Opening ceremony of the winter Olympics

[winter]

I hereby nominate the Turin Winter Olympics for most far-out opening ceremony ever O_O

Honestly. The whole thing was apparently designed by Gabriella Pesucci, who did costume design for Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Van Helsing.

That explains the Willy Wonka and Alice in Wonderland meets degenerate eighteenth-century ball meets Anne Rice meets Botticelli on LSD bits. I'm even willing to let the renaissance flag-twirling cheerleaders pass, because the hose looked good on these guys' legs.

I still want an explanation of why they assembled a Ferrari sports car on stage and then had it go crazy, bathing the stage in smoke from the engine and the smoked rubber. And why Willy Wonka took his clothes off and climbed onto a parade float on fire, with a motorcycle on top of it, as an army of Japanese men in full war paint did karate kata.

EDIT: I would like to note that I wrote this before Yoko Ono and Peter Gabriel appeared to sing "Imagine" together.

Also, Signor Pavarotti? The Phantom called. He wants his chandelier back.

Comments

[artaxastra.livejournal.com]

I don't think we've aired yet because of the time difference. They usually save the days events and air them in the evening when the time is so different that we would have to watch at work!

Sounds bizarre! I shall have to look tonight.

[winter]

Just make sure you watch all of it - it's so delightfully bizzarre. And at the end, there's Pavarotti singing Nessun Dorma under a very, very large chandelier.

[assimbya.livejournal.com]

This makes me wish I watched the winter Olympics...

[winter]

All I might watch is figure-skating this time around, but the Female Parental Unit was watching the opening ceremony and called me over because DUDE. That thing? Crack of the purest order. I barely scratched the surface.

I didn't even mention the jet-powered in-line skaters.

[assimbya.livejournal.com]

Wonderful when the absurdity of the world is reflected in such a pure form, is it not? :)

[littleshebear.livejournal.com]

It was great fun listening to the BBC commentator trying to think of sane things to say about it.

"And yes, there's some...legs. Sticking out of the stage. Waving around. Interesting choreography there." (Hearing that said with a BBC, received pronounciation accent? ROFLCOPTER!)

[winter]

The Polish commentator, who is famous for spouting drivel in any circumstances no matter what's actually happening on screen, was struck speechless around the time the faux-Japanese guys came running out.

I think they should put this thing on DVD sometime...

[littleshebear.livejournal.com]

"The sparks of passion." Sparks of passion? WTF is that all about? They were just dudes on roller-skates with flame-throwers strapped to their backs.

[mayoini.livejournal.com]

:o
I must it when they play it again somewhere ... (O_o;)

[winter]

I'll let you know. I think I missed some weirdness at the beginning, since I only tuned in during the Alice in Wonderland bit - this truly weird tea party, with everyone in snow-white eighteenth century clothes, living tables (dancers with table-skirts and full place settings on the skirts, complete with real food), a parade of chariots, and for some reason one rather handsome Italian dude in a Renaissance prince's costume. I think he was supposed to be a Sforza, unless it was a Savoy-Aosta.

And trust me, things were ever weirder later on.