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Jimmy defends Olympic performance


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By WENN world entertainment news

Led Zeppelin star Jimmy Page has defended his recent performance at the Beijing Olympics with Leona Lewis - insisting he can't understand why their act received such negative reviews.

The legendary guitarist teamed up with the Bleeding Love singer for a one-off rendition of his hit track Whole Lotta Love at the closing ceremony of the games last month.

But the duet was poorly received, with many critics branding it the low point of the 2008 event.

And Page is baffled by the poor feedback - because he thought the collaboration went well.

He says, "We got so much criticism and I really don't know why. I think we did a great job - it was an honour to be there. People just need to be less cynical. You know we went out there, we only had ten minutes - what did people expect?"

But Page is adamant that the experience has not put him off performing at the Olympics and admits he would love to be a part of the forthcoming 2012 games in London.

He adds, "If they asked, it would be an honour."

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What do people think Page was supposed to say when they asked him to perform? "No way, I'm too cool for that?" It was an honor to represent London and England at literally the biggest show on Earth.

It's like there are folks out there (Kevin Shirley and Mick Wall among 'em) who are stuck back in an adolescent "jocks vs. rockers, hippies, freaks and geeks" vibe.

This was not that.

Thank you Jimmy for putting it so eloquently.

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From an audio perspective, the performance was awful. Let's not try to deny that. The sound was not mixed directly from the source, all we heard on TV was the echo in the stadium. That is very disappointing and is the sort of thing Peter Grant protected the band from, and Jimmy has generally been very careful with.

There is simply no excuse for such poor audio, considering it was pre-recorded anyway. I'm not suggesting this was Jimmy's fault, but it's a shame. It would have been much better as a live performance

However, what is brilliant about it is the fact that of all the artists who could have been involved, it was Page........

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By WENN world entertainment news

Led Zeppelin star Jimmy Page has defended his recent performance at the Beijing Olympics with Leona Lewis - insisting he can't understand why their act received such negative reviews.

The legendary guitarist teamed up with the Bleeding Love singer for a one-off rendition of his hit track Whole Lotta Love at the closing ceremony of the games last month.

But the duet was poorly received, with many critics branding it the low point of the 2008 event.

And Page is baffled by the poor feedback - because he thought the collaboration went well.

He says, "We got so much criticism and I really don't know why. I think we did a great job - it was an honour to be there. People just need to be less cynical. You know we went out there, we only had ten minutes - what did people expect?"

But Page is adamant that the experience has not put him off performing at the Olympics and admits he would love to be a part of the forthcoming 2012 games in London.

He adds, "If they asked, it would be an honour."

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I have to agree with Mr. Page. I don't get the negative reviews either. Where exactly are these negative reviews???

I thought their performance was great in the time alloted...much better than I expected, particularly from Ms. Lewis. I'm not a fan of her music but I could hear that she has a great voice and she did a wonderful job on WLL with Jimmy.

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From an audio perspective, the performance was awful. Let's not try to deny that. The sound was not mixed directly from the source, all we heard on TV was the echo in the stadium. That is very disappointing and is the sort of thing Peter Grant protected the band from, and Jimmy has generally been very careful with.

There is simply no excuse for such poor audio, considering it was pre-recorded anyway. I'm not suggesting this was Jimmy's fault, but it's a shame. It would have been much better as a live performance

However, what is brilliant about it is the fact that of all the artists who could have been involved, it was Page........

You're right about the sound quality. I'm looking forward to a possible release. Maybe they could use it to raise money for ABC and/or Right to Play:

http://www.righttoplay.com

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I have to agree with Mr. Page. I don't get the negative reviews either. Where exactly are these negative reviews???

I thought their performance was great in the time alloted...much better than I expected, particularly from Ms. Lewis. I'm not a fan of her music but I could hear that she has a great voice and she did a wonderful job on WLL with Jimmy.

Surprise, surprise the British press :rolleyes:

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By WENN world entertainment news

Led Zeppelin star Jimmy Page has defended his recent performance at the Beijing Olympics with Leona Lewis - insisting he can't understand why their act received such negative reviews.

The legendary guitarist teamed up with the Bleeding Love singer for a one-off rendition of his hit track Whole Lotta Love at the closing ceremony of the games last month.

But the duet was poorly received, with many critics branding it the low point of the 2008 event.

And Page is baffled by the poor feedback - because he thought the collaboration went well.

He says, "We got so much criticism and I really don't know why. I think we did a great job - it was an honour to be there. People just need to be less cynical. You know we went out there, we only had ten minutes - what did people expect?"

But Page is adamant that the experience has not put him off performing at the Olympics and admits he would love to be a part of the forthcoming 2012 games in London.

He adds, "If they asked, it would be an honour."

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Thanks for that Miss HD.

I loved it. I thought he (and Leona) did superb in the 8 minutes they had. It's sad that he has to defend his performance, but I'm 100% behind him (in his performance and his defense). As much as it was an honour for him to be representing London and Britain, it was an honour for me to have someone like him do so for our country. How many other countries have (and wish) someone like Jimmy could represent theirs? I'm still very, very proud of him, and he should just tell all those naysayers to fuck off. The boy did good.

B)

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Jimmy and Leona did a great job with Whole Lotta Love. It was just fantastic and JP was really into it. The TV mix was horrible but if you go on various sites including NBC's, you get a pretty decent mix. That was just the media , trying to find a scapegoat for the Olympics. It was unjust.

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Thanks for that Miss HD.

I loved it. I thought he (and Leona) did superb in the 8 minutes they had. It's sad that he has to defend his performance, but I'm 100% behind him (in his performance and his defense). As much as it was an honour for him to be representing London and Britain, it was an honour for me to have someone like him do so for our country. How many other countries have (and wish) someone like Jimmy could represent theirs? I'm still very, very proud of him, and he should just tell all those naysayers to fuck off. The boy did good.

B)

I agree 100% (I'm not from Britain but still proud) :) The important thing is that Jimmy (and Leona and all the others involved in creating the performance) already know they did good :D . I'm just as baffled by any negativity, but all arts are subjective. Just have to let the criticism roll off the back and trust what's instinctually created from the heart.

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What do people think Page was supposed to say when they asked him to perform? "No way, I'm too cool for that?" It was an honor to represent London and England at literally the biggest show on Earth.

It's like there are folks out there (Kevin Shirley and Mick Wall among 'em) who are stuck back in an adolescent "jocks vs. rockers, hippies, freaks and geeks" vibe.

This was not that.

Thank you Jimmy for putting it so eloquently.

If it was Paul McCartney or U2, you would hear how great they were. Fuck the critics...damn losers!

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Its the way some people are over here, I really do not know what else they could have done in the ten mins they had....some are just negative about everything, if they won the lottery they would still\ find a problem with that :). Well done Jim and Leona, none could of done better !!

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I enjoyed the performance but a little puzzled by the choice of Whole Lotta Love. I mean the song is the epitome of sex, drugs, and rock-n-roll. Is that the image London wanted to present to the world in the context of the 2012 Olympics?! Hey, if it's going to be an international love-in, I'll start saving for my ticket now...

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I enjoyed the performance, it was fun to watch, and they seemed to be enjoying the moment! It was very cool that he was invited to represent London :) I want to say that underscores his influence and continuing relevance today, but relevance seems an inadequate term...but you know what I mean?

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I know I posted this already somewhere else, but I will do it again here! What an honor, Jimmy Page instead of Mick jagger, the stones, Kiss, Paul Mccartney, U2, Bruce Springteen, TomPetty. And of course, (just a joke) Bret Michaels. Oh, I should also include John Bon jovi. It doesn't matter that Jimmy was pre-recorded, and Leona, sounded great. What more can you say? Our Hero Honored In Front of THE WHOLE WORLD!

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What do people think Page was supposed to say when they asked him to perform? "No way, I'm too cool for that?" It was an honor to represent London and England at literally the biggest show on Earth.

It's like there are folks out there (Kevin Shirley and Mick Wall among 'em) who are stuck back in an adolescent "jocks vs. rockers, hippies, freaks and geeks" vibe.

This was not that.

Thank you Jimmy for putting it so eloquently.

Personally, I sort of liked it, but I also heard Leona's single on the radio for the first time a few days later and felt that her voice was better suited to that type of music. The performance was done well, really well. Personal taste as far as the rest of it goes. I sure hope they ask him to lead the 2012 Olympics.

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I know I posted this already somewhere else, but I will do it again here! What an honor, Jimmy Page instead of Mick jagger, the stones, Kiss, Paul Mccartney, U2, Bruce Springteen, TomPetty. And of course, (just a joke) Bret Michaels. Oh, I should also include John Bon jovi. It doesn't matter that Jimmy was pre-recorded, and Leona, sounded great. What more can you say? Our Hero Honored In Front of THE WHOLE WORLD!

One of the reasons I imagine Jimmy and Leona were chosen to represent London and Britain - aside from being incredibly talented - was the fact that they are both from LONDON. None of those other musicians would even be thought of because they aren't from LONDON, or, in some cases, Britain. It wasn't a free for all where the London Olympic Committee picked a random musician from a hat and just decided they'd have them.

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One of the reasons I imagine Jimmy and Leona were chosen to represent London and Britain - aside from being incredibly talented - was the fact that they are both from LONDON. None of those other musicians would even be thought of because they aren't from LONDON, or, in some cases, Britain. It wasn't a free for all where the London Olympic Committee picked a random musician from a hat and just decided they'd have them.

That sounds about right. The pairing also managed to bring together two cultural icons (for lack of a better term) from different generations and different musical genres.

I thoroughly enjoyed the performance. I can understand why some folks might be disappointed that it wasn't a truly live performance, or the sound quality in some cases wasn't ideal... but it was neither an exquisitely produced studio album nor a live concert. It was an 8 minute performance that was part of a larger performance. Olympic closing ceremonies tend to be rather over-the-top whooptedoos with all kinds of symbology, theatrics, etc. Jimmy's and Leona's performance was just fine and appropriate for what it was and for what it was supposed to be. I'm just sorry that Jimmy feels the need to defend it... but then, here we all are... defending the hell out of it. B)

edited for a grammatical booboo...

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