Olympics 2016

In London there were large portions of the closing ceremony with the show lighting / sound / video control running off UPS after there were issues with the supply. IIRC parts of the infield PA system were never powered up throughout the whole thing to save power.

Ah - I'm told there were issues at the stadium tonight as well but don't know the details. Apparently the issues affecting the IBC are part of larger problems in the area the Olympic Park is in.


All I know is I went to get some dinner and when I came back there weren't that many lights on in the corridors of the IBC, and someone in a hard hat running around. I really wasn't gone that long!

The main thing I remember is the music over the athletes parade looped because it went on for so long.

plus ça change

It's a shame the Olympic flame wasn't in the athletics stadium this year. It looks good with it's associated sculpture, and probably some associated extra lighting. That said, apparently the flame being in the centre of town has really gone down well with tourists. I wonder what Tokyo will do.

Is it me, or does Thomas Bach always look like he'd rather be somewhere, anywhere, else?

I quite liked that. Already looking forward to Tokyo:

Oh my gosh. Sad that there was no Perfume included (Mikiko is both their and the handover dancers' choreographer) but kudos to Mikiko for such a entertaining and exciting show. Sorry but this is for me, being so passionate about Japanese culture.

Their Prime Minister is a good sport, isn't he? Playing at being Super Mario! Their video showed a few anime characters, but I was disappointed to see no tokusatsu (Godzilla, Sentai, Ultraman) references. The world needs to learn that the genre doesn't begin and end with the Power Rangers.

I'll admit I've heard of something called Super Mario and I know it's some sort of video or console game. As for the rest, I have never heard of them and consequently know nothing about them or what they are - are they console or video game characters too?

I think Tokyo has to be careful not to overplay this particular card for fear of alienating the older section of it's world wide audience.

And what is pokemon? Why is everyone talking about it? Do I need this?

Pokemon is good for walking 😉

I see no real isses as its no different to when london used a big red bus.

That's the thing, there's so much to choose from when it comes to Japanese culture and only a limited time within their segment of the closing ceremony. I noticed Doremon, Hello Kitty and Pac-Man in there alongside Mario, so some of the country's most recognisable exports internationally.

Looking forward a good dose of J-Pop for the opening ceremony in 2020 alongside some more traditional stuff and I'm sure there'll be room for the likes of Godzilla, Ultraman, Astro Boy, Maruko, Pokemon and others. Ideally they'll try to lure Hayao Miyazaki out of retirement to direct it or at least have Studio Ghibli involved somehow.