Transatlantic Reviews

What some US newspaper critics thought of the closing ceremony....

With a gaudy three-hour farewell that mashed up theater, acrobatics, fashion and a few generations of musical idols, London extinguished the Olympic torch Sunday night, capping two weeks of athletic achievements with a jukebox collection of songs and a marathon display of endearingly wacky stagecraft. It felt as if the Games had suddenly been programmed by England’s version of the Chamber of Commerce, which decided to take advantage of this final moment in the international spotlight to produce one long and kinetic ad for the country’s pop culture.   David Segal, New York Times

In a country with an uncomfortable relationship with aspiration, where the successful are often seen as overly earnest sellouts, the inspiration of the moment may indeed fade fast, many here concede. The choices of aging rock stars and a homage to London of decades gone by as the headlining themes Sunday also suggested less a look forward than a certain clinging to Britain’s past. But like the doses of British beet juice that have become the energy drink of choice among so many Olympians, the London Games have seemed to be nothing if not a $15 billion national pick-me-up.  Anthony Faiola, Washington Post

Titled "A Symphony of British Music," Sunday night's closing ceremony-cum-dance-party was a color-coordinated parade of illustrated pop songs, some that will have been less than familiar to foreign listeners, some worldwide hits, but most of them so deeply ingrained into the modern British consciousness as to be extricable only by surgery........ If it lacked the energy and audaciousness and personal touch that Boyle brought to the opening — Sunday's show, directed by Kim Gavin, who specializes in staging big pop concerts in big places, was more like three hours of MTV, and just as good and bad as that might sound.   Robert Lloyd, Los Angeles Times