Anyone else think Olympic Closing Ceremonies were Bizarre?

[KoKo]

400 Brides holding lighted lillies, forming a peace dove. With 400 Guys in WWII type avaitor glasses and white flight coats greeting them while the blind Italian opera singer seranades them.

Followed by Ricky Martin singing in Spanish with strippers in garter belts and fishnet stockings with holes grabbing their crotches.....

What WAS THAT ABOUT? :crazy:

[BelleCarolinaPeridot]

1. When you find out , let me know .

Because I am over here wondering the same thing . :shrug:

[LostinVA]

2. Even more surreal than the opening ceremonies

But I knew they would be, because it's Italia!

[davidinalameda]

3. it's in keeping with the message of peace and love as symbolized by the

Olympic spirit

or not

:shrug:

[Greybnk48]

4. wierdness aside

does anyone know the name of the beatiful song Andrea Bocelli sang??

[linazelle]

11. It was glorious. I don't know the name but what an angelic voice. nt

[truth2power]

20. Once in Every Lifetime, I think...

You could look for it on his CDs. It's one of his "signature" vocals.

[hwmnbn]

5. When they were lowering the Olympic flag ....

there was a children's chorus made up of young girls dressed in blue angel robes complete with halos and wings. O8)

I thought that was some kind of catholic deal being so close to the vatican and all. It was too weird for me and so I switched to the local news. Unfortunately, that was just as weird. :shrug:

[tinfoilinfor2005]

14. And the guy directing them had on a big pair of wings.

He made me chuckle.

Not to mention the weirdo that ran up to the podium. Terrorist? No, turns out he was promoting a circus. ?????????????????????

[AllegroRondo]

31. he was promoting an on-line casino web site

golden-palace.com

they've had several nuts during this olympics, including some guy who ran naked onto the curling arena with a rubber chicken tied to his waist. he was promoting the same site.

[tocqueville]

16. it because it was an aria from an opera

dealing with heaven and hell, don't remember the name sorry.

[truth2power]

19. I thought the Aria was

the chorus of the Hebrew slaves, from Nabucco.


edit> I thought the whole closing ceremony was beautiful. I thoroughly enjoyed it. :shrug:

edit again> Here's something from a synopsis of the opera, by Verdi.

http://www.operainfo.org/broadcast/operaStory.cgi?id=23&language=1&page=10

"By the banks of the Euphrates, the Hebrews are resting from forced labor. Their thoughts ascend "on golden wings" to their lost homeland. Zaccaria predicts they will overcome captivity and obliterate Babylon with the Lord's help."

Maybe this is the reason for the angels with wings.

As an aside - the last time I heard Nabucco, on Live at the Met, the chorus sang this aria TWICE, because audiences love it so much.

[orleans]

6. inspired by a fellini flick?

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000019/bio

[KoKo]

15. Oh...yes..it could have been. The Clowns were from a Fellini film...

maybe the Brides symbolized something in one of his films, too. The announcers never said what the symbolism was for the Brides and the little girls with halos and angel wings, though.

I thought the commentary was pretty poor. The NBC crew could have given a little more background so folks knew what was going on.

[DesertRat]

23. They said that the brides symbolized hope

and the clowns represented the theme of "Carnivale"

[mitchum]

7. Did Ken Russell produce the damn thing?

[NinetySix]

8. At times I thought I was watching a Fine Young Cannibals video

directed by Fellini

[AirmensMom]

9. They deserve the gold medal

for the worst closing ceremonies. I finally turned it off during Ricky Martin ... that was too much. :puke:

[newyawker99]

30. I agree. I have watched many Olympic closing

ceremonies and this was the worst.


:thumbsdown:

[Dhampir Kampf]

10. I thought the openning was just as weird.

[HeeBGBz]

12. What was with the red rudolph clown noses?

I was confused by that.

[clarknyc]

13. I loved it.

But then, I love "old" europe.

[tocqueville]

17. Closing Ceremony in Keeping with the Carnival

Closing Ceremony © ReutersFeb 26 2006
A party full of joy, to celebrate the success of the Olympic Winter Games and the athletes’ victories, with a touch of sadness for an event that’s coming to an end. This is how the Torino 2006 Closing Ceremony, which will be held tonight at the Olympic Stadium, presents itself, a great show that will have the Carnival as its dominating theme. This is the weekend during which the whole of Italy disguises itself and this celebration, deeply rooted in Italian tradition, will be the underlying theme of the entire evening. The show, designed and directed by Daniele Finzi Pasca, among the most widely recognised director, writer, choreographer and clown at an international level for his theatre performances inspired to the circus world, will combined the fantasy and colours of the Carnival with the sounds and shapes typical of the circus and Art Comedy.


The protocol moments of the ceremony will alternate with the more informal and irreverent ones typical of the Carnival. Thus, the clowns will come on to the scene, together with snow explorers, the mermaid, interpreted by Valeria Marini, the Carnival Court, led by the King and the Queen, and the Masks of the Viareggio Carnival. And there will also be a tribute to Federico Fellini, seeing as six original costumes from the film “The Clowns” by the master from Rimini, created by the Oscar Award winner Danilo Donati. The audience will also be involved. As for the Opening Ceremony, all spectators will be given a kit with angel and devil masks with a red nose that lights up. Everyone will be invited to wear them, including the heads of state and government and the other celebrities from the grand stands. “We will see how they will react to this joke” Finzi Pasca smiles. It will take place on the occasion of the athletes’ parade, who this time will be parading all together and not divided by nations, preceded by the flags of all the participating countries. The Italian flag bearer will be Armin Zoeggeler, gold medal in luge.


There will then be space for memories: old Fiat Cinquecento’s, Vespe, Ape vans and Lambrette will come on to the scene and many characters dressed up as Harlequin and Pulcinella. The official moments foresee the award ceremony of the cross-country skiing 50 km (it is a novelty, taken as an example by Athens 2004, when the marathon was awarded), the closing speeches of the IOC President, Rogge, and Toroc, Castellani, and the passage of the Olympic flag from the hands of the mayor of Torino, Sergio Chiamparino, to his counterpart of Vancouver, Sam Sullivan. Thus, the eight-minute segment will start, presented by Vanoc, the Organising Committee of Vancouver 2010. The protagonists will be the tenor Ben Heppner, who will be singing the Canadian national anthem, and the young Canadian rockstar, Avril Lavigne.


Another official moment will be the extinguishing of the Olympic Cauldron: with Andrea Bocelli on the stage, 400 maids will walk into the stadium holding a lantern in their hands. Their blow will lead to the simultaneous extinguishing of the Cauldron. Then, the grand finale with the aurora borealis, the pyrotechnical fountains, the live performances of two stars such as Ricky Martin and Elisa and the fireworks.

Filippo Bonsignore

http://www.torino2006.org/ENG/OlympicGames/news/news_eng162115.html

for those wondering....

but does Harlequin and Pulcinella, Comedia dell'Arte and Puccini mean something today ? at least outside Europe ?

[KoKo]

21. Thanks for the article. It didn't quite describe the brides with veils

holding the lighted lillies and the Aviators...but..maybe the article lost something in translation.

[tabasco]

18. Well it was a hell of a lot worse when we had Kiss play. n/t

[DesertRat]

22. I enjoyed it all

until Ricky Martin came on!! That really ruined the moment for me. :puke:
But, Andrea Bocelli was amazing!:loveya:

[Blue_In_AK]

29. Andrea Bocelli truly has a gift...

That was an amazing performance.

[Skittles]

24. I just thought it was boring

very boring

[Cleita]

25. I guess I didn't miss anything by not watching. n/t

[alphafemale]

26. I liked the windtunnnel skydivers.

And the Vancouver mayor waving the flag by manuvering his motorized wheel chair.

[leftofthedial]

27. I thought Fellini was dead.

[Colorado Blue]

28. I loved it!

It was awesome - artistic, spiritual, surreal, and fun and the fireworks were outrageous.

I loved the brides and the doves and the sparkling silver lights against the blue backdrop of the night.

[Dr. Jones]

32. Didn't see it but sounds weird

Except for Andrea Boccceli, who probably has the best voice in the world IMO...

Now the opening ceremonies were WEIRDO for sure. Who the hell was that Thor of the Fire Anvil dude? I hope that sledgehammer was a prop, 'cause all that swingin' would make a man tired out the first few swings! Maybe they were going for a pagan theme or whatever, that's what it seemed like to me.

To these strange ceremonies I say :eyes: