CGI and the Olympic Spectacle

I'm not sure if this is a big deal or not given how much of our cultural entertainment is canned these days. That said, there are reports today that parts of the universally acclaimed Olympic Opening Night Spectacle were done with CGI for the TV viewing audience. Apparently there were some issues of safety involved, at least that's what some of the spin is. Again, spectacle is spectacle, and the public has long ago seemed to not really care if it is live or if it is some form of lip synced, computer enhanced, entertainment.

Interesting note on this though, that might tilt the argument to the negative side. At Wayside Theatre we do a lot of shows featuring live music, and quite a few dealing with homages to dead music stars, like Buddy Holly, Hank Williams, and Patsy Cline. Inevitably, even though the audience is just a few feet away from the performers, we get asked if the show is canned or if the musicians are performing live.

Ah, well.