The 2012 Summer Olympics will take place in London and the city is already admitting their turn to host will not be as extravagant as Beijing. Britain has nothing to feel badly about; this year's Olympics were the most expensive in history, and it's unlikely another city would top that.
Britain is in the midst of a credit crunch that didn't exist when they won the Olympic sweepstakes three years ago. The government has already expanded their original budget by $13 billion, and says the current $17.4 billion budget is all they can afford. Unfortunately, there's no guarantee the expense will pay off — a Merill Lynch study showed that of the last 11 Olympics, the Games caused financial problems for 10 of the host cities.
Princesse Tam-Tam
Bruno Magli
Firetrap
I didn't watch the opening or closing ceremonies, so I don't really care about extravagance. The fact that it won't be in nasty China is good enough for me!
1i think that when countries try to out do each other - that's when we lose sight of what the games are all about. of course host countries want to impress the world - but london can do that in other ways. the transportation - the culture, the people, i think that it's all doable. and besides - it'll be easier for people to actually go to see the games - so i think that it's something that london has that China didn't.
2They are talking about the same thing here in Chicago because we're bidding for 2016. It's sad that people thing that being so critical is actually newsworthy. Let us, as the viewers, participants, and fans be the judge of weather it'll be as good or not. I thought parts of China's show were weird, over the top and lacked intimacy and charm. Each city brings and overs a different aspect.
3*think not thing and whether not weather. Wow, an off typing day.
4I've heard about the economic toll that the Olympics take on its host cities and I wonder if it wouldn't be better for the games to find a permanent home somewhere.
5China did go over the top at times with some of the stranger scenes during the opening and closing ceremonies. At least they didn't communicate clearly to those not in the know.
During the opening ceremony, I saw a very clear message in the execution of everything from the drummers to the type blocks that raised and lowered to create other formations. When it came to a comment on difficulty, Bob Costas said, "Try to get 10 of your friends to form a circle." China was pulling off sequences with thousands upon thousands of performers, I heard an estimate of something like 15,000 performers for the opening ceremony alone.
The message I understood is that China's population is unified to execute a plan and will get it done with precision.
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