The Sochi preview may turn out to be better than the 2014 opening ceremony.
It probably will be - but oh my god that rink by the sea looked incredible. I'm booking my fight if they announce they're holding the figure skating there for real. Or even hockey.
In fact that moment, combined with the cool CG opening, was the first time I ever connected the words "futuristic" and "Olympics". Of course time will tell if the reality ends up being as cool as the hype. Methinks not.
I enjoyed the closing much more than the opening. There were a few flubs, but I enjoyed the caudron gag, Shatner was cool, Michael J. was a heart-tugger (a lot of folks expected him to carry the flag in the opening), and the whole Buble-stereotypes segment was amazing. Avril Levigne was the best of the "dance hall" musical performers, though I half expected Alanis to fall out of her dress.
My favorite moment was Neil Young doing Long May You Run. It's interesting that the two outstanding musical moments of the two ceremonies were songs from old-timers: Neil Young tonight, and Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah at the opening (performed by KD Lang who now I think about it qualifies as an old-timer, too. Now I'M feeling old!). I wonder if NBC got pissed off with Neil doing the same song that he did on Conan's final Tonight Show?
Although the Olympics were never going to recover completely from the luger's death on day 1, and there are a few aspects where criticism is deserved, I think Vancouver turned things around incredibly in the last week. And I'd probably think that even if Canada hadn't scored big in the medals.
Alex
Egads they really are going for the stereotypes!
