Fellini Goes to the Olympics
The opening ceremonies for the Olympics, whether it be the Summer or Winter games are always very entertaining and over the top. An opportunity for the hosting country to let their freak flag fly, artistically. Most times the unfolding pageant has very little to do with the theme of sports and has (de) evolved into a barrage of brain and eye candy for the TV cameras.
Torino was no exception and unlike many whose opinions and reviews have panned it-I beg to differ. I was totally amused and entertained by it.
The cast for this extravaganza appeared to be culled from every Cirque de Solei wannabe out there.
We had demostrations of bizarre gymnastic feats and clever staging that left me wondering "How the heck did they do that?"
We had costuming that would make Frederico Fellini envious.(Come to think of it, the whole deal had a freaky surealistic flavor to it...just what we would expect from the Italians.Maybe that's why I liked it so much.)
There were creepy huge floating orbs representing the sun and the moon with way too realistic human faces painted on them.
Mega pyrotechnics. The flaming skater boys made me say out loud: "Kids, don't try this at home!"
We even had a Ferrari race car ripping doughnuts (DOUGHNUTS, PEOPLE!) right there, front and center in the stadium! Talk about the ultimate male wish fulfillment!
I'm still in awe of the timed fireworks...man, now that was cool to nth, but sadly it went too fast, but paradoxically-that is what made it cool!
The only thing that really made me go "Huh?" was the music selections for when the countries atheletes came marching in. Every big dance hit from the late 70's and 80's. (Oddly enough, mostly American music.)
KC & the Sunshine Band?
Donna Summers was way over represented.
The Doobie Brothers?
Too many tunes to name.But anyone over the age of 38 would readily recognize every one. But I did catch this strange choice-perhaps it was a happy accident- but it still made me chuckle:
The tune that was playing when Denmarks teams entered the stadium?
"(Oh, Lord)Please Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood".
Man, you can't make that stuff up!
Torino was no exception and unlike many whose opinions and reviews have panned it-I beg to differ. I was totally amused and entertained by it.
The cast for this extravaganza appeared to be culled from every Cirque de Solei wannabe out there.
We had demostrations of bizarre gymnastic feats and clever staging that left me wondering "How the heck did they do that?"
We had costuming that would make Frederico Fellini envious.(Come to think of it, the whole deal had a freaky surealistic flavor to it...just what we would expect from the Italians.Maybe that's why I liked it so much.)
There were creepy huge floating orbs representing the sun and the moon with way too realistic human faces painted on them.
Mega pyrotechnics. The flaming skater boys made me say out loud: "Kids, don't try this at home!"
We even had a Ferrari race car ripping doughnuts (DOUGHNUTS, PEOPLE!) right there, front and center in the stadium! Talk about the ultimate male wish fulfillment!
I'm still in awe of the timed fireworks...man, now that was cool to nth, but sadly it went too fast, but paradoxically-that is what made it cool!
The only thing that really made me go "Huh?" was the music selections for when the countries atheletes came marching in. Every big dance hit from the late 70's and 80's. (Oddly enough, mostly American music.)
KC & the Sunshine Band?
Donna Summers was way over represented.
The Doobie Brothers?
Too many tunes to name.But anyone over the age of 38 would readily recognize every one. But I did catch this strange choice-perhaps it was a happy accident- but it still made me chuckle:
The tune that was playing when Denmarks teams entered the stadium?
"(Oh, Lord)Please Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood".
Man, you can't make that stuff up!
posted by white trash republican at Saturday, February 11, 2006
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