ONTD

1:43 pm - 07/29/2012

Olympic Choreographer “Disheartened" NBC Cut His Entire Victims Tribute



“Our program is tailored for the U.S. television audience,” NBC responds.

“It’s a credit to (ceremony director) Danny Boyle that it required so little editing.”


Choreographer Akram Khan, whose "Abide With Me" tribute performance (which you can watch here) at last night's opening ceremony, was visibly shocked to learn NBC had edited out his performance when the network aired the ceremony in tape delay, choosing instead to air a Ryan Seacrest interview with Michael Phelps.

The performance was widely interpreted as a tribute to the victims of the 7/7 London bombings, as well as people who passed away before the 2012 Olympics.

Khan was silent, then he explained to the room and the reporter that this was the first he heard this news. You could see Khan was upset, stunned, shaken and disappointed all in an instant.

Khan's dance director and partner in the performance Farooq Chaudhry told Nicholas Wolaver "It's disgraceful U.S. media could make that decision and [I] would like to know why. Khan later said, "I am really sad that I couldn’t show the work in America, and that really upsets me, because I don‘t think it’s any more or less than the other pieces. It brings to mind the question … that maybe it’s too truthful...Is it not accessible enough? Is it not commercial enough?”

“Our program is tailored for the U.S. television audience,” said NBC Sports spokesman Greg Hughes in a statement. “It’s a credit to (ceremony director) Danny Boyle that it required so little editing.”

Source s2 s3
hardcoreninja11 29th-Jul-2012 03:52 am (UTC)
“Our program is tailored for the U.S. television audience."

This sentence really pissed me off.
so_chic_doll 29th-Jul-2012 03:55 am (UTC)
like the U.S. television audience would be enraged by a tribute to slain athletes-- like wtf? i know the US isn't perfect, but good lord. they're making it worse with their ignorance.
flaming_poof 29th-Jul-2012 04:08 am (UTC)
You do know that is was a tribute to the victims of the 7/7 bombing in London don't you, and not slain athletes.....
queen_haq 29th-Jul-2012 04:41 am (UTC)
Me too! What I get from that sentence is that NBC really believes American audiences are simply not interested in watching a tribute to anything that doesn't involve Americans. I refuse to believe that's true.
ultra_obscene84 29th-Jul-2012 06:36 am (UTC)
I agree. Does NBC really think that Americans are that ignorant? I can't stand it. "It's foreign stuff, our audiences won't like it".
the_flo 29th-Jul-2012 12:51 pm (UTC)
Every time I was in the US for the Olympics NBC didn't even air any competition that didn't result in a gold medal win for the US, so I choose to believe there is SOMETHING to it.
scarletfbl 29th-Jul-2012 01:20 pm (UTC)
NBC is groce, because I totally believe this is what they're implying.
ohyoudo 29th-Jul-2012 05:14 am (UTC)
Seriously. How is this even an excuse idgi
musicpsych 29th-Jul-2012 05:16 am (UTC)
Me, too. It's demeaning and insulting to the US audience. It's also irresponsible to cut anything if you take this broadcast as journalism. They should show what happened, not what some NBC producers decided was good enough to air.
zelene2004 29th-Jul-2012 06:33 am (UTC)
this was complete and utter BS. I think most US people would have preferred the tribute about the 7/7 bombings rather than a lame interview with Phelps
trex_in_boots 29th-Jul-2012 07:00 am (UTC)
You know I live in America and I would have really liked to see that segment and not Ryan Seacrest.
Also, NBC's response really is shit and it's rude! It really makes it look like we are ignorant and we don't care about the world.
evridis 29th-Jul-2012 10:40 am (UTC)
Could you imagine the response if the BBC cut a 9/11 tribute and then excused it with "our programme is tailored for the British television audience."

The US would probably declare war on Britain lbr.
missdiane 29th-Jul-2012 11:48 am (UTC)
Me too! I mean there was MORE than one mention of 9/11 by the NBC commentators, so what the hell is up with NBC not recognizing THEIR tragedy?

Asshabadashery.
hannahstarr 29th-Jul-2012 01:04 pm (UTC)
what this says to me is, "We don't think Americans know or care about bombings in other countries so we're just going to replace it with some Michael Phelps because everyone loves Michael Phelps!"
politic_ennui 29th-Jul-2012 01:27 pm (UTC)
Sounds like they don't think much of the American audience.
This page was loaded May 23rd 2013, 1:30 pm GMT.