The Spice Girls

The Spice Girls

That’s all folks, the Olympics are gone. No more sneakily watching the canoeing while in work, or cheering Mo Farah until your throat’s dry. After the last of the medals had been won though, we had to have to have the closing ceremony.

While it would have been impossible to beat Danny Boyle’s industrial revolution masterpiece, the event’s director Kim Gavin thankfully used his head and just made a really massive concert.

So, following the big ol’ shindig, we’ve had a whip around the office and found out what our highs and lows of the evening were.

The Highs

The Spice Girls Reunion – We all knew it was going to happen, but it was still so much fun. Those sneaky pics The Sun took may have ruined the surprise of those taxi cabs (Huw Edward’s still trying to build mystique was pretty funny though), but it didn’t take away the pleasure of seeing the girls together once again.

The best thing about it was that they really gave it a go. Apart from Victoria, who looked increadibly uncomfortable with the whole ‘performing’ thing and promptly seemed to bugger off (she only appears in the first of Mel B’s twitter pictures from the evening).

Gary Barlow – What a man. Getting up and singing after all that’s happened over the last week has made us go up even more in our estimations. If that was actually possible. That the performance was great as well just goes to show what a performer Gary Barlow is.

Annie Lennox – Ridiculous, over the top and theatrical, Annie Lennox was incredible at the ceremony. Belting out Little Bird and being all capes, eye-shadow and gothic paraphernalia, she brought that little something different that the concert needed. Also, she was on a ruddy great pirate ship. Which was amazing.

Imagine – To kick off the final symphony of British music with Imagine was a bold choice. To do it with a children’s choir and some footage of John Lennon was genius. Small, touch and reflective, it was the perfect start to the party. The giant white head that was made on stage was the cherry on top of the proverbial cake.

Boris Johnson Dancing – Those two seconds of video alone made our collective nights, as the human embodiment of Winnie The Pooh continues to endear himself to the world.

The Fun Of It All– The ceremony got one thing absolutely spot on, it was a party, not a procedure. From Madness through to Eric Idle in a cannon and Russell Brand on a bus, the whole evening was just a big old barrel of fun. Full of energy and colour, it was a great representation of British music at its best. Even the fashion bit was fun and lively enough to entertain even the most couture averse.

The Lows

Jessie J – It’s the closing of the Olympics and the world has eyes on you. So, you want to look the part right. Perhaps Jessie J should have been a bit more of a diva when it came to costuming. Apart from the beige body stocking thing (probably not her choice), she just didn’t work in that ceremony. Firstly, singing price tag from the back of Rolls Royce, maybe not the best idea. Then a mash up with Tinie Tempah and Taio Cruz where the later steals the thunder followed by being horrifically upstaged by a hologram? Not the best of evenings for Jessie.

Not enough Freddie – Ok, so we got giant screens with Freddie Mercury evoking that classic Live Aid moment. That was great, but that brief taste simply left us wanting more of the deceased singer’s sumptuous voice. His little segment went down a storm, only to be followed up with Jessie J teaming up with Queen for a performance of We Will Rock you. A poor substitution. We still miss you Freddie.

Ray Davies – Sorry Ray, but that wasn’t your best performance there was it. Waterloo Sunset is the perfect song for the end of the games, but The Kinks frontman kind of butchered his own song.

George Michael Doing New Material – While it’s great that George is back and belting out the tunes since his bout of pneumonia, he really was a mixed bag last night. While it was great to hear him give Freedom a run out with real gusto, why oh why did you play a new song? As John Bishop put it on his Twitter ‘George – what are you doing. Let's hear Club Tropicana, Last Christmas, Careless Whisper - something ace we know – it's a party not an advert.’ Personally, Wake Me Up Before you Go-Go might have been more fitting.

Beady Eye, not Oasis – The chords start and we all thought ‘Wait a moment, could this be! Oasis and The Spice Girls back together?’ But no, disappointment as the caption come up Beady Eye and only one Gallagher brother appears. Come on guys, it’s just one night. Call a truce and just knock it out of the park for Queen, county and the possibility of getting Boris dancing again.

 

What were your highlight and lowlights then? Let us know what you think in the comments.

FemaleFirst Cameron Smith

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