THE closing ceremony wasn't as good as the opening one.
The opening one was bathed in drama and visual wonder, and also had the benefit of two major rock acts performing, in McCartney and the Arctic Monkeys.
The closing one, in contrast, was never meant to have the same conceptual weight. But its creators DID make the claim that it would be one of the greatest musical events that these isles have ever seen. And that it WOULD showcase the very cream of our talented musicians and singers.
Well, to put it simply, it failed.
Let's start with Emeli Sande. Now, I know she is a good singer, soulful and emotive, but why was she given two slots in the closing ceremony after also getting one in the opening?
It was a crazy decision, one that suggested there is a shortage of top-notch divas. A friend of mine even suggested that she 'must be going out with either one of the show's producers or some bigwig from the BBC'.
Why wasn't Adele on that stage? She, not Sande, is our No 1 female star.
Moving on, why was George Michael allowed to plug his new single which, apart from being no good, was hardly representative of the golden years of rock/pop?
And why were Madness invited to yet another celebration? They have become the modern-day Chas 'n Dave - they'll turn up for a 'knees-up' at the spin of a coin - what with singing on the roof of Buck House for the Diamond Jubilee and now at the Olympics. Their contribution to the annals of British music simply does not justify such exposure.
Then there's the omnipotent Jesse J. For Christ's sake, the girl has been around five minutes (four more than Emil Sande) and she is on twice too, singing in a Roller, then duetting with Brian May.
Have we really got no bigger, better musical stars than Emeli Sande, Jesse J and Madness?
Is this the legacy of the likes of Bowie and Lennon?
The Lennon moment was the one truly inspiring section - as his face beamed around the world singing Imagine I had to fight back the tears. What a genius, how we could have done with the likes of him at that flawed closing ceremony.
FRANK WORRALL
No comments:
Post a Comment