SPORTS: Paris 2024 the second
Sep. 1st, 2024 08:55 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
feather_ghyllOr the Paralympic Games Opening Ceremony and days one to three.
The opening ceremony:
From the beginning, there was much delight that the weather was good. They already had one up on the Olympics opening ceremony. One of the people interviewed in the pre-ceremony build-up was Tanni Grey-Thompson, although the disgraceful incident that’s been in the news (shame on you, LNER, shame on you, British public transport system) wasn’t mentioned.
Admittedly, the first artistic tableau was a bit ??? I sort of got the message about exclusion, but why was there smoke coming out of pianos? Christine and the Queens was unintelligible. Apparently that was a deconstructed version of ‘Je Ne Regrette Rien’, the kind where you need someone to tell you what it is.
The parade of para-athletes worked much better in the Place de Concorde than on the Seine. And then came the first indication of the slight problem with having it on Channel 4, when they cut to the ad breaks. I didn’t mind missing some countries, and at least they waited until GB came on (in uninspiring kit. Some other countries’ were fab. I wish I’d noted which ones I liked, but some of them had a nod or more to their country’s traditions, or did interesting things based on their flags, or just used great colours.) But I resented the cut during the sportography section (and I resented the later adverts including, sigh, gambling).
The artistic sections all improved a lot from the first, with the singer who I’ve never heard of singing about ‘my ability’ being clear to understand and having just as much charismatic strut as Christine and the Queens, and the one with the South African dancer with an amputated leg, using his crutches as an extension of his body, leading all the other dancers on crutches, was breathtaking. The light work was pretty cool throughout, the settings were marvellous, as we’d already seen in the Olympics, but here it was the Arc de Triomphe in the background, more than the Eiffel Tower, and we were getting a fresh look at Paris. (If nothing else, the city should get a tourist boom for the next few years.) The version of the Paralympic Anthem was excellent, as was the use of flames in the flame-lighting ceremony (which went off so much better, and now we all knew what the end result would be.) The final performance, where Christine and the Queen sang properly (and they seem to have given in and had people mostly sing in English) and they used wheelchairs strikingly, was great, although the fireworks ended up being the stars.
Tony Estanguet really has charisma to burn, and was as enthused about these Games as the ones that had just been (it helped that they’d been a success). The broadcasters must have had a translation already and floundered when he went off script, but I could work out what he meant then. Andrew Pearson (would not guess he was Brazilian from that name) also delivered a great speech. The video clips that tried to give a voice to disabled people were well considered.
Great show. Tighter than the Olympics opening ceremony. The use of the Obelisk made a much better case for holding it outside of a stadium. I think the organisers really have learned the lessons of London 2012 for the Paralympic Games – see the thoughtful adaptations of the mascot.
Rob Walker had to do the brunt of the commentating (I wonder if someone had dared him to use the word ‘carnival’ as much as possible. You weren’t in Rio, sir.) Krishnan Guru-Murthy interjected every now and then to clarify geopolitical wrinkles. Like Libby Clegg in the studio, Ellie Robinson did seem to go off on her own tangents (and felt she was there to represent ‘the pool’ every time Walker mentioned athletics.) Claire Balding was there for continuity, but they were all about introducing Channel 4’s provision (of which it's rightly proud. When para-athletics pops up in anything covered by the Beeb, I still feel they fail to explain things like classifications usefully.)
Days one to three: On day one, I saw some cycling and wheelchair basketball and doubles table tennis, but mainly swimming. It probably did the Paralymics no harm at all that the first swimming medal went to a Frenchman who has come second a lot. I saw a bit of the afternoon coverage, where Claire Balding was dominating Rose Ayling-Ellis in the presenting double-act, so I imagine they’ll have to tweak that a lot. On day two, I watched cycling, athletics and doubles table tennis (and switched to watching the able-bodied Diamond League athletics.)
On day three, well, really, night three, I watched para-athletics, swimming and taekwando. I’d have skipped the taekwando, but lacking a smartphone, haven’t got to grips with accessing the various YouTube feeds, and besides, how would I chose between swimming and athletics? The main theme was that team GB weren’t winning any track medals (although we’re second in the table, so, overall, we’re doing fine). It was puzzling as there were lots of seasons bests and personal bests, even world records, but youngsters emerge, and other people improve.
The coverage was a bit too narrow in scope for me, e.g. the men’s T54 5,000m, which was cagey and tactical until the last lap. The build up had all been about favourite Marcel Hug, and whether David Weir could return to former glory. As it turned out, an American whose name I’ve blanked on, turned out to be in the right spot, at the right time, with enough speed to take advantage of a break (Hug had to settle for silver, Weir was out of the medals.) But they kept banging on about Weir and Hug’s feelings. I would have liked them to show the last lap again and how the eventual champion moved from the end of the pack to the first across the line. But no.
The opening ceremony:
From the beginning, there was much delight that the weather was good. They already had one up on the Olympics opening ceremony. One of the people interviewed in the pre-ceremony build-up was Tanni Grey-Thompson, although the disgraceful incident that’s been in the news (shame on you, LNER, shame on you, British public transport system) wasn’t mentioned.
Admittedly, the first artistic tableau was a bit ??? I sort of got the message about exclusion, but why was there smoke coming out of pianos? Christine and the Queens was unintelligible. Apparently that was a deconstructed version of ‘Je Ne Regrette Rien’, the kind where you need someone to tell you what it is.
The parade of para-athletes worked much better in the Place de Concorde than on the Seine. And then came the first indication of the slight problem with having it on Channel 4, when they cut to the ad breaks. I didn’t mind missing some countries, and at least they waited until GB came on (in uninspiring kit. Some other countries’ were fab. I wish I’d noted which ones I liked, but some of them had a nod or more to their country’s traditions, or did interesting things based on their flags, or just used great colours.) But I resented the cut during the sportography section (and I resented the later adverts including, sigh, gambling).
The artistic sections all improved a lot from the first, with the singer who I’ve never heard of singing about ‘my ability’ being clear to understand and having just as much charismatic strut as Christine and the Queens, and the one with the South African dancer with an amputated leg, using his crutches as an extension of his body, leading all the other dancers on crutches, was breathtaking. The light work was pretty cool throughout, the settings were marvellous, as we’d already seen in the Olympics, but here it was the Arc de Triomphe in the background, more than the Eiffel Tower, and we were getting a fresh look at Paris. (If nothing else, the city should get a tourist boom for the next few years.) The version of the Paralympic Anthem was excellent, as was the use of flames in the flame-lighting ceremony (which went off so much better, and now we all knew what the end result would be.) The final performance, where Christine and the Queen sang properly (and they seem to have given in and had people mostly sing in English) and they used wheelchairs strikingly, was great, although the fireworks ended up being the stars.
Tony Estanguet really has charisma to burn, and was as enthused about these Games as the ones that had just been (it helped that they’d been a success). The broadcasters must have had a translation already and floundered when he went off script, but I could work out what he meant then. Andrew Pearson (would not guess he was Brazilian from that name) also delivered a great speech. The video clips that tried to give a voice to disabled people were well considered.
Great show. Tighter than the Olympics opening ceremony. The use of the Obelisk made a much better case for holding it outside of a stadium. I think the organisers really have learned the lessons of London 2012 for the Paralympic Games – see the thoughtful adaptations of the mascot.
Rob Walker had to do the brunt of the commentating (I wonder if someone had dared him to use the word ‘carnival’ as much as possible. You weren’t in Rio, sir.) Krishnan Guru-Murthy interjected every now and then to clarify geopolitical wrinkles. Like Libby Clegg in the studio, Ellie Robinson did seem to go off on her own tangents (and felt she was there to represent ‘the pool’ every time Walker mentioned athletics.) Claire Balding was there for continuity, but they were all about introducing Channel 4’s provision (of which it's rightly proud. When para-athletics pops up in anything covered by the Beeb, I still feel they fail to explain things like classifications usefully.)
Days one to three: On day one, I saw some cycling and wheelchair basketball and doubles table tennis, but mainly swimming. It probably did the Paralymics no harm at all that the first swimming medal went to a Frenchman who has come second a lot. I saw a bit of the afternoon coverage, where Claire Balding was dominating Rose Ayling-Ellis in the presenting double-act, so I imagine they’ll have to tweak that a lot. On day two, I watched cycling, athletics and doubles table tennis (and switched to watching the able-bodied Diamond League athletics.)
On day three, well, really, night three, I watched para-athletics, swimming and taekwando. I’d have skipped the taekwando, but lacking a smartphone, haven’t got to grips with accessing the various YouTube feeds, and besides, how would I chose between swimming and athletics? The main theme was that team GB weren’t winning any track medals (although we’re second in the table, so, overall, we’re doing fine). It was puzzling as there were lots of seasons bests and personal bests, even world records, but youngsters emerge, and other people improve.
The coverage was a bit too narrow in scope for me, e.g. the men’s T54 5,000m, which was cagey and tactical until the last lap. The build up had all been about favourite Marcel Hug, and whether David Weir could return to former glory. As it turned out, an American whose name I’ve blanked on, turned out to be in the right spot, at the right time, with enough speed to take advantage of a break (Hug had to settle for silver, Weir was out of the medals.) But they kept banging on about Weir and Hug’s feelings. I would have liked them to show the last lap again and how the eventual champion moved from the end of the pack to the first across the line. But no.
