Jimmy Page to perform at closing ceremony of Beijing Olympics

[FireOpal]

The Guardian didn't say anything bad about Jimmy that I saw, they just called him venerable:

"The British national anthem was sweetly sung by a young 28-voice choir, almost half of them visibly from ethnic minorities, a sign of the approach that won London the right to host the 30th Games. The mayor of Beijing handed the Olympic flag via Rogge to the mayor of London, who failed to drop it and, as he left the podium, indulged in a decorous orgy of mutual celebration with the British athletes while they donned their pink "See you in London" jackets.

Cue the double-decker bus - not a Routemaster but a cunning replica - with Hoy, Jamie Staff and Victoria Pendleton, all gold medal winners, cycling around it like a couple of London commuters. When the doors opened a file of dancing hoodies, crossing attendants, handicapped people, binge-drinkers and schoolgirls emerged, before the sides of the bus opened out to become a piece of suburban topiary from which Lewis ascended on a lift to sing Whole Lotta Love with guitar accompaniment from the venerable Page. They were joined by a cellist, a violinist and a tracksuited Beckham, who punted a football into the crowd - a bit of a slice, one thought, perhaps into row Z - before the sequence ended in a bit of business with illuminated umbrellas and the stately withdrawal of the bus. Remarkable."

This bit made me laugh too: "Images of a beaming Boris Johnson filled the screens, and, as the mayor bounded up the steps like a hungry labrador at dinnertime, someone in the crowd whispered: 'It would be good if he tripped up on the carpet now.'"

[leddy]

The Guardian didn't say anything bad about Jimmy that I saw, they just called him venerable:

"The British national anthem was sweetly sung by a young 28-voice choir, almost half of them visibly from ethnic minorities, a sign of the approach that won London the right to host the 30th Games. The mayor of Beijing handed the Olympic flag via Rogge to the mayor of London, who failed to drop it and, as he left the podium, indulged in a decorous orgy of mutual celebration with the British athletes while they donned their pink "See you in London" jackets.

Cue the double-decker bus - not a Routemaster but a cunning replica - with Hoy, Jamie Staff and Victoria Pendleton, all gold medal winners, cycling around it like a couple of London commuters. When the doors opened a file of dancing hoodies, crossing attendants, handicapped people, binge-drinkers and schoolgirls emerged, before the sides of the bus opened out to become a piece of suburban topiary from which Lewis ascended on a lift to sing Whole Lotta Love with guitar accompaniment from the venerable Page. They were joined by a cellist, a violinist and a tracksuited Beckham, who punted a football into the crowd - a bit of a slice, one thought, perhaps into row Z - before the sequence ended in a bit of business with illuminated umbrellas and the stately withdrawal of the bus. Remarkable."

This bit made me laugh too: "Images of a beaming Boris Johnson filled the screens, and, as the mayor bounded up the steps like a hungry labrador at dinnertime, someone in the crowd whispered: 'It would be good if he tripped up on the carpet now.'"

Thats good to read

[longdistancewinner]

New York Magazine wasn't quite so forgiving.

'The London section was particularly lousy, with an embalmed-looking Jimmy Page playing incoherent guitar while Leona Lewis sang, we guess, "Whole Lotta Love," and extras with umbrellas danced around a red double-decker bus. Cor blimey, where were the fish-and-chips, Buckingham Palace guards, and Austin Powers?'

The Times UK weren't exactly all embracing either:

'She was followed by Jimmy Page, looking, as ageing rock stars often do, as if a life of mindless hedonism is ideal preparation for a graceful old age.

They performed Whole Lotta Love. At least, I'm reasonably confident that's what they did, because what else would they do? But the acoustic in the stadium is like a giant bathroom, and they may well have been singing Pop Goes the Weasel. I hated Page and Led Zeppelin even when I was of an age to enjoy children's music, but it seemed to go off all right. The Chinese are very keen on noise'.

[Moonmaid]

New York Magazine wasn't quite so forgiving.

'The London section was particularly lousy, with an embalmed-looking Jimmy Page playing incoherent guitar while Leona Lewis sang, we guess, "Whole Lotta Love," and extras with umbrellas danced around a red double-decker bus. Cor blimey, where were the fish-and-chips, Buckingham Palace guards, and Austin Powers?'

The Times UK weren't exactly all embracing either:

'She was followed by Jimmy Page, looking, as ageing rock stars often do, as if a life of mindless hedonism is ideal preparation for a graceful old age.

They performed Whole Lotta Love. At least, I'm reasonably confident that's what they did, because what else would they do? But the acoustic in the stadium is like a giant bathroom, and they may well have been singing Pop Goes the Weasel. I hated Page and Led Zeppelin even when I was of an age to enjoy children's music, but it seemed to go off all right. The Chinese are very keen on noise'.

These remarks have me baffled. Honestly, I'm a 32 year old woman who has never been attracted to a man in his mid-sixties...until now! Look at him. I mean....look at him. He is amazing.

[LedZep1969]

The American Announcers will probably "talk" all over Jimmy's performance....

yup the chinese or some type of ese people were talking over the solo

[BlackandGold]

Jimmy looked great and was having fun, who cares if it was pre-recorded. As someone pointed out he does have a habit of breaking fingers so it only makes sense. Even though the sound overall wasn't very good, I thought Leona did really good. Since this is the first I've ever heard of her other than a snippet of a lame video (probably her big hit?) I was very impressed. She looks like an amazon even after she got off of that riser.

I liked the British segment. Although, I was confused by the little girl giving the other little girl the ball and then walking on the dancers backs back into the bus. And why did the bus unfold into a what looked like shrubbery? They should have just left the bus alone, it is an iconic symbol of London to the rest of the world. Anyhow, the Chinese ceremony was such a spectacle, it was like a massive Cirque du Soleil show. It would have been rude, not to mention impossible, for the British to even attempt to upstage their hosts.

[FireOpal]

The link that Aqua kindly provided was NBC (the American broadcaster) and they didn't talk over Jimmy's solo - though they did some excited squawking when he first appeared. The usually unflappable Bob Costas was like a giddy schoolgirl, "Ooh! We heard he was going to be here and there he is: the legend Jimmy Page!" I love it: the Dark Lord of Epsom still has mysterious powers.

[Virginia]

I just stumbled on this review:

http://olympics.fanhouse.com/2008/08/24/se...osin/2#comments

Sexual Innuendo Dropped From Led Zeppelin Song at Olympic Closing Ceremony

Posted Aug 24th 2008 7:16PM by Michael David Smith (author feed)

Filed under: Beijing

The Beijing Games concluded with the closing ceremony today, and the Summer Olympic torch was passed off to London. A performance by Jimmy Page of the British band Led Zeppelin was part of that hand-off from Beijing to London, but it turns out that some folks think Zeppelin lyrics aren't appropriate for all ears.

Page and Leona Lewis performed a version of the Zeppelin classic "Whole Lotta Love" that had some of the lyrics changed and others excised so as not to offend. Lewis didn't want to sing the line, "I'm gonna give you every inch of my love" in the second verse, because she said she didn't think that particular "sexual innuendo" made sense from a female singer. So "inch" was changed to "bit."

And the third verse, which includes the line, "Shake for me, girl, I wanna be your backdoor man" was deemed inappropriate and was cut from the ceremony.

My question: If the song was considered inappropriate, why didn't they just pick another song, instead of saddling the closing ceremony with a bastardized version?

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Interesting that the article claims the lyric was changed at Leona's request; I hadn't read that before. If I had been Leona, I would have had a hard time singing different lyrics after, you know, singing along to the original all these years But anyhow I thoroughly enjoyed it

[aen27]

These remarks have me baffled. Honestly, I'm a 32 year old woman who has never been attracted to a man in his mid-sixties...until now! Look at him. I mean....look at him. He is amazing.

I feel the same way and I'm 33.

[slave to zep]

These remarks have me baffled. Honestly, I'm a 32 year old woman who has never been attracted to a man in his mid-sixties...until now! Look at him. I mean....look at him. He is amazing.

moonmaid, im with you. i think people who say derogatory things about others is based in jealousy. ive always been taught that if you cant say something nice about someone, then.......SHUT UP! it has been said that there are only really 2 emotions, from which every other emotion branches. love and fear. when people fear that they for instance , cant compete with another , they attack, because it makes them feel better or superior. but when they admire or love someone its all positive. the reporters who have been negative, imo are just trying to puff themselves up. they are just reporters.......they dont "do " the news.......lets see one of them on top of a bus playing guitar at 64. OR giving a 2 hour concert, OR working for a charity, OR raising a young family OR producing miles of footage and music OR ..........on and on. i bet these people will be in retirement long before Jimmy Page is.

what im saying is simple......all the "bashing " comes from jealousy, and all the positive stuff is derived from love.

my love to you, Mr Page.

[longdistancewinner]

I feel the same way and I'm 33.

I feel the same and I'm 22.

Jimmy Page is love.

[Moonmaid]

I feel the same way and I'm 33.

moonmaid, im with you. i think people who say derogatory things about others is based in jealousy. ive always been taught that if you cant say something nice about someone, then.......SHUT UP! it has been said that there are only really 2 emotions, from which every other emotion branches. love and fear. when people fear that they for instance , cant compete with another , they attack, because it makes them feel better or superior. but when they admire or love someone its all positive. the reporters who have been negative, imo are just trying to puff themselves up. they are just reporters.......they dont "do " the news.......lets see one of them on top of a bus playing guitar at 64. OR giving a 2 hour concert, OR working for a charity, OR raising a young family OR producing miles of footage and music OR ..........on and on. i bet these people will be in retirement long before Jimmy Page is.

what im saying is simple......all the "bashing " comes from jealousy, and all the positive stuff is derived from love.

my love to you, Mr Page.

I feel the same and I'm 22.

Jimmy Page is love.

Aw! Group hug!! I knew I wasn't alone. Not here!

(Well said, STZ.)

[slave to zep]

Aw! Group hug!! I knew I wasn't alone. Not here!

(Well said, STZ.)

hi moonmaid cant wait to see the pics that ross halfin would have taken...............

so in the space of a few posts we have a 22 yo, a 33 yo, and a 46 yo , all in love with jimmy......and im sure there is even more. Jimmy, you still got it, babe.

[longdistancewinner]

hi moonmaid cant wait to see the pics that ross halfin would have taken...............

so in the space of a few posts we have a 22 yo, a 33 yo, and a 46 yo , all in love with jimmy......and im sure there is even more. Jimmy, you still got it, babe.

I totally fell for him when I was about 15...so he would've been...oh, about 57? Age has no bearing on me at all. He's gorgeous. He always will be

He's the sexiest fucking man I've ever seen. From the Yardbirds, through Zeppelin, to right now. White hair and all.

[Roxie]

I must join in on the Jimmy love here. He's been looking better now than he has in YEARS. I've been in "Jimmy mode" lately, which surprises me since I'm hooked on Plant!

Who says you can't like both??

[slave to zep]

I must join in on the Jimmy love here. He's been looking better now than he has in YEARS. I've been in "Jimmy mode" lately, which surprises me since I'm hooked on Plant!

Who says you can't like both??

haha............( sings ) " torn between two lovers.........."

[slave to zep]

actually i must fess up. i alsoo think robert is amazing. sexy, talented.........the two hottest guys on the planet, and they both belong to the same band : the best band on the planet yesterday, today and tomorrow.

[SunChild]

All I need to know about the dude from the Times is he thinks Zep is "children's music."

Moron.

These remarks have me baffled. Honestly, I'm a 32 year old woman who has never been attracted to a man in his mid-sixties...until now! Look at him. I mean....look at him. He is amazing.

Have to agree, and I'm... old enough to know.

I don't know if Leona is just an excellent actress, but, it struck me from her body language that she felt the same as the rest of us!

[widget]

All the media bashing is just ridiculous.

Nothing has really changed though. Even when Led Zeppelin were at the height of their popularity they always received mixed reviews from the media. The English press is notorious for giving their own artists a hard time. Here in Australia, many of the music journalists emanate from a tertiary post-punk wasteland, and blinded by the insipid mediocrity of our own artists are unable to distinguish between talent and a lack thereof.

Meg

[AllisonAdler]

^ True. Here's a nice little bit from Dom Joly's Independent column today:

To my right I could see Jimmy Page and ... Jackie Chan and to my left was David Beckham, talking live on the BBC – this was all very surreal. I secretly thanked the Lord that, for once, there had been no sign of the inevitable Elton John or Paul McCartney anywhere in the proceedings – surely a first? At least, with the inclusion of Page, they'd chosen someone a little different in the musical arena.

And another item of praise from Lynsey Hanley in The Guardian:

There was pure magic in operation at the Olympic closing ceremony when the big red bus rolled into view. The choreographers of London's handover routine made public transport appear the natural choice of rock stars and international footballers. If Jimmy Page can stand on the top deck without causing serious damage to his charisma, there's hope for all of us: until that moment there was no conversation-stopper quite as powerful as saying you came by bus.

Good to see some better press!

[SteveAJones]

I must join in on the Jimmy love here. He's been looking better now than he has in YEARS. I've been in "Jimmy mode" lately, which surprises me since I'm hooked on Plant!

Who says you can't like both??

Geez, some guys have all the luck.

[barrios]

why poeple analyse wot other people think on this forum ?

is it full of adolescents or wot ?

you like the song/performance

or you didnt....

[ddot]

yes

[barrios]

yes

lol....

[MrZoSo]

yup the chinese or some type of ese people were talking over the solo

The US announcers were very respectful of Jimmy and announced him with much excitement. Also they did not talk over his playing. The French on the other hand talked all over Jimmy, and were laughing. I didn't understand what they were saying, but I have a funny feeling it was not nice.