Olympic Closing Ceremony Nails

Hi Goddesses

So, how was it for you?  What did you think?  Did you enjoy the Olympic Closing Ceremony.  I did.  And I cried - a lot!  It featured so many spectacular images and sounds that I wanted to do my best to capture them.

Now, 5 nails cannot do that justice, so first of all, let's discuss some other points - 

* the director of the closing ceremony described it as the "wedding reception" - and the music certainly was worthy of that

* after all these years, I finally understand why Muse and Elbow are great

* Kate Bush re-recorded Running Up That Hill - man, I wish she'd been there

* Jessie J - who knew she was THAT good

* Spice Girls - iconic, but they should have had more time

I didn't appreciate the geriatric Brit rockers, though the crowd visuals to Freedom and BoRap were STUNNING.  I also thought it shocking that the Queen couldn't be arsed to be there - get a grip woman!

So, what did I choose to celebrate ?

Thumb and middle fingers = the flag.  The entire stage was built atop a Damien Hirst splatter which looked stunning.  After halfway through, what would be the "blue triangles" on the flag, slowly filled with athletes.  At one point, the stadium was awash with pink glow and the heads of the athletes looked like purple, magenta and lilac dots.  Sadly, I can't find a photo of it anywhere, but it was stunning.  This is Damien's artwork -

On the ring finger we have the Brazillian colours - this was a lowlight for me.   I know it's traditional but they didn't wow me.  

The little finger and the index finger are joined - they were part of the same movement.  Let's start with the little finger.  For weeks, we've known that Take That would close the show, singing the anthemic Rule The World as that spectacular cauldron was extinguished.  And then tragedy struck.  A week and a half ago Gary Barlow's daughter Poppy was still born, and a nation wept for him.

For those of you who don't live in the UK and who don't know who Take That are, they were our boyband of the 90s, insanely popular and lusted after!   A few years ago they came back as a Man Band, better than ever, and to say they are the nation's sweethearts, well ... I don't know if it applies to boys, but they are treasured.  We love them.

So everybody felt compassion for Gary, and everyone assumed he would pull out of the ceremony.  But he didn't.  The consummate professional, he turned up and started singing.  When I saw them on the stage I literally burst into tears.  I didn't know they were going to appear, and to see them there, representing their country with honour and pride ... wow.  And then Gary started singing - 

You light, the skies up above me
A star, so bright you blind me
Don't close your eyes
Don't fade away
Don't fade away

I cried SO hard Beth came to comfort me - lol, can you believe - and she kept asking why I was crying SO hard.  The truth is, I don't know.  Maybe it was the culmination of the emotion of those last Olympic Days (I love how sporting triumph can inspire tears), but I think it was mainly the thought of a man, a decent, blessed man, confronted with the worst tragedy a parent can face, and STILL honouring his obligation to everyone else.  And how he managed to sing such aching and poignant lyrics .. wow ... I just take my hat off to him.

So my little finger is their black, military style outfit, and the index finger is the sequence they prefaced, where the pheonix above the flames transformed into Darcy Bussell, dressed in burning reds and blistered blacks, as she led the ballet of the end of the flame.

And that was it ladies, that was it.  I hope we put on a great show for you.  I really feel we went out with style, and more importantly, I hope that every hour of this amazing sporting event HAS inspired a generation, Beth's generation, to be the very best that they can be.

Enjoy xx :)