and womens' competitions. I have my Canadian flag all ready to go!
Cheers!

Pasting in what I posted elswhere about the opening ceremonies:

I would have preferred much much more emphasis on the culture of Italy, i.e. the entire country, rather than just the culture of alpine Italy and Turin.

I understood the inclusion of the car, since cars (even if not that particular one) are a famous product of Turin, which, after all, IS the host city. But, since I have no interest in cars, I didn't find that very appealing. It also made me nervous, because I thought there was some risk that something would go wrong and it could crash into the athletes. I was also imagining the pollution from the exhaust and the thought of it was nauseating. (It was 100 times worse than watching the characters smoke cigarettes in a movie.)

I wish there had been much more representation of regional Italian music and folkdance, as there was in the Athens opening ceremonies. It seems that all there was to represent the regions of Italy was a brief display with regional flags. If there were any regional Italian folk dances or songs, I may have missed that part.

I think it was a mistake not to include something to represent some of Italy's literary heritage. I expected that Dante should've/could've made an appearance, and stage designers could've had such a great time designing some scene from the inferno (or purgatory or paradise), and costume and makeup designers could've done a fine job making a recognizable Dante and Petrarca. It would have been visually fascinating, while honoring an important part of Italy's cultural history and contribution to world culture.

Other things that might've helped to reflect Italy, other than just Turin and the Italian Alps: With all those interesting floating tricks, it might also have been interesting to include one of Leonardo's flying machines, as a "nod" to one of Italy's greats. Again, instead of all that focus on the area around the host city, there might've been some way to include some stereotypical scenes from famous Italian locales, such as the canals of Venice. Something to reflect Italian movie-making might've been good, too.

Overall, I thought there was a disproportionate emphasis on American (and English-language) pop music. That didn't really make sense, unless there were also going to be samples of popular music from the other major participants or at least from various regions of the world.

The ceremonies were fun to watch and technically impressive, but if we're posting criticisms, I have plenty!

Hi there!
Just a few comments on the last post...
I have lived here (in Italy) for 6 months and one thing that struck me is how disconnected this country is. It truly is a collection of city-states, in which the primary (only?) loyalty is to the city and not to the country. I am not in the least surprised that the focus was on Turin and the Alps, as absolutely the rest of the country is completely disinterested in the Olympics. Winter is seen by those south and west of Torino as being "non-Italian" and therefore not relevant. You wouldn't believe how many people in Florence did not know what curling, luge, or skeleton was. None of them knew that Italy was fielding an Olympic Curling team. The premise of the Olympic bid was actually for tourism purposes for Torino, and they really didn't believe that they would win. There was an Olympic backlash against the main contender as a result of the previous actions of the Swiss member of the Olympic Committee, and Turin won, much to their surprise. This will probably be the second games in history to run at a deficit, as they have no hopes of drawing even, or making a profit. The Olympics has also served as a rallying point for any and all protests in Italy at the moment
(see: http://www.guardian.co.uk/italy/stor...705729,00.html)
Without the nation rallying behind Turin and the Olympics, it is not surprising that the organizers chose to portray Turin and the area, and not Italy at large.
Second -- there is NO credible music or movie industry in this country. Outside of a few critically acclaimed movies (usually done once a year), the major influence is through American music and movies. And how unfortunate that is, too..
Anyways, I could spend HOURS on the subject, but I'll sign off with a
GO CANADA GO!!!! as I truly enjoy them.
Cheers!

There are many Italy's. It's a miracle they are united at all under one constitution. And each locality has more "identity" and connection to its own traditions than to the national or from the larger historic past.

I loved the Ferrari, as it represented and relates 2006 Italy. They LOVE the noise, smoke, squeal- it was messy. It was Italian.

I'm an Olympic addict. I'll watch anything (although I did fall asleep duing the famed 1980 US hockey victory). I have three kids and my 13 year old daughter is likewise an addict. (Not great for getting the homework done.)

Did anyone read Dave Barry's column this morning? Pretty funny. He said that the newest event was "Celebrity Ski Jumping."

I liked the Italian touch to the Opening Ceremonies, very different to an American perspective, but that is what I like about the Italians. Who would rev up a Ferrari onstage but the Italians! Or skating cow people, or skating tree people!

I watched the coverage last night, liked the snowboarding, the kids are so lively and cute. I like Shaun White's natural demeanor.

I would love to watch it on a live feed but haven't the time, so I watch the condensed Bob Costas version. His eyes are now wide open (due to "having some work done?") and that bothers me a little, only his mouth moves.

But it the show is entertaining.

I read the Ferrari not only as an allusion to the auto industry (and Ferraris aren't Torinese, I believe they're produced somewhere near Modena-- Fiat is based in Torino) but also part of the Futurist theme that was key in the ceremony. Italian Futurism was a very important early 20th c art movement, and was directly referenced by the replica of Boccioni's sculpture Unique Forms of Continuity in Space in the Balla/Bolle (Bolle-sp?) dance segment. (Balla was a Futurist painter, for that matter.) So I disagree that the ceremony was primarily Torinese in outlook. Futurism was not confined to Torino, and since Futurism transcended regional style, it was an appropriate way to summarize pan-Italian artistic achievement.

I wondered also if they deliberately went Futurist for much of the ceremony to constrast with Athens, where antiquity was the primary motif.

There was Botticelli in there though, who was of course Florentine.

Even so, I thought the Alpine elements were essential; as previous poster pointed out, there is such a sense of regional identity that it would not be appropriate to reference Venice, Rome, etc. If the Olympics were in Rome, I hardly think they'd reference Torino!

Have been watching them, but there is just too many commercial breaks. I don`t think I have seen so many in the past, and it`s annoying to see one right after another.

I was in Rome, Florence & Milan in December, and it's 100% true that the Olympics mean nothing in those area.

Now, while Turin is FIAT territory, FIAT owns Ferrari, and there's the big auto show there; Turin has little to do with Ferrari and Ferrari has little to do with Turin. It's based in Modena in Emilia-Romagna. Ferrari also has little to do with winter or winter-sports either.

They're tweaking tradition and authority and they LOVE to do that.

I love figure skating, I love winter Olympics, and being a "woman of a certain age" I shocked my co-workers, one of them, a young man, nearly fell off his chair when I said I was watching the half-pipe competition!

Congratulations to Emily Hughes! She's really earned her right to be there!

And the final results of pair skating are on the Internet already. But I will still be watching with as much adrenaline!

I do miss Eddie the Eagle.

And don't forget that FIAT is one of the primary sponsors, leading us cynics to remember that "he who pays the piper gets to pick the tunes..."
The Jamaican Bobsled team is still around...

I think I am in the minority here re: opening ceremonies. Some great moments and I watched it all, but seemed disconnected to me.

But as a cross-country skier, not a "big" US sport and relegated here in the US to non-primetime coverage, (oh to be in Norway now!) I was thrilled to see the torch lit by the multi-medaled Italian XC female skier. Yay!

On that note, liked some of the other focus on women, from the Olympic flag carriers to the little anthem singer to Venus herself.

And Alberto (loved how he used to down a shot of espresso before his ski runs) and Luciano in one night -- not bad.

I happily admit that I will be addicted to my TV for the next two weeks. However, I also dislike the nightly medal counts and "Go USA" emphasis of NBC coverage.

RufusTFirefly...

Eddie the Eagle is now a builder and plasterer in and around the Stroud Valleys in the Cotswolds.

According to our local newspaper, there is a Hollywood film about Eddie in the pipeline, with Kirk Jones (Nanny McPhee, Walking Ned) set to produce.

My name is Shadow and I'm an Olympic Addict....ever since Dorothy Hamill in the 1976 Olympics....
My dh and I realized my dream of attending the Olympics and being at the Women's Final (Ice Skating) at the 2002 Salt Lake Games. We also attended the Closing Ceremonies ($900 EACH for JUST the Closing Ceremonies), the Women's downhill, Ski Jumping and bobsled.

I am most disappointed with the NBC sound during the Ice Skating events...I cannot hear their commentary over the skaters music!! Its very frustrating!!
This has never happened before.....with all that money you think they could have better sound!
Shadow

I don't care much about winter sports, but this is the very first Olympics with most (or all) events in HD broadcast.

There's a huge difference in the TV-watching experience - when you can actually see the ice being carved by the skaters' blade, or all the movements of the skis during downhill.

And about the commentary, I always find the less commentary on all TV sports the better.

It was tough watching last 2 nights with the Westminster dog show on at the same time. I kept switching.

I hate the commercials. I realize we have to have them but they are so annoying. I feel I am really watching a program about commercials with some shots of the Olympics from time to time. Doesn't bother my husband. He says it's me!!!

Does anybody else find the remarks by Dick Button to be annoying, overly critical, and superfluous?

Olympics addict signing in. Would have sooner but have to tear myself away from the tube. Ah Dick Buttons, yes, yes and yes. But I forgive Dick as he has two gold medals if I recall. My first winter Olympics was the '76, my first summer Mexico City '68.

I envy my sister in Washington state, she can get the Canada feed, less Costas chatter.

What Olympics?

USNR, I've noticed long time ago: Button always has something negative to say about skaters. As opposed to other commentators who focus on the positive side.

Right now, the long men's program is on. I'm "watching" it live, the scores only, being at work. The first 10 are done. Here is the URL

http://www.torino2006.org/ENG/IDF/FS/RT_FSM010100.html

anthonyGA, although I'm addicted to the Winter Olympics, I get what you are saying!

Except for me it's more like, "What NBA playoffs/World Series (still don't get that title)/Superbowl?"...then every 4 winters I turn into a sports zombie myself (well, that and my July Tour de France obsession) and I understand the sports fan mentality a little more tolerantly.

Only one more week; I'm already in withdrawl. Fortunately lots of dry fresh snow outside so I can ski myself!