BANG CRASH..

So that`s that then.   The Olympics of London 2012 has ended as it began with a `spectacular` closing ceremony that kept me up way past my bedtime.   And it`s left me to wonder what to make of it all.

Well, I confess to having been enthralled by the opening ceremony not only for its sheer spectacle but also because I thought it got the heritage bit out of the way, so we could then concentrate on the games themselves.   So it was a pity that we had to sit through yet more tub thumping last evening with the likes of Timothy Spall hamming up Churchill and a succession of `stars`  showing the world our alleged musical `heritage.`   Frankly, I had never heard of some of the artistes on stage and having watched them I`m pretty sure I haven`t missed much.

I have heard of the Spice Girls, of course, and The Who and Ray Davies and George Michael and Take That but I`m constantly surprised that these and others are wheeled out as iconic musical figures to set before the world.   As for the `newcomers,` the whole rap thing is lost on me and it genuinely mystifies me how someone who just plays tracks on a fancy deck can ever deserve to reach iconic status.  

For me though, there was just a moment, a second or two, a flash of reality when a young lady known curiously as Jessie J poked her tongue out in a Rooney-esque way at the TV camera as she swept past shrieking her way through her routine.   Kind of summed up the difference, I suppose, between genuine entertainment, genuine talent and today`s obsession with noise and `celebrity`rather than music and personality.   Where, oh where, were Eric Clapton, Mark Knopfler, Russell Watson, Bryn Terfel and where was the music of Vaughan Williams, Holst and even Lloyd Webber?   Not loud enough, I guess.

So what began 17 days ago with a bang ended with something of an avoidable crash, but in between we were left with a wonderful array of true sporting talent, coming together under superlative organization in world class venues;  an almost overpowering feeling of good will, hope and promise and an event that deserves to be remembered for all the right things.  

(Although I can`t escape the feeling that the `heritage` we showed last night was surely not representative of how we are; moreover, we could do with curbing our chest beating enthusiasm which, whilst perhaps disguising an underlying insecurity, might just become more than a little tiresome.)

Over and out.