 NZ Herald 's Troy Rawhiti @-@ Forbes wrote that there were " touches of brilliance , beauty , and bewilderment - often at the same time . " However he called Russell Brand " tuneless " , and during George Michael 's performance he thought that " if there had been remote controls here in the stadium , people might have been reaching for them . " His " undisputed champions " of the night were the Spice Girls and The Who . David Rooney of the Hollywood Reporter noted that the show " had something for every generation " and was an " all @-@ star ... crowd @-@ pleaser . " However he wonders whether non @-@ British viewers would have understood references to The Italian Job and Only Fools and Horses . Rooney concludes that the " Rio preview and the rousing Britpop marathon that preceded it were a reminder that the Olympics are as much about spectacle as sport . " 
