Deym! past 9 am na wala pa akong tulog. Yeyyyssss, binantayan ko ng buo ang opening
ceremonies ng London Olympics na mabuti naman at kahit wala sa ESPN at Star Sports (I wonder why) ay pinalabas ng TV5 ng halos
walang interruption compared to Solar Sports na sinisingitan ng santambak na
TVCs (mas mayaman talaga si Manny Pangilinan kesa kay Wilson Tieng!)
And was it worth the puyat? A big NOOO!!! Para sa akin, after being wowed by the
Beijing edition and even the Athens and Sydney versions before that, London’s offering
pales in comparison.
Overall, Boring with a capital B ang program na directed pa naman daw ng Slumdog Millionaire director na si Danny Boyle. The program started with a production called Isle of Man where the stadium turned from a rural to industrial setting complete with
ponies to sweat-breaking blacksmiths. Yes
may kwento. Yes, gusto nilang ipakita
ang culture nila. But the visuals, aside
from being crowded and cluttered, is so damn dowdy I felt depressed and at times, confused. There's just too much goin' on on stage!
At parang nanadya, ang sunod na eksena ay mga kama na may
mga batang nagtatalunan hanggang matulog! Sus gusto ko na ring tulugan ang
kahunghangan ng palabas na ito! And what’s
those kids in bed for? Para pala
ma-introduce si JK Rowling na nagbabasa ng bedtime story kuno. Enter frame ang mga mala-Harry Potter na
creatures. Tapos eto na nagliliparan na,
bumaba galing sa langit ang dose-dosenang Mary Poppins para protektahan ang mga
bata.
Dark JK Rowling critters, Nannies
in all-black... even Kenneth Branagh is in black suit with matching top hat! Why do I get the feeling that I'm watching Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter and Van Helsing altogether in one screen? Isn’t this supposed to
be festive? Why do I feel damn dreary
instead?
There was an attempt for comedy pero para sa akin, bokya. Bad taste pa nga sa akin yong drama na sinundo kunwari ni
Daniel Craig (as James Bond of course) si Queen Elizabeth, nag-chopper papunta
sa Olympic stadium at nag-parachute instead na i-land ang chopper. Seriously, what’s funny about that? Ok, Rowan Atkinson has made me laugh many times before pero luma na at
sobrang gasgas na yong eksenang sumakay sya ng cab to get ahead of the other
runners in the Chariots of Fire number. Jeezz... are fresh ideas really hard to
come by these days?
As if hindi pa nakuntento sa pagka-boring ang mga hunghang, nilagyan pa ng isang interpretative dance starring a boy and (supposedly?) his father with a celtic song in the background. Come on! I love Enya's music but it's best to soothe the soul, not to excite spectators!
The only saving grace in this segment is the drama of the
five Olympic rings na kunwari ay pinanday nong mga blacksmiths, lifted
separately at medyo sumabog-sabog ang fireworks na kunwari ay talsik ng apoy ng nagbabagang bakal. Because of that,
hindi ko na tinuloy ang tulog ko. Baka naman kako may maganda pang kasunod.
But after that, walang kwenta ang sumunod na sayawan na may
concept pa ng web connectivity to honor the inventor of the internet (Timothy
Berners Lee). Doon na dapat mag-upbeat
ang tempo ng program but still napa-"walang kwenta" ako. They should watch ASAP or Party Pilipinas
para malaman nila how to create a party atmosphere.
Then came the parade of athletes. Buti naman at yong anchors ng TV5 (Chiqui Roa
– if i remember it correctly - and
Dennis Principe- not sure with the spelling) ay medyo informative, obvious na
pinaghandaan ang coverage because of their trivia for each country kaya
na-enjoy ko rin yong pagkahaba-habang parade.
Kaso towards the end medyo napagod na yata kaya yong ibang countries sa
bandang dulo hinayaan na lang dumaan sa screen, wala ng kwento kung saang
lupalop yon, kailan sumali sa Olympics at naka-ilang medals na like what they
did earlier on.
Although I share their observation na hindi lang parade of
athletes ang nangyayari dahil sa dami ng nag-gagandahan (at nag-guguwapuhan na rin) na mga
athletes na flag-bearer, para din daw beauty pageant ang pinapanood mo. Good thing our contingent looked good (Rajo
Laurel pa raw ang nag-design ng national costumes nila?) at gandang Pinay naman
ang ating flag-bearer na si Hidilyn Diaz (mind you she’s a weightlifter!).
Now back to the program itself...
After makumpleto ang mga athletes, may kaunting intermission
ang isang banda saka lumabas ang mga naka-bike na may luminescent wings. At hindi ako nagkamali dahil isa sa kanila,
pinalipad na naman sa ere. Stunning? Naaahhh! Tanggalin mo yong pakpak at walang
pinag-iba sa eksena sa ET ni Steven Spielberg! Haaayyysss!
Buti naman at very short lang ang opening speech ni
Sebastian Coe at Jack Rogue (Philippine politicians should learn from
them). Pero kung maigsi ang speech nila,
mas laconic si Queen Elizabeth dahil isang linya lang ang sinabi – I now
declare the London 2012 Olympics officially open!
Hahaha... pagod na siguro ang
matanda (but seriously ganon lang talaga ang role ng head of state ng host
country, walang epal --- and again, our politicians should learn from this)
Now the highlight I was waiting for – yong lighting ng Olympic
flame.
Para sa akin tops pa rin yong
ginawa sa Barcelona (the precision arrow, remember?) so I was curious if London
can come up with something spectacular. And
no, David Beckham on a speedboat carrying the torch isn’t my concept of
spectacular.
Did it beat Barcelona? Hmmm... yes and no. Iba eh. Yong sa
Barcelona kasi, is the manner of lighting that is impressive.
The cauldron is just that – a cauldron.
Dito sa London, walang drama or magic yong lighting but instead, they came up with a bright idea that finally made me go “oh
wow”! Buti na lang ganon ang nakita ko
or else it could have easily been a 4-hour waste of napakamahal pa namang
kuryente!
If you haven’t seen it,
panoorin nyo na lang sa mga reruns ng TV5 (o ayan Mr Pangilinan ha, dapat may
royalty ako from you!)
After the lighting, there was a brief display of fireworks
which, again, fails miserably kung ikukumpara sa mga fireworks na nakita na
natin sa previous Olympic events.
Nagmukha lang itong kiskis ng posporo kung nakita mo yong fireworks na
ginawa nong opening ng Burj Khalifa sa Dubai.
Oh well, budget constraints siguro, nagtipid. Mahirap nga naman ang buhay. (Trivia galing sa TV5 anchors: US$ 42 million lang daw ang budget dito compared to Beijing's US$ 100 million kaya tama ako, nagtipid!)
Kumanta saglit si Paul McCartney – na traditionally ay umpisa
ng party mode ng mga athletes where they will mingle and exchange pleasantries
bago sumabak sa competition. Pero hindi
na yon pinakita at kung ano pa man ang sumunod dahil doon na pinutol ng TV5 ang
broadcast.
And yes, pasado alas-nwebe na
pero hindi pa ako natutulog. Nalipasan
na ng antok kaya naisipang mag-blog. At
mailabas ang mga comments na hindi pwedeng hindi ko i-share sa inyo. Para que pa at naging Dante speaks ang blog na
to!
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