The International Olympic Committee has been really funny about live music at open and closing ceremonies for years.
One of their golden rules (that is impossible to break) is the one on live music at the ceremonies… and unattractive young girls (I reference the Beijing O.C.)
Their thinking is: To avoid mistakes, embarrassment and equipment failure, they run “tape” for the broadcast feed from the event through the studios to the media… and to you in television land.
Some claim that the performance is “live” in the stadium and tape to media (and your television set) – that might be, but I doubt it.
From my observations, the only open microphones at the O.C. and C.C. were during the dialog from Jack Roggue and John Furlong’s cringe inducing interpretation of cereal box French.
Canadian legend Neil Young did not have a microphone on him either – he had an audio prompter in his ear so he could hear his taped performance and follow along.
As did K.D. Lang (whom I have seen live several times…)
When Nelly Furtado and Bryan Adams “played” at the O.C. Brian left his microphone by his side when he started singing – but quickly “corrected” a few bars into the song.
There are many, many music rehearsals for the opening and closing ceremonies – and what you hear at home is a digital recording of one of the “best takes”.
If there is any doubt as to this fact, ask yourself why none of the artists ever make a mistake during their performance.
As a guitar player, singer and piano player of over 25 years, I would like to say that the whole “taped” thing offends me – but it doesn’t.
It is a personal choice that each artist makes – whether to “compromise” or not and how they do it.
For more reading on the subject, check out David Atkins (executive producer of the 2010 ceremonies) on the subject of O.C./C.C. Olympic lip syncing…
Quote of the day: “I think Nickelback’s music incites violence. For instance, when I hear a Nickleback song….I want to kill Nickleback.” -Brian Posehn
The Olympics are over. Do I love Canada more?
Hate to say it.
I do.
The party is over. Now it’s time to pay the caterer.
Comments
4 responses to “Winter all food, fun and drink marathon begins – Love it live”
Love the catering quote! A minor quibble though – whether or not Neil Young was miming, there were two little mics attached to his harmonica holder at the sides…. and his voice cracked badly, embarrassingly so, near the end of the number, which suggests he gave a live performance.
I think Neil was live as wes Buble’s opening song. Everything else seemed to be memorex. I feel the same about the games, they were intoxicating. What spirit and the weather didn’t hurt (especially for us Winnipeggers).
Hmmm, well, IF I were paying $$$ to see this live, I would not want lip-syncing…f***, I can do that at home vacuuming! But on tv that may be a problem as the broadcaster might have demanded a contractual agreement to limit their liability (CTV/Coast Media, whatever) to avoid stuff like brassiere being grabbed! Actually, I just wanted to see if I could still spell brassiere without spell check ;-* Goes without saying that the flying inflatable beaver and moose stole the show! I want in on that deal…miniatures on car aerials, rear view mirrors, decor lights for the bar or living room over the tv, in the tub with Rubber Ducky! My guess is the producer needed your coffee genius!
Yes, the circus left town! You folks might get a slight financial hangover-headache though.
I couldn’t follow too much of the events live here in the USA, because the unbearable barricade of TV commercials, commentators blabber, singular USA focus. It reduced me to read more and be happy with still shots. I went to NBCs website to watch their tightly guarded video clips and it forced me to load down a new Microsoft player app. Which of course didn’t work properly on my MAC. Had to replay then the commercials several times just to realize that the actual clips didn’t play. AArgh!