The current Private Eye has a great cover. But the odd thing is that this satire is not so far from the truth of the one ceremony for London 2012 which has so far taken place.That was the eight-minute handover section of the 2008 Games. Here is how it was previewed in the Guardian:
The moment one Olympic host city hands over to the next has veered from exuberant celebration of national identity to plain international embarrassment.Well, much to the Guardian's chagrin no doubt, a red bus did make an appearance. But if I recall rightly the hoodies daubed it with graffiti (so that was all right) before it opened like a lotus flower to reveal, amongst others, Jimmy Page, David Beckham and Leona Lewis.
Now after 12 months of secret planning, London's strategy for the handover of the Olympic flag at this summer's closing ceremony can be revealed by the Guardian - and there's not a red London bus or Pearly Queen in sight.
Instead, the unruly spirit of Britain's "hoodie" culture will take centre stage in Beijing's Olympic Stadium in front of a TV audience of more than 100 million.
An eight-minute performance led by Zoo Nation, an urban dance squad famous for a West End show which features a drug-dealing pimp and a gangster rap soundtrack, will mark the beginning of the London 2012 Olympiad.
The moral is that the 2012 Games may prove hard to satirise.
2 comments:
Amongst many of the problems with the handover ceremony - Boris' shirt, Leona Lewis' being alive - was the unfortunate sight of a London Bus seeing to explode only two years after one did that very thing as a consequence of a(n accidental) terrorist bomb plot.
I dread to think what Danny Boyle is considering in his role as artistic director. History of Britain through the medium of dance?
I wrote this attempt at parody just after the 2008 Olympics, but updated it recently:
http://www.spittingbullets.com/2011/london-2012-olympics-opening-ceremony-unofficial-schedule/
I've no idea if it's amusing anymore, but seems slightly relevant. I hope.
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