[loracan]

I thought Elbow were pretty good.

[potatolegs]

Jessie J was allowed to sing for far too long

[Butterface]

Love Fat Boy Slim's music but hate the fact he does dad dancing and gurns.

Spice Girls were errr okay (ish)

Loved Elbow.

Russell Brand shouldn't have been allowed anywhere near the ceremony.

George Michael singing Freedom was brilliant, but he REALLY should have stopped there as his new single was dreadful.

Jessie J's voice was powerful but why was she on so much for goodness sake???

Roger Daltrey's voice was strong, in tune and The Who were brilliant.

The Freddie Mercury section was sublime

Ed Sheeran, Liam Gallagher, Ray Davies, Brian May's guitar solo were mehhhhhh.

Muse were the biggest load of crap I've ever heard.

[Gill P]

The best bit was the John Lennon jigsaw! Ray Davies was terrible as were Madness (sound problem), the Pet Shop Boys (ditto), Tinie Tempah (ruined the Bee Gees' song) and I'm sorry to say Muse! My grandchildren love Muse but I thought they were dreary - as was Ed Sheeran!

[Semierotic]

Teasing Bowie but then having a bunch of catwalk models walk out was a shocking error of judgement.

[bookaddict]

Originally Posted by Betty Britain

Gary Barlow stole the show. His bravery being there a few days after the sad still birth of his daughter took guts.. The Spice Girls mimed ( as did some)

I think the same. I'm not even a TT fan, but couldn't fail to be moved by their performance. Such a lovely song as well. I don't know how he got through it to be honest, but as I said on another thread, I hope that his bravery and strength helps he and his family get through this dreadful time.

Thought the Spice Girls were....okay, but nothing special. When Russell Brand came out, I just thought, "WTF?" (Well, the actual words, obviously.)

I like George Michael but thought that that was not one of his best performances. The Who were stonkingly good though. Also the Kaiser Chief's cover of the Who was good, but couldn't see the point in having someone do a cover, when the actual band themselves were there.

I got very excited when they started playing a Bowie montage, and thought he might be there, but then Kate sodding Moss comes out?? I get the reference to London Fashion Week, but (a) Kate Moss is a big disappointment when you're expecting David Bowie, and (b) after two weeks celebrating athletes who have reached the peak of fitness and achieved so much in their chosen discipline, what do supermodels really add to the message?

Also, that Ed Sheeran has got a good voice, but I'd rather have the rest of Pink Floyd doing that song.

And Muse....lighten up for goodness sake! Finally, One Direction - just appalling. Shouldn't have even been there.

But despite all that, I did enjoy the show, and thought the light show was amazingly good.

[donna255]

I got very excited, thinking when Freddie appeared on the screens they were going to do a Tupac thing.

Even all these years after his death, he still had the crowds in the palm of his hand. They should have just continued with him singing and Brian and Roger doing their bit in the background.

Couldn't understand why Annie Lennox sounded so much lower than everyone else, unless she really was singing live compared to them.

Kate Bush sounded wonderful!!!

[Semierotic]

Originally Posted by donna255

I got very excited, thinking when Freddie appeared on the screens they were going to do a Tupac thing.

I hope that doesn't become a trend. Death has to mean something.

Although in Tupac's case it's never stopped people trying to cash in.

[Super_Furry]

Originally Posted by Semierotic

Teasing Bowie but then having a bunch of catwalk models walk out was a shocking error of judgement.

This. ^

I got all excited with the thought of the return of The Dame, but was then treated to the sight of a bunch of stick women instead.

[wilehelmas]

It's not a massive stretch to wonder why One Direction were picked. It was a showcase of British music from older to modern. Whatever you think about them they are the world's biggest boyband right now and the 'latest thing' so it made sense they were there.

To be honest I can't understand the griping going on about this. People are never content anymore. It was fine. Everyone did what they could and did their best.

[Viridiana]

Originally Posted by alikhan

Last night in the closing ceremony Spice Girls stole the show. I had tears in my eyes. Please come back. reminds me of my teens.

.

I know it's off topic but it baffles me that people would want to go to concerts with crap music just because they liked it when they were too young to know better.

When I was 11 I loved the New Kids on The Block, but you would have to pay me to see them live nowdays. When i see grown woman of my age all giddy because they are going to one of their concerts it makes me cringe.

I did not like the Closing Ceremony, although i had a right laugh at the awfulness of some sections, too much space given to music that next year no one will remember about. It was a proper mess.
My favourite moment was Eric, simply brilliant.

[Viridiana]

Originally Posted by Betty Britain

Gary Barlow stole the show. His bravery being there a few days after the sad still birth of his daughter took guts.. The Spice Girls mimed ( as did some)

Yes it took guts, and the song is not half bad. It's probably the only Take That song i kind of like, just for the first part.

But it's still Take That. Not exactly the best of Britain. For a moment i thought they were going to close the show. I couldn't believe it. Thank God The Who came next.

[friendlyguy2]

The Spice Girls were pretty good though I doubt they'll reform again.

Overall I thought it more than matched the concert for the Diamond Jubilee.

[phasers]

What has everyone got against Russell Brand? I thought he was good! Better than George bloody Michael promoting his new single anyway

[bookaddict]

Originally Posted by phasers

What has everyone got against Russell Brand? I thought he was good! Better than George bloody Michael promoting his new single anyway

Yeah, I like George Michael, and Freedom 90 is a great song. But I didn't like the way he promoted his new song rather than playing another of his that everyone would have known - Faith for instance. His dancing was a bit embarrassing too.

[scamrasc]

i have too many, so i'm just going to do a mini review!

i agree about one direction and russell brand. i mean really...russell brand???

i thought the amount of miming going on was absolutely shocking. disgraceful at this kind of event.

the spice girls did better than i expected, but only because i expected them to be terrible. i still don't think it was everything the papers are going on about though. there were much much better aspects to the show. the staging was good though, and the girls looked great...even if posh looked miserable as hell and like she'd rather be anywhere else.

i was also disappointed with the vocals of some of the older acts like madness, pet shop boys and ray davis, but at least they were all live and they all performed fantastic classics of songs.

jessie j is a good vocalist, but i too thought there was simply too much of her.

however, the BRILLIANCY of the freddie and lennon tributes...astounding. special credit to the liverpool signing choir - i thought that was extremely original and a really beautiful touch to add to a beautiful song.

i echo what others have said about eric idol also. it had everything; humour, originality, nostalgia, an iconic song and great entertainment.

i mentioned the disappointing vocals of older acts before. that certainly did NOT apply to the who! WOW! their voices are every bit as good now as they were back in the day. fantastic performance on all levels and a great close to the show! really well done!

in terms of "stealing the show"...i think it will be different for everyone, as there were a lot of high contenders, which is exactly what you want. but for me, i'm going to agree with betty. the guts that it must have took for gary barlow to stand up there and sing that song, and sing it pretty much note perfect too (he did falter at the start over certain lyrics such as "don't fade away")....personally i think that's outstanding. it's alright saying you didn't rate them "because they're take that"....but take that were one of the few acts 100% completely live (plus sounded good), and they gave most the emotional performance of the night.

take that, the who, freddie and lennon. those are my 4 absolute standouts overall.

EDIT: p.s. goerge michael: freedom = brilliant. miming your new song out now...disgraceful.

[guffybear]

Originally Posted by Betty Britain

Gary Barlow stole the show.

As a tax avoider he should not be allowed to promote his rubbish at such an event

[DavetheScot]

Originally Posted by Viridiana

I know it's off topic but it baffles me that people would want to go to concerts with crap music just because they liked it when they were too young to know better.

When I was 11 I loved the New Kids on The Block, but you would have to pay me to see them live nowdays. When i see grown woman of my age all giddy because they are going to one of their concerts it makes me cringe.

It might be that some people still enjoy the same music they did when they were teens, and don't see it as crap. I was over 30 when the Spice Girls were at their peak, and I liked their music then and still do.

[MrMeatAndPotato]

Jessie J, Taio Cruz, Emile Sande, Tinie Tempah, Take That, Kaiser Chiefs, Ed Sheeran and Russell Brand had absolutely no right to be there.


None of them have done anything worth noting and it's a pain in the arse that those names have to be involved in virtually everything... we put out these crap acts during the Diamond Jubilee, wasn't once enough?

Though the fact that so many acts turned the ceremony away may well explain why those names were there... Rolling Stones, Bowie, Noel Gallagher, Kate Bush and you can probably bet a good few more turned it all down.

[gold2040]

Originally Posted by phasers

What has everyone got against Russell Brand? I thought he was good! Better than George bloody Michael promoting his new single anyway

I think people can't look past the fact that Russell singing 'I Am The Walrus' was never meant to be taken so literally as a piece of serious entertainment

And I liked 'Freedom' by George, not so much the next track though

[sjp07]

Originally Posted by MrMeatAndPotato

Jessie J, Taio Cruz, Emile Sande, Tinie Tempah, Take That, Kaiser Chiefs, Ed Sheeran and Russell Brand had absolutely no right to be there.

people who say things like that are really pretentious. what would give them the "right" to be there? performing at things like the olympics is a privilege for anyone. no one "deserves" it. you are picked by the people putting it on and they can decide who they wwant and for how long. there isnt a list of deserving individuals.

[Nickelback]

Originally Posted by rivercity_rules

I think Spice Girls had the best staging/show, Eric Idle shouldn't have (I thought he was an odd choice) but did steal the show.

I love Victoria Beckham and I loved how unimpressed by the speed of the taxi's she was, and how the priority was fixing her hair rather than pretending to mime. It was good of her to do the show considering she still has a full time, proper career.

Loved the whole show to be honest, could have done without Kaiser Chiefs performing Pinball Wizard, either get the Who on early, or even let McFly sing it again, Jessie J had far too big a role for my liking, 5ive should have performed We Will Rock You if it really needed to be performed. The less said about Emeli "only because Adele's pregnant" Sande the better.

Kaiser Chiefs was going to sing I predict a riot, but was told to sing pinball wizzard

[Simone17]

Originally Posted by gold2040

I think people can't look past the fact that Russell singing 'I Am The Walrus' was never meant to be taken so literally as a piece of serious entertainment

And I liked 'Freedom' by George, not so much the next track though

I thoroughly enjoyed Russell and one of my favourite Beatles songs.

I agree about George too.

[katmobile]

Originally Posted by Simone17

I thoroughly enjoyed Russell and one of my favourite Beatles songs.

I agree about George too.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who quite enjoyed Russell Brand performing too.

Didn't like George Micheal's new single though.

[katmobile]

Originally Posted by MrMeatAndPotato

Jessie J, Taio Cruz, Emile Sande, Tinie Tempah, Take That, Kaiser Chiefs, Ed Sheeran and Russell Brand had absolutely no right to be there.


None of them have done anything worth noting and it's a pain in the arse that those names have to be involved in virtually everything... we put out these crap acts during the Diamond Jubilee, wasn't once enough?

Though the fact that so many acts turned the ceremony away may well explain why those names were there... Rolling Stones, Bowie, Noel Gallagher, Kate Bush and you can probably bet a good few more turned it all down.

Ahem... "Ruby" by the Kaiser Chefs was everyone a few years ago so you can't say they don't displace any water culturally - I happen to like them. Some of the acts were not to my taste musically but the audience and the atheletes seemed to like them - so each to their own. Elsewhere on this thread it's been stated that Bowie isn't well at the moment so that maybe the reason he chose not to perform. Kate Bush seems to be a very private lady so it probably wasn't her scene.

Tom Jones was great at the Jubillee concert so it was a bit of shame he wasn't asked.