Paris 2024

I have tended to think of apps as phone things but, of course, it's just the same on a smart tv.

The loss of viewers will make the IOC think again next time.

This sort of international celebration of sport should not be behind a pay wall

Le flop

It's not about the number we chopped off (I accept we were rather fond of that too), but rather how many we left with a head attached to allow us to have Jubilee celebrations. 

Andrew Cotter took a break from posting dog videos on Twitter to show us their commentating set-up. x.com/MrAndrewCotter/status/1818269389294383395

The arrangement looks dreadful, and I now realise that I wasn't hearing rain on microphones, but rather rain on the bit of plastic Andrew and Hazel were huddled under as they squinted at small laptop screens. Even if it had been dry - what was the benefit of the commentary booths being by the Eiffel Tower when only a fraction of the action was happening there?

There seems to be mixed messages on whether the drag queen bit was a nod to The Last Supper and/or another painting, but at the time I was unaware of it being supposed to be anything except maybe an homage to the never aired because it was so bad pilot episode of Eurotrash. I don't mind them doing drag, any more than I don't mind them having jugglers or singers. But the fact some people might object to their existence doesn't mean they don't need to try to be a bit entertaining or check their hotpants can contain all of their genitals for the duration. 

Richard Osman on the Rest is Entertainment podcast said he'd been talking to Andrew Cotter and he and Hazel Irvine had not been given any advance information about the format or running order of the ceremony - so when the cameras cut to Lady Gaga or a cancan it was as much a surprise to them as to us. He apologised for not instantly recognising a 60-something Nadia Cominech but they were given no info about who the torch bearers were. And when the torch went back down the Seine they had no idea where it was going... Also they hadn't expected the cameras to switch so quickly between country groups, so while he'd previously have known that e.g. Germany had 400 athletes he needed to talk over, sometimes countries were only getting 5-10 second shots before cutting. Under the circumstances I think he and Hazel Irvine did a decent job.

Discovery got a multi year deal that lasts to 2032 and apparently the IOC wanted to sell the total European rights rather than country by country so tricky for the BBC. Not possible to buy rights to Paris in isolation.

With the gymnastics that's not normally a rights issue, the host broadcaster have to jump around to cover all the various apparatus and the BBC don't control the pictures. I believe Discovery have commentary free individual streams for each one but that's not available for the BBC and anyway doesn't give you the wider story of the event.

I’m a nervous wreck again. Brilliant match by both Andy and Dan

I used to do Dulwich parkrun maybe 10 years ago. It's well known among club athetes as a proper fast circuit (which I def wsn't but it was nearby).

Occasionally, a father and son used to come along, the dad to watch and the 15, 16-year old to run. He was extraordinary; every stride was like a triple jump leap. I had literally never seen anything like that. It was like a mechanical, robotic pattern. Just a huge thing that ate up ground.

At that point, the lad only ran, but in about half an hour he'll be trying - again - for Olympic gold in the men's triathlon. Good luck Alex Yee (and dad)!

An exhausting watch!

I know folks in the US were complaining about their horrible commentators, too. If commentators had been able to contextualize some of the more obscure/misinterpreted/baffling bits, it 'might' have reduced the amount of pearl-clutching going on.

I was watching in London, but with the sound low enough I didn't know what was going on anyway. But I knew it wasn't going to go down well. It just amuses me how much time people must be spending examining every single frame for wayward genitals.

And I saw one of the Moulin Rouge dancers post about the conditions. While they had rehearsed their own bit, they hadn't really been told how it would all fit together, plus there were apparently communication problems with the signals to start their portion. Adding a very narrow, wet stage and slippery shoes, they said they were justifiably worried about slipping and falling (apparently at least one person did).

I'm not sure I follow. What was just a broken pair of tights/stockings and which crazies do you think I'm believing about what?

If you are referring to the escaped testicle, I saw a screen shot of it. I wasn't offended. The person who posted was laughing about it and not crazy or offended. It wouldn't have been obvious during the show, and the screen shot was taken by someone planning a joke about 'Papa Smurf' being on the booze. People were laughing about it. But just one dress rehearsal would have been enough to realise that a different pair of shorts were required.

An inappropriate surface/ shoes for the Cancan dancers is a more serious issue as they could have been hurt. But all point to the same lack of preparation and proper rehearsal by the organisers.