Closing Ceremony

[Souris]

I thought NBC's celebrity spotlighting was over the top this time. It's going to NON-STOP in LA2028. I hope they will make time to show some athletes.

[Crashcourse]

I don't mind Tom Cruise because he is a Hollywood star, so it made sense to me that he'd be carrying the flag to LA.  I don't care for the Scientology stuff, but I just ignore it. 

I hate sand.

Edited August 11 by Crashcourse

[QueerGirrl]

TC is not a good person but that whole thing was cool.   H.E.R. is badass as always.  The beach looks 😍😍.

[chitowngirl]

So is everyone in Paris filing out of the stadium now? I can’t imagine this too exciting for them. Snoop at Paris would have been cooler.

Edited August 11 by chitowngirl

[Souris]

I wonder what all the people at the Stad de France and doing right now? Watching some big screens? Just chilling?

Oh, there they are again. And Leon Marchand made it!

Edited August 11 by Souris

[Fostersmom]

I'm already looking forward to Snoop in 2028. I love that he's all in at the Olympics now. 

And just for good measure, shut up Jimmy. 

 

[Magog]

Snoop Dogg bringing in the excitement as usual. And Dr. Dre rapping with him. YES.

Hopefully, Snoop will be around in 2028. 

BTW, Jimmy Fallon can get bent & get lost. He better not be around in 4 years bringing in his usual nonsense.

Edited August 11 by Magog

[Shrek]

From high class & history to................................................................. what can you say?

[Crashcourse]

When is this shit gonna end?

[Chaser]

Leon looks like he’s going to Prom and it’s adorable.

[Red Bridey]

This part does bring a tear to my cold dead eyes. I feel sad when the flame is extinguished.

[Mittengirl]

Call me a giant skeptic, but I don’t think that flame is real.  It isn’t even flickering!

[Browncoat]

1 minute ago, Mittengirl said:

Call me a giant skeptic, but I don’t think that flame is real.  It isn’t even flickering!

To be fair, the flame at the cauldron wasn't real, either.

[Souris]

Oh my God, this song. Just send me to the floor in sobs, why don't you.

Well, another Olympics is over, and that always makes me so sad. 😭 Though to be honest, I really needed them to end so I can actually accomplish things.

It wouldn't be the same Olympics without these threads. It has been a joy sharing it here. THANK YOU!

 

Edited August 11 by Souris

[Chaser]

That’s what I wanted for the opening. Fireworks. Not floating heads.

[Browncoat]

1 minute ago, Souris said:

Oh my God, this song. Just send me to the floor in sobs, why don't you.

I'm right there with you.  This song kills me every time.

[Chaser]

I wasn’t sure about the vocal at the beginning, but she got me in the end.

[QueerGirrl]

👏🏿👏🏿👏🏿🇫🇷🇫🇷🇫🇷

[kittykat]

Leon Marchand is adorable.  

Most of the show was a slog but that performance of My Way was a beautiful way to end Paris 2024.  

[ProudMary]

11 minutes ago, Shrek said:

From high class & history to................................................................. what can you say?

USA! USA! 😄

Big kudos to Paris, a wonderful host.

[Daisy]

Au revoir Paris. 
You did good.  

See you guys in Milano & Cortina!

[Linderhill]

watching the evening replay since I couldn't be bothered to tune in during the day.  I really hate how musical audio for orchestras work on TV.     

Edited August 11 by Linderhill

[MaryMitch]

1 hour ago, Shrek said:

The American national anthem has always struck me as a strange one for the simple reason that it gets sung 50 different ways at 50 different speeds depending on who is singing it. Probably because it gets sung so often but most countries anthems are only ever done one way.

Funny timing - I am watching the evening broadcast while reading through the comments and read your comment while the orchestra is playing the French national anthem. It is a very pretty version but is putting me to sleep. I much prefer the rousing version sung in Rick's Place in "Casablanca".

Edited August 11 by MaryMitch

[Linderhill]

if has always bothered me when various vocalists find it necessary to "embellish" the Star Spangled Banner when there is already so much already built into the music.  I've always thought it slightly disrespectful some of the contortions that are forced into it.  (this is ignoring those various idiotic performances like Roseanne Barr's and the recent Ingrid Andress butchering). 

[BuckeyeLou]

The Closing Ceremony was very "French": Unique, interesting & parts were beautiful :)  I loved the floating Piano & the costume of the Golden BumbleBee :) But, the ending made me sad, I have so enjoyed these Olympics, so many thrilling moments & it went by too Fast!

 

[Crashcourse]

They tried their best, but I'm all Frenched out.  Looking forward to LA.

[Quickbeam]

4 hours ago, Daisy said:

Canada has CAN at the back of their uniforms.  
Honestly, I will say I hope COC goes back to using ROOTS or Hudson Bay as their clothier. I loathe Lululemon with the fire of a 1000 burning suns. 

Sweden had Uniqlo and looked so good. 

[Browncoat]

I'm also watching the replay, and as inane as Tara and Johnny are, it appears that  some of their most inane comments have been edited out.  Which is a good thing.

[Browncoat]

Okay, the rings are up, and the Gold Bug is in place as the flame, so I'm done.

See y'all for the Snow-lympics!

[Linderhill]

I think I've got to change the channel, I'm not interested in a beach side concert in LA with musical artists I have no interest in.  I got quite enough of Snoop Dawg during the actual olympic events.  What's going on back in Paris, are they watching on the jumbotron?

[WhitneyWhit]

I’m already pre-annoyed for LA because I know Jimmy Fallon is going to be everywhere. 

[Coraline Jones]

4 hours ago, Crashcourse said:

I thought both the Michael Vartan look alike and Bach droned on too long.

And now the orchestra again.  End this thing!

Are you referring to Tony Estanguet? Here are a few facts about him:

 

https://olympics.com/en/paris-2024/committee/discover/tony-estanguet

[Thumper]

5 hours ago, Shrek said:

All the artsy fartsy stuff should stop with the hand over to L.A. 

Yeah, we’ll be all movie stars and stuff. 
 

Thank goodness the announcers explained that program, or I would have been clueless.  Not cultured enough, I guess.  😁

Edited August 12 by Thumper

[kittykat]

Lol I wouldn't be surprised if we continue the brigadier baton but instead of former Olympians introducing the athletes it's celebrities.

 

[StatisticalOutlier]

I'm looking at Tom Cruise.  I always wonder what people with fillers see when they look in the mirror.  What I see when looking at them is beady eyes that are receding into mounds of skin. 

Oh well.  I don't like him so I relish the idea that he's not allowing himself to age naturally, like so many male actors get away with.

[yowsah1]

Watching my recording of the closing ceremonies and I must say, France has some pretty amazing rock bands!

[yowsah1]

1 hour ago, kittykat said:

Lol I wouldn't be surprised if we continue the brigadier baton but instead of former Olympians introducing the athletes it's celebrities.

 

They should have them come out with old-fashioned movie clapper boards.  "Aaaaaaand..... ACTION!"

[surfgirl]

So Katie Ledecky looks like her thought bubble is "This blows, I wanna be down there partying with everyone else." Also, Jimmy Fallon is as annoying as I thought he would be. He acts like we all never watched the Olympics before and he's telling us how great it is. STFU you moron. And yammering into the ear pieces of Ledecky and the rower dude? If I were them I'd pretend my war piece didn't work and just disconnect it.

Also, WTAF is the NBC set supposed to BE? Both tonight and throughout the Games? It was so generic and I had no clue what they were going for, same thing tonight. 

Terry, Tara, and Johnny don't bother me at all. I love the three of them.skating and while Tara and Johnny can be a bit much running around doing social media stuff, when they're on TV commentating I think they're both exceedingly professional. They do their homework and come prepped with facts and information. I appreciate that so much. 

We are the Champions was great! Just a feel good moment! 

Golden Voyager is dragging a lot.

HER's rendition of the Star Sangled Banner was awful.

Tom Cruise is a PoS human who abandoned his child for his precious cult. He has no business being any part of an Olympics. And if I'm being petty, his overly botoxed face and giant veneers are horrid. This is embarrassing AF, and the contrast to artistic, beautiful Paris and French culture is very harsh.

Now they're at the beach and it's just so cringe. Thats all I got.

WTF is happened during all this time at the Stade de France? That's where I wanna be, not at MTV's Spring Break Special. 🙄

Overall, the Paris side of Closing was the only meh part of these Olympics for me. Just too downer and slow paced. And the LA28 portion was soooo lazy. Remember back to the Summer Games before London? Was that Beijing, I can't remember. Anyway, during the closing ceremony London rolled out a double decker bus and the entire stadium exploded into a 1960s/70s London homage that was fun and fabulous! LA was lazy. It was shocking to me how lazy it was. Rather than put together a real show for the stadium, we get Tom 'cult fool and child abandoner' Cruise rapelling into the stadium to grab the flag followed by pre recorded film of him on a motorcycle,  then in Long Beach for an MTV Spring Break mini concert that was both cringey and lame. With all the Hollywood tongue bathing going on already, someone should have put together a proper Closing Ceremony extravaganza.

 

Edited August 12 by surfgirl

[NUguy514]

Now that the Paris Olympics are over, I realize how serendipitous it was that Paris was awarded the 2024 Games.  No one could've foreseen the COVID pandemic or known that the Paris Games would've been the first post-quarantine Olympics.  As it turned out, we all of us needed Paris, specifically, to host these specific Games because the integration of the venues into the city really made the Games feel a part of the city in a way the athletes, in particular, seemed to soak up – and the sheer beauty of the city itself made everyone want to be there.  There was such joy in the performances of all the athletes because they were able to perform in front of such joyous, engaged audiences in such an incandescent city, and I don't think this could've happened to this extent anywhere else.  Thank you, Paris and France, for a truly spectacular two weeks!  I loved every minute!

I hate Thomas Bach more than so many people in the world, but I started crying when he called upon the youth of the world to assemble four years hence in Los Angeles – the city I've called home for almost twenty-four years.  You guys, LA is going to be wild, it's going to be a party like no other, and it's going to be a spectacle in a way that only LA can produce.  You're all invited!

See you in four years – I cannot wait!!!🎉🇺🇸

[baldryanr]

4 hours ago, NUguy514 said:

I hate Thomas Bach more than so many people in the world, but I started crying when he called upon the youth of the world to assemble four years hence in Los Angeles – the city I've called home for almost twenty-four years.  You guys, LA is going to be wild, it's going to be a party like no other, and it's going to be a spectacle in a way that only LA can produce.  You're all invited!

Yes, but will we all get to gorge on free McDonald's like we did the last time LA hosted? 

[jschoolgirl]

19 hours ago, chitowngirl said:

Snoop at Paris would have been cooler

Snoop is trash. He has referred to his pimping of women as a hobby, “like shootin’ layups.” It is beyond embarrassing and disgusting that he had so much exposure.

From Wikipedia: “Snoop claimed in a 2006 interview with Rolling Stone magazine that unlike other hip hop artists who had superficially adopted the pimp persona, he was an actual professional pimp in 2003 and 2004, saying, ‘That shit was my natural calling and once I got involved with it, it became fun. It was like shootin' layups for me. I was makin' 'em every time.’”

 

Edited August 12 by jschoolgirl

[surfgirl]

47 minutes ago, jschoolgirl said:

Snoop is trash. He has referred to his pimping of women as a hobby, “like shootin’ layups.” It is beyond embarrassing and disgusting that he had so much exposure.

Yeah I feel like you do as well and was just saying to my husband that same thing not 5 minutes ago. In addition, promoting RHCPs on a beach in LA is similarly inappropriate given Anthony K's self admitted grooming of underage girls. I mean, who vets these celebs?!? Is nobody doing g even the most cursory of research before signing them up to rep LA28? And let's not get started on the stark and very harsh contrast of Paris 2024's artful attempts at entertainment vs. LAs 'here's a bunch of celebs and we couldn't be bothered to even put together a proper performance for you IN Paris. I was embarrassed. @NUguy514, I adore your enthusiasm for LA, a city I have lived in and live not that far from now. But I am truly worried that LA28 is going g to become o e giant ball of commercisl tie ins for Hollywoods greedy hands, instead of focusing on the athletes. Perhaos thisnis a convo though best left for an LA28 thread!

10 hours ago, NUguy514 said:

Now that the Paris Olympics are over, I realize how serendipitous it was that Paris was awarded the 2024 Games.  No one could've foreseen the COVID pandemic or known that the Paris Games would've been the first post-quarantine Olympics.  As it turned out, we all of us needed Paris, specifically, to host these specific Games because the integration of the venues into the city really made the Games feel a part of the city in a way the athletes, in particular, seemed to soak up – and the sheer beauty of the city itself made everyone want to be there.  There was such joy in the performances of all the athletes because they were able to perform in front of such joyous, engaged audiences in such an incandescent city, and I don't think this could've happened to this extent anywhere else.  Thank you, Paris and France, for a truly spectacular two weeks!  I loved every minute!

Beautifully expressed! Merci beaucoup! 

[Coraline Jones]

14 hours ago, surfgirl said:

HER's rendition of the Star Spangled Banner was awful.

 

 

 

Why do you say that? I thought it was very good. No vocal 'antics' like some! 

[mmecorday]

I could have done without Tom Cruise's participating in the closing ceremony. Seeing him sitting on top of the Hollywood sign, I was kind of hoping that the ghost of Peg Entwistle would push him off. 

[surfgirl]

Just now, Coraline Jones said:

Why do you say that? I thought it was very good. No vocal 'antics' like some! 

I just thought it was too stylized and what shebdid with it didn't add anything to it. I'm sure many folks liked it though.

[Crashcourse]

I was mostly bored by the ceremony until Tom Cruise dropped in.  Like him or not, I thought he livened up the place, and the athletes seemed to enjoy seeing him. 

That said, the one thing I didn't like in the transition to LA was Snoop singing "Drop it Like It's Hot" and the woman twerking.  Keep it classy in LA, people.

[BlackberryJam]

I cannot look at Tom Cruise's face because of that tooth right in the center.

What the hell is that?

[Quof]

Bad veneers.  Google his pre-makeover teeth. 

Although one wonders why he has never fixed it.  

[jschoolgirl]

I was very disappointed in the version of the Marseillaise played for the closing ceremony. 

[surfgirl]

39 minutes ago, jschoolgirl said:

I was very disappointed in the version of the Marseillaise played for the closing ceremony. 

Same! I expected a crowd rousing rendition with the French singing along in unison. That was like an orchestral version for a dramatic film score.