Ok, on the list of British cultural emissaries surely Elton John must rank, and rank higher than many we've seen. So whom has he pissed off?! Conspicuous omission indeed! We've even seen (and heard) some obscure British rapper! Peep this section of a blog about the opening ceremonies from sports writer Michael Wilbon, it came to mind when I heard about rumored artists for the closing ceremonies.

Excerpt:

For those of us who've never been in the presence of the queen, being in the same stadium as her Friday was absolutely cool. But seriously, how do you do four hours of anything in England and not include Elton John? If I could pick three Britons to have dinner with, Elton John is on my short list, right behind Victoria Pendleton, the Olympic cyclist. An entire tribute to the history of British pop music, right down to an East London rapper, and no mention of Elton John? Maybe he's been disowned because he lives in Atlanta now? David Bowie, but no Elton John? Annie Lennox, but no Elton John? Isn't he Sir Elton John? Did he offend her royal highness or something? I'm not asking for a medley by Sir Elton, but the man can't get a mention?

The man who rewrote "Candle in The Wind" for Princess Diana gets shut out? That, boys and girls, is intentional. That's akin to having a tribute to pop music in the U.S. and leaving out, say, Elvis. There's no time for Elton, but there's five minutes for a choreographed dramatization of life and death using -- and I'm quoting here from a script given to the media -- "such powerful images of mortality as dust and the setting sun"? It's "Olympics: The Musical."

Maybe he didn't wanna do it?

That would take away from his Madonna bashing. Priorities, people!

AlexdeParis said:

That would take away from his Madonna bashing. Priorities, people!

I was gonna say the same thing but I thought better of it.

uh, the Olympics is a pretTY big stage for an attention whore. only comes around every 4 years and is instantly canonized, hard pressed to believe he'd turn it down

datdude said:

uh, the Olympics is a pretTY big stage for an attention whore. only comes around every 4 years and is instantly canonized, hard pressed to believe he'd turn it down

Even attention whores have their limits.

When he's not preoccupied with branding Madonna a washed-up generic stripper, he spends most of his time suing British newspapers for defamation of character!

Elton John Sues Murdoch-Owned British Newspaper for Libel (Aug 9, 2012)

Identity said:

When he's not preoccupied with branding Madonna a washed-up generic stripper, he spends most of his time suing British newspapers for defamation of character!

Elton John Sues Murdoch-Owned British Newspaper for Libel (Aug 9, 2012)

Elton, Elton, Elton...

Proof positive that Elton behaves like an infant when he believes HIS character has been slurred.

...

[Edited 8/9/12 12:37pm]

Identity said:

Proof positive that Elton behaves like an infant when he believes HIS character has been slurred. Big crybaby!

...

[Edited 8/9/12 12:34pm]

It's almost like if you compare 1972 Elton to 2012 Elton, it's not the same person.

elton was actually asked to organise the music for the final ceromony a long time ago but fell out with the organisers

What would he add?

nothing special.

Hey Elton!

Fuck off, and take Paul McCartney with you!

TheDigitalGardener said:

Hey Elton!

Fuck off, and take Paul McCartney with you!

we didn't see Roxy Music/Bryan Ferry/Eno, Duran Duran, Depeche Mode, Sade, George Michael, Oasis, Suede or Coldplay either

so

[Edited 8/10/12 7:50am]

Where's the Rolling Stones? Maybe another Pink Floyd reunion for the closing ceremonies?

as long as Blur is part of the closing ceremony, im cool with that.

He has publicly criticised the olympics because of it's high degree of patriotism, and he has also criticised the monarchy, but not before he insulted Madonna. I read this in The Guardian.

[Edited 8/10/12 10:07am]

Azz said:

He has publicly criticised the olympics because of it's high degree of patriotism, and he has also criticised the monarchy.

Why does Elton use the title "Sir" then? John Lennon returned his MBE medal.

Now that the Spice Girls have been photographed rehearsing for the closing ceremony, what good woud come from adding a bloated killjoy like Elton to the lineup?

MickyDolenz said:

Azz said:

He has publicly criticised the olympics because of it's high degree of patriotism, and he has also criticised the monarchy.

Why does Elton use the title "Sir" then? John Lennon returned his MBE medal.

Who knows? He has been acting very contradictory. He has been trashing Madonna, but it seems he secretly loves her and he seems to think he knows her career well enough to give her criticism and advice.

I believe, he was criticising the olympics for centering too much around the Queen. Or maybe dedicated more importance to her than he feels she deserves?

I disgress...

I noticed that, too. The opening ceremonies had tributes to all the great british rockers, except Elton. And considering he has a title of Sir, and he took part in a major official royal ceremony, I don't get it.

JoeTyler said:

we didn't see Roxy Music/Bryan Ferry/Eno, Duran Duran, Depeche Mode, Sade, George Michael, Oasis, Suede or Coldplay either

so

[Edited 8/10/12 7:50am]

Um, Duran Duran played during the beginning of the ceremonies at Hyde Park, you might want to look that up on Facebook or their website.

But Andy wasn't part of it, so I didn't care.

BTW, George is going to be singing during the closing ceremonies. He's been tweeting about it.

[Edited 8/10/12 11:18am]

JoeTyler said:

we didn't see Roxy Music/Bryan Ferry/Eno, Duran Duran, Depeche Mode, Sade, George Michael, Oasis, Suede or Coldplay either

so

[Edited 8/10/12 7:50am]

george michaels is doing the closing ceromony with muse and the spice girls, and i saw a photo of him at the rehearsals. kate bush is also rumoured to attend

MickyDolenz said:

Azz said:

He has publicly criticised the olympics because of it's high degree of patriotism, and he has also criticised the monarchy.

Why does Elton use the title "Sir" then? John Lennon returned his MBE medal.

I mean if you're gonna criticize the government, why even go by a government-supported title as "Sir"? That don't make sense. But Elton's been on some fuckshit since '98.

Timmy84 said:

MickyDolenz said:

Why does Elton use the title "Sir" then? John Lennon returned his MBE medal.

I mean if you're gonna criticize the government, why even go by a government-supported title as "Sir"? That don't make sense. But Elton's been on some fuckshit since '98.

the knighthood comes from the monarchy, not the government

unique said:

Timmy84 said:

I mean if you're gonna criticize the government, why even go by a government-supported title as "Sir"? That don't make sense. But Elton's been on some fuckshit since '98.

the knighthood comes from the monarchy, not the government

Thanks for the correction but that still don't make sense why you would even attack shit if you're not cool with it and accept any title regardless where it came from.

datdude said:

The man who rewrote "Candle in The Wind" for Princess Diana gets shut out?

That was Bernie