After Beijing Pageantry, London 2012 Tries ... a Bus

Brits less than thrilling in Olympic preview
By Jason Farago,  Newser Staff
Posted Aug 25, 2008 2:24 PM CDT

The showcase for the 2012 London Olympics was rather more modest than Beijing's enormous showcase.
(lily1989sweet)

The Beijing Olympics' closing ceremony was predictably stupendous, with thousands of acrobats and "more orthodontically screened children," writes Guardian columnist Marina Hyde. It certainly ran over the 8-minute tableau promoting the 2012 Games in London. While China spent years preparing its "deliciously understated 16-day world domination infomercial," the Brits decided on a low-budget showcase that featured rain-soaked commuters waiting for a bus.

Even after trotting out a bus-riding David Beckham for a free kick, London couldn't upstage Beijing's follow-up—hundreds of contortionists on a huge steel tower. Still, writes Hyde, there's national pride to be found somewhere in the unpolished presentation—London's shambolic mayor Boris Johnson might have bungled the flag-waving ceremony, but "at least Londoners can vote." (More 2008 Beijing Olympics stories.)

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