The Best and Worst of the Closing Ceremony

It's all over. After 16 great days of action, the Games of the 30th Olympiad has come to an end. I don't know about you, but this was my favorite of the eight Olympics I was mentally aware of. I might have been six, but I swear I watched some of Nagano. It was the last Olympics not shown on NBC. Remember? It was on CBS and Jim Nantz took a break from smelling the azaleas in Augusta to perform hosting duties. Seriously, check this out.

Unbelievable. No Bugler's Dream and no Costas. Andrea Joyce co-hosted the Opening Ceremony, which is... interesting. I might have to do a best and worst of CBS' Olympics coverage because there are definitely some things that need to be discussed. Anyway, the Closing Ceremony was last night and it was a damn party. Seriously, the amount of partying that probably went on after must have been insane. However, since I was not invited, I will sit on the outside and be judgmental. It's time for the best and worst of the Closing Ceremony!  

Best

• Costas/Seacrest: This pair made a lot of sense for this broadcast. Seacrest is an entertainment guy, so having him in the role of describing what was essentially a huge concert was a well thought out decision. Costas is untouchable at NBC (or at least, that's what my lack of insider knowledge tells me), so he has the potential to say just about anything. The interaction they had after the One Direction song was pretty funny and their overall chemistry was solid.
• London Gold: The segments summarizing the competitions were nice, although I'm a sucker for a good montage. I especially liked the gymnastics one, if only because they used the, "dreams" angle that I used in my post about J-Wiebs. Look, having the same editorial direction as the NBC fluff piece production crew is sort of my dream (YIKES). While I liked the use of Phil Phillips, "Home" in the piece, I would have had different songs for each gymnast. For example,  Aliya Mustafina's would have been "Icebox" by Omarion, which pretty much sums up the relationship we formed by through TV stares. Gabby Douglas' song would have been "Fly Like an Eagle" (if only to beat this greatness). McKayla Maroney's would have been a combination of, "Picture Me Rollin" and "Swagga Like Us". Honestly, I had about 100 song ideas for Maroney's montage, and that probably wasn't the best combination. I'll work on it for my gymnastics review post.
• The Good Music Performances: Not everything was good last night, but the organizers did a very solid job trotting out just about everyone they could find for this thing. Liam Gallagher didn't sound very good, but I love, "Wonderwall" so he gets a pass from me. The Spice Girls clearly haven't lost a step. They put on a very solid performance. Eric Idle was awesome. Take That's song at the end was nice. Jessie J tried to destroy the Queen tribute, but the song and crowd were to much for her to overcome. You know what? That reminds me, the best part of this ceremony was...
• The Crowd: Pardon me for this overused phrase, but the crowd was absolutely off the hook. They sang along with everything and their clapping during, "We Will Rock You" saved it from Jessie J's horrible Freddy Mercury cover. It was a fitting end for the great crowds that were prominent throughout these Games. Well done, London.
• The Credits: Some might not have seen NBC's always awesome credits montage because it was after the Peacock Network tape delayed the tape delay of The Who's performance, but my God it was awesome. I won't admit to shedding a tear, but I also won't deny it. Got pretty emotional in my basement at 12:30 last night.

Worst:

• Russell Brand: Oh man, that segment was just off putting. First of all, if I'm the organizers, I'm not sure I want Russell Brand representing my country on a world stage. Second, the whole thing was just weird. It was like Willy Wonka on LSD. I'm sure some enjoyed it, but it just wasn't my thing.
• Annie Lennox: The woman is extremely talented, but I just didn't like how they used her. Not much else to say really.
• One Direction: I actually thought they were decent. My problem came when I realized they might have been lip syncing the chorus and then singing the verses. I have no problem with them lip-syncing, and  they might not have been. The chorus just sounded so much more clean than the rest. It was weird.
• General Boredom: TBS counter programmed the Ceremony with The Hangover. Honestly, during some of the CC, my Dad and I would sort of just come to the conclusion that the Hangover was better than watching Kate Moss and Naomi Campbell walking down fake runways or whatever else was going on. Honestly, the CC was solid, but wasn't nearly captivating enough to keep me away from the Wolfpack. Opening Cermony > Closing Cermony which is how it should be.

Well, part one of my Olympics Review is down. Be ready for different types of London 2012 review as the week goes on. Lists, in-depth reviews and long winded NBC related opinions should be expected. Try to deal with your Olympic withdraw the best you can. I was dealing with it pretty well until I mentioned, "Icebox" in this post. Since then I have just been repeating, "I'm so cold.." over and over. Follow me on Twitter @TaylorSmyth10 where I may or may not be live tweeting last Monday's Olympic events (I'm not).

542 days until Sochi.