London 2012The opening ceremony in London on Fri 27th was amazing: a quirky, moving, funny exciting look at Britain. I was moved to tears, I laughed out loud, I pogo-ed around the living room.
After Beijing 2008's wonderful elegant ceremonies we wondered how we could compete with the stylish precision that dazzled the world. So Danny Boyle decided not to, he decided to play to our strengths and created a different show.
London 2012The opening ceremony in London on Fri 27th was amazing: a quirky, moving, funny exciting look at Britain. I was moved to tears, I laughed out loud, I pogo-ed around the living room.After Beijing 2008's wonderful elegant ceremonies we wondered how we could compete with the stylish precision that dazzled the world. So Danny Boyle decided not to, he decided to play to our strengths and created a different show.
We had children's choirs singing Jerusalem (England) Danny Boy (Northern Ireland), O Flower of Scotland (Scotland, obvs) and Cwm Rhondda (Wales), there was the pastoral idyll of a time gone by transformed into the Victorian industrial age which then forged the olympic rings in iron and suspended them above the stadium.
To a collective gasp of joy and disbelief we had HMQ as the best ever Bond girl "appearing" to skydive into the stadium with Daniel Craig.
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| HMQ- raising the bar for all pensioners |
We had a wonderful moving tribute to the victims of the London bombings (7/7/05) when 52 people were killed by terrorist bombs in London the day after London won the Olympic bid.
No one else would have pure comedy on display, but we did when Mr Bean joined in playing the Chariots of Fire theme with the LSO conducted by Daniel Barenboim.
And then the Olympic cauldron was lit. There had been much speculation about who would do this, but no one could have predicted what we saw. Each of 204 countries represented at the Games carried in a large bronze petal, which were then put into the shape of a large chrysanthemum flower ( a nod to Beijing perhaps?). Sir Steve Redgrave carried the flame into the stadium but then passed it to a team of very young athletes, teenagers who compete at a junior level who then carried it around the stadium and they lit the petals. The torch was symbolically passed onto the next generation and they united the world. It was beautifully moving.
I couldn't get to sleep afterwards it was so much to take in, and I couldn't knit either while watching it.
It was wonderful. Thank you Danny Boyle for such a fabulous show.
No one else would have pure comedy on display, but we did when Mr Bean joined in playing the Chariots of Fire theme with the LSO conducted by Daniel Barenboim.
And then the Olympic cauldron was lit. There had been much speculation about who would do this, but no one could have predicted what we saw. Each of 204 countries represented at the Games carried in a large bronze petal, which were then put into the shape of a large chrysanthemum flower ( a nod to Beijing perhaps?). Sir Steve Redgrave carried the flame into the stadium but then passed it to a team of very young athletes, teenagers who compete at a junior level who then carried it around the stadium and they lit the petals. The torch was symbolically passed onto the next generation and they united the world. It was beautifully moving.
I couldn't get to sleep afterwards it was so much to take in, and I couldn't knit either while watching it.
It was wonderful. Thank you Danny Boyle for such a fabulous show.
1 comment:
I am an Olympic Fanatic. I can't wait to see the parde of nations to see what they wear.
The program was awesome . . it had a comforting feeling where China's was all show and glitz. It was like a time capsul of the world I know in a stadium.
You all did well :0}
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