The beijing one glorified its country and culture. And besides.. IT WAS WAYYYY MORE AWESOMERR and the torch was kooler :P
I will directly answer your question and talk about the aesthetics first without just saying which one is better in general (I hope).
Beijing certainly had the synchronised performances throughout the whole ceremony. I loved the way they opened with drummers to mark how many seconds there were left to go (that was only part of it!). The british one was creative but random, with children holding balloons for every 2 seconds. And anyone notice that two of the '6' balloons didn't pop?
For more on aesthetics, London just didn't cut it. Well ok, the first section about the Industrial Revolution was quite good, though a bit random and disorganised, but not completely great in appearance. The layout of the hospital beds for the NHS and GOSH was completely random and looked even worse when they were all squashed up at one end of the stadium. Randomness continued when people from TV shows came out and danced randomly for 10 minutes.
It's a bit hard to describe but the Beijing fireworks were definitely more aesthetically pleasing than London's. They would shoot in different patterns and formations, while London's were mainly the same.
So overall, aesthetically, well if you like random things and think it looks better then go with London 2012. But if you gasped in awe when watching Beijing 2008, then you'd know which Opening Ceremony was more aesthetically pleasing to the eye.
PS: London didn't do that bad of a job, it was an OK performance, but not great. I like the idea of the Olympic rings forming, that was probably one of the better appearing parts of the ceremony. But the rest? I'd say London gave it a good try, but lacked in some parts. 6.5 out of 10. For Beijing? Close to 10 out of 10. Sydney's was excellent too.
Beijing 2008. The gorgeous performances attracted me from the beginning to the end. But London 2012 seems boring for some parts which are not much understandable, and the actors look like just entertaining themselves in a pop music party instead of in a Olympics opening ceremonies.
London was not bad at all, not what you expected after beijings phenomenal performance, but it kept snatching me back in every so often..suprise after suprise ended w McCartney and fireworks. The Brits came to entertain and entertain they did...Beijing on the other hand was harmonious. 2008 drummers doing a countdown insync on led lit drums, the fireworks within ,Olympic circles raise from the floor, the men in the boxes , the samurais w the giant scroll, and the foot print fireworks walking to the stadium was way beyond imagination.....best ever, still......2016 brazil should be very good too being they have carnival and Seoul s.k in 2020could possibly outdo Beijing being that they also have the discipline to pull off synchronized acts on a larg scale like the 2008 drummers .......BEIJING's the BEST As it stands.
Beijing by a mile.While i personally preferred this one cause it had personality and heart.Beijing was simply spectacular.it just set the bar so high,London was never going to meet it. But it was enjoyable in parts. I think if you are not well versed in British history and culture the whole thing was a bit random.
Of course Beijing. London's opening ceremony has too much rock music, dancing and unrelated stuff to Olympics, for example, the national health program, a politically charged topic in UK but not related to the rest of the world. I had to turn off the TV, and seriously I could get better entertainment on a Friday night than staying watching a poorly orchestrated open ceremony like London.
Beijing of course. London's way behind.
I am a Chinese who live in Hong Kong. I think the London 2012 opening ceremony is much better than Beijing 2008. Beijing 2008 is purely show off and $$$$$$$$
Bejing was better, but only because it had to be.
China has something to prove, as a rising economic superpower, and so they reminded us of all the things China has given the world (e.g. movable type, etc...), and they retold parts of their thousands of years history.
London (Great Britain) cannot follow-suit, because so much of what they've "given" the world happened within the context of "The British Empire"... something about-which they are seemingly apologetic, and seemingly walking on eggshells to even mention.
And so they land on the industrial revolution and childrens literature... because these are less offensive.
Beijing wins of course! I regret the fact that I put too much hope into the LOOC.
I have a running argument with a friend. He prefers the Beijing one to this one. In your own opinion, which one was more pleasing aesthetically (pleasing to the eye)? please give reasons for your answers. THANKS
Well, the Beijing ceremony was better, but had much more money to spend. The London 2012 cerimony will not stand in history has the best cerimony of all times, but for the way they handheld their short resources, in a time Europe faces a strong economic crisis.
Beijing - Extravagant, lavish and fantastic opening cerimony.
London - Good handling of resources in a time of european recession.
London 2012.
Beijing had the spectacular factor, amazing fireworks, the show etc.
But London's opening ceremony had a meaning. Inspire a generation. My favourite moment was when not one superstar or a great sportsman lit the torch, but the next generation of athletes.
Beijing 2008!!!!!!!!!!
The Beijing opening ceremony was better...the London op. ceremony was nevertheless good, but performances and overall presentation seemed abrupt and vague to a certain extent...too many hopes were fastened to Danny Boyle, who produced a good display but not a great one...it was like The Amazing Spiderman of 2012 which lacked the word 'Amazing'! Big names do not make an event of such stature successful by themselves...much more is needed..probably what we expected...
You had an argument? Justin Slayer, you're SO BUSTED for asking this dumb question. Just look at ALL THE RESPONSES against you! LOL.
Beijing's one was sooooo much better.
Beijing. EVERYTHING about it blew me away and I never got bored. With London, for me the only exciting parts were seeing JK Rowling and the 100 ft tall voldemort, mr. Bean, the lighting of the torch, and Paul McCartney. There were many parts where i had to change the channel because it was so boring. Too much dancing.
I watched the Beijing opening ceremony because I was bored, but by the end of it I was in awe. I still remember the colors, the dancing, the music, the lights. And the way they lit the torch was amazing.
I was really, REALLY excited for the London opening, but it was really bland in my opinion. I had to force myself to watch most of it. The only parts I really enjoyed was Mr. Bean and the Parade of Nations.
I vote for Beijing... I can do without the freaking queen!
I liked Beijing WAY BETTER. The London opening ceremony was kind of confusing and strange. My cat was transfixed by the tv during the Beijing ceremony, so I guess she liked it too.
i think london is great, bejing was show off, but london was heart touching, bejing show was like a big movie with lots of effacts, end of day you would be unable to take meaning out of it. London was heart touching, a show which truly lived up to the meaning. Felt so good. I am a indien i watched it at 2 am mid night ,but it was totaly worth it.
Beijing had some better individual spots, but also had some really stupid moments. London's was more consistently mediocre overall but for the most part I didn't completely lose interest in it. I'm not sure why everyone liked Beijing so much.
I thought the London was so much better than Beijing! They had Paul McCartney and James Bond (Well, Daniel Craig, but still) and the freaking Queen! What more do you want?
Beijing , obviously.
London's seem so disorganized and while there were some pretty big names, it just didn't relate well to the Olympics
London opening ceremony is pure trash. Beijing opening ceremony on the other hand, was spectacular.
i'd prefer beijing's
the beijing one becourse it has more people and it was exciting than this one in london
Bejing was 1000000000000000000000000000000000000000... better
If you think London was better than any opening ceremony in living memory, you must be on crack. It was aweful. I couldn't watch the whole thing.
