The Closing Ceremony Musical Performances NBC Didn’t Want You To See

Here’s an old Chinese proverb for you: though the Olympics may have ended, NBC blunders will live on forever. Example #439: during the Closing Ceremony last night, the Peacock edited out performances in prime time from Ray Davies of the Kinks, Kate Bush (kind of), Muse, and most egregiously, the Who in the U.S., so that they could show the premiere of Animal Practice. Monkey wearing a lab coat > some of the great British bands of all-time?

To be fair, the Who’s eight-minute performance — which can be viewed in its unembeddable entirety here — was shown later that evening, but that doesn’t make up for omitting Davies, who sang one of the world’s most exquisite songs, “Waterloo Sunset.” (You’re allowed to use words like “exquisite” and “fanciful” when discussing the Kinks.) As for Muse, well, “Survival” is sonic garbage, but it is the official song of the Olympics, which makes the fact that NBC didn’t air it, yet gave all the time in the world to Jessie J., all the more baffling, to say nothing of the atrocity that was Russell Brand crooning “Pure Imagination” and “I Am the Walrus.”

Check out Bush “singing” “Running Up That Hill” on Gawker, and performances from Davies and Muse below.

Muse – Survival (live London 2012 closing ceremony Olympics games) from Magmuzin on Vimeo.