Posts tagged ‘Olympic Games’

Sep 10

Licence to thrill 2: The Paralympic Closing Ceremony

To say that the London 2012 Paralympic Games went out with a bang is something of an understatement. Headlined by Coldplay, and featuring Rihanna and Jay Z, the Closing Ceremony, entitled “Festival of the Flame” was a spectacular technological feat of such artistic genius that no single superlative will do. I’ve watched all three previous Olympic and Paralympic ceremonies on television, but nothing can ever prepare you for how different, how utterly awe-inspiring these ceremonies are when you’re sat in that magnificent stadium.

In front of me the incredibly well-designed LED lighting affixed to each seat glowed with such vibrant multi-pictorial technologically unfathomable brilliance when lit as a whole (all 800,000 odd lights are controlled by a single computer, which uses the lights like pixels to create huge moving images around the stadium) that my brain could barely keep up with the sensation offered up to it for interpretation by my wide incredulous eyes. Underneath, the music vibrated with such depth of base, and the crowd cheered with such a resounding harmony that I became utterly immersed in this spectacle, at one with its brilliance.

The innovation of the lighting, the use of the audience as part of an every changing theatre set, of eccentrically designed mechanical creatures, of fantastical costumes, of feathered characters falling from the air bringing with them candelabras dazzling above the stadium like the Hall of Mirrors in Versailles – everything tantalized the senses in its originality, wonder and vibrancy. I left utterly stunned, in awe of London, of spectacle, of theatre and again of the superiority of British culture and design which worked in perfect union with our heroic athletes to present to the world the best Olympics and Paralympics ever.

I can say no more. Take a look at my photos. Sadly I was not well equipped with a powerful zoom or a camera well suited to nighttime and plenty of activity in low light. But hopefully these photos will go some way in demonstrating just how dazzling a show this was.

: New signs up at the tube station for passengers leaving the olympic park

: The paralympic flame extinguished

: The burning heart of many nations

: Those brilliant LED lights

: The national flags enter the stadium

: Fireworks fill the sky

: The flame is extinguished (with Ellie Simmonds and Jonnie Peacock

: That’s Rihanna!

: The face of fire

: The athletes enter the stadium

: Rio’s showpiece

: The breathtaking and huge stadium

: The stadium warms up for a huge show

Paralympics closing ceremony: an emotional and fiery finale (guardian.co.uk)
The London 2012 party ends! Relive the Paralympics 2012 Closing Ceremony with our live blog (mirror.co.uk)
Licence to thrill: The London 2012 Paralympic Experience (normsonline.wordpress.com)
The Daily Sketch: Paralympic Norms at London 2012 (normsonline.wordpress.com)
London 2012 – a city celebrates (normsonline.wordpress.com)

Aug 12

6 Comments

London 2012 – a city celebrates

Being a Londoner, in London, when the Olympics rocked up on our doorstep and the focus of the world followed suit, has been an incredible experience which I wouldn’t have missed for the world. London has changed. Yes, Big Ben still chimes where it always did, and the London Eye still turns steadily next to the mighty River Thames. But during the two weeks of the olympics, the spirit of London underwent a tangible transformation. It was like being at school when a special holiday was being celebrated – the school was the same, but being their felt different, exciting. Similarly, being in London during the games has felt incredibly exciting, thrilling and the source of utmost pride.

Of course if you were a “Games Maker” or attended the huge olympic park, the excitement would, undoubtedly, have been explosive, breathable, physically all-encompassing. But for those of us, like me, who had to work during the games, and who, like many others, were unable to get tickets to the grand olympic park over in Stratford, the changing mood of the city was still unmistakably discernible. On the tube, people did not rush on with stern moody faces, pushing past each other, losing all semblance of civility. Rather, they would walk around with smiles, reading excitedly about the latest gold medal rush in the papers, and listening enthusiastically to the plethora of foreign languages which could be heard all around. On the streets, the feeling of British patriotism has reached an all time high, but mixes convivially with the respective national pride which is evident in those millions of foreign visitors who have descended upon our city from all over the world. Along the River Thames, the many bridges have been illuminated to spectacular effect, and all along the southbank, a brilliant cultural olympiad has celebrated the arts as well as sport. On TV and in the press, journalists have run out of superlatives to describe these games. Well organised, welcoming, record-breaking, fantastically attended. It’s been brilliant, amazing, a life-changing experience, a moment of insuperable national pride.

Huge rings welcome tourists from eurostar

A feeling of internationalism is everywhere

Like the end of any summer holiday, the climax of the Olympics tonight will be a sad moment for us all. Going back to work, as the olympic flags come down and the city returns to normal, will be tinged with an inexorable feeling of depression. But through it all, the memories live on, and London, as a city, will continue to thrive in the spirit of goodwill and international recognition. More than anything the olympics have made us Londoners proud of our city, which has so much to offer, so much going on, incredible sites and wonderful facilities. For these reasons, people will continue to visit us, long after the olympic spotlight has passed, and for those of us living here, a new inbuilt respect and admiration for our city has been created, an optimism for the future, and a celebration of the past.

The photos I enclose with this post are not really sports-related. Trying to get hold of tickets was like a search for the holy grail. Consequently my photos are confined to the small changes I have witnessed while carrying on my normal London life – rings on Tower Bridge, banners on the lamp posts, and those cute little mascots springing up all over the city. Enjoy!

: Loving this mascot cake I spotted in a shop window in Chelsea

: The olympic mascots who have sprung up all over London

: Olympic flags started popping up on government buildings where I work

: The Millennium footbridge

: Rings hang from the iconic Tower Bridge

: Europe’s tallest building – completed just in time

: National pride is plastered across the streets of the city

: Olympic torch handover in Parliament square – with Ban Ki moon as torchbearer

: The bustling southbank (and a mascot in the distance)

: Huge rings welcome tourists from eurostar

: South bank light show

: Cubes suspended in mid air on the south bank spelling out words, but only from certain angles

: The Thames bridges are lit up to spectacular effect

: Emblem of a city which has become centre of the world

: Horse Guards Parade – usually governmental, gets a splash of olympic purple

: A feeling of internationalism is everywhere

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