its all because England's economy still runs off of the remaining Beatles XD. Coldplay playing an epic version of Viva la Vida would have been great. I liked most of Paul's performance, he was a little hoarse though, but he is 70. Hey Jude overplayed at British events and wherever Paul is so its a little repetitive. Its been 42 years since the beatles broke up. They're now a little overplayed and overrated despite there being 2 left. Clapton would be a kickass closer. "WONDERFULL TONIGHT"!

lastdecember said:

DaveT said:

Point taking that the problem lies partly with the producers who lacked any originality when it came to choosing someone to close the show, but surely McCartney could have said "Look guys, appreciate the offer, but isn't it about time for someone else? Seems only fair..."

And you question who has stepped up to write great songs since Hey Jude came out. Surely I don't need to list all the greats that have reached similar heights since Hey Jude was written....Bowie, Pink Floyd, The Who, The Smiths, Radiohead, Coldplay, Joy Division/New Order, Muse, Kate Bush, Clash/Joe Strummer, Blur, Police, Faithless...you're telling me none of these British acts, and the other countless greats I haven't mentioned, have written anything that can compete with the Naa Naa Naa of Hey Jude?

Well first thing is why should recommend someone else or PASS the offer, i mean i know PAUL has done this kind of thing before, but to my knowledge him opening the Olympics in his home country, maybe its a pride thing for him? why say "Oh go book Coldplay i dont want that honor", sorry but if i was him i would be honored and take pride in my country, we forget BRITS are a bit more proud than self obsessed america is. Next that is a nice list of british acts but i see two that i would even consider putting on a world stage, and thats Coldplay and the Police, and since one is not even a band anymore, i doubt they are gonna be asked. The rest are good but lets be real worldwide? they arent relevant at all.

I can understand Paul's motivation for saying "yes", and I guess it ties in with Stella designing the GB team outfits. But with the whole spirit of the Olympics being about moving on for the future (the Olympic flame being given but previous gold medal winners to young athletes to carry round) why close with a musical act who us Brits having been living off the glory of for decades now....even more so when we've got current acts who are currently lighting up the world-stage.

And one of those is Coldplay, who I'm baffled as to why you wouldn't put on the world stage...everyone knows who they are. They're huge in America and across Europe. Take a look at their track record over the last ten years, album sales, tours, etc. Again, you may not like them but they are the biggest band in the world right now (and have been for few years now)...and they're British. Seems like a no-brainer to me...