OH WHAT A NIGHT!

Last night we watched the opening ceremony of the 2006 Olympics in Torino. What an amazing show! There was a commercial after about thirty minutes, and Art said” Wow! That was great!”, and I looked at him….he thought that was it!!! I said “You do realize that it’s not over, don’t you? There’s a LOT more to come!” Two hours later he said “Boy, you were right when you said there was more to come!”  The variety and huge numbers of people made us glad that we were watching it on television rather than in person….we thought that the different camera angles gave us much better views of everything.  Although I don’t like modern ballet OR techno-pop, I did like that performance. It was cool: interesting and different…..for about the first two minutes, then I didn’t like it as much, but that’s really about the only part I didn’t care for.  Many of the segments were so elaborate and it seemed such a shame that they lasted for such a short time. 

Once the athletes started marching in, we waited anxiously to see the Americans. Man, who designed THEIR outfits??? Certainly not Giorgio Armani! I couldn’t believe how BORING and downright ugly their outfits were! NO color at all! A BIG thumbs down for the Americans on that one!

The lighting of the Olympic flame was really cool, but I really did expect to see more fireworks. Oh, and one of the “surprises” of the night was Yoko Ono….huh???? Well, of course the lyrics of “Imagine” are always appropriate, and at least she kept it short. But then….who picked Peter Gabriel to sing the song??? It had an eerie, dirge-like quality, which I thought was interesting, but I thought his voice was thin, scratchy and just really, really bad. He wouldn’t have been my choice at all.
And so, finally, all that was left was for Pavarotti to sing. As I had told Art very early in the ceremony, “It won’t be over til the fat man sings”. And there he was…look like he always does, hair as dark as night, appropriately rotund, and in AMAZING voice! We were both stunned that he sounded so good, and as usual, his rendition of “Nessum Dorma” brought chills to our spines and tears to our eyes. What a perfect ending to the ceremony! Bravo to everyone who had a hand in this amazing night!

And then, while surfing through the channels, I found the Grammy ceremony being broadcast….and just in time to hear U2 sing “Vertigo”! Wow! And then, they launched into what is probably my all time favorite U2 song, “One”. I was overjoyed!   And then……Mary J. Blige came out onstage. Now yes, she does have a great voice, and yes, she did sing with amazing passion, but come on! She wasn’t even singing in the same key!!!! I was so disappointed! She really ruined the song for me….I wanted to hear Bono sing the entire song by himself.  As we watched more of the show, they announced that Paul would be performing! Ohh my god….Pavarotti, U2 AND Paul, all in one night!!!!! Crank up the volume!

When Paul performed, he sang “Fine Line” from his most recent album, and I have to admit that I like this song a lot more after hearing him perform it live…he really gave it a lot of energy. And then much to my surprise, he stood up from the piano and strapped on the Hofner. Is there anything sexier than a man strapping on that most phallic of symbols, the guitar??!!  He announced that this was his first time performing at the Grammy’s. Huh? I’m sure if Stella had been there she would have worn the same shirt she wore when her dad was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame….you know the one….the one that said “It’s about f***ing time!” 

And then he launched into……”HELTER SKELTER”!!! Wow! He really kicked some ass with that song, and I had the television turned up and was bouncing up and down on the couch! Oh, and did I mention how fantastic he looked?! Who’d have ever thought that I would find a man who’s 63 years old so freaking sexy!