“The Olympic Games are coming home tonight,” IOC President Jacques Rogge
Britain's Queen Elizabeth declared the London Olympics open after playing a cameo role in a dizzying ceremony designed to highlight the grandeur and eccentricities of the nation that invented modern sport.
Children's voices intertwining from the four corners of her United Kingdom ushered in an exuberant historical pageant of meadows, smokestacks and digital wizardry before an audience of 60,000 in the Olympic Stadium and a probable billion television viewers around the globe.
Many of them gasped at the sight of the 86-year-old queen, marking her Diamond Jubilee this year, putting aside royal reserve in a video where she stepped onto a helicopter with James Bond actor Daniel Craig to be carried aloft from Buckingham Palace.
A film clip showed doubles of her and Bond skydiving towards the stadium and, moments later, she made her entrance in person.
“In a sense, the Olympic Games are coming home tonight,” IOC President Jacques Rogge told the crowd. “This great, sports-loving country is widely recognised as the birthplace of modern sport.”
To underline the point, Bradley Wiggins, crowned five days earlier as Britain's first winner of the Tour de France and hoping to add more road cycling gold in London, tolled the world's largest tuned bell to begin the ceremony.
In one moment of simple drama, the stadium fell silent as five giant, incandescent Olympic rings, symbolically forged from British steel mills, were lifted serenely out of the stadium by weather balloons, destined for the stratosphere.
And at the climax of an evening that had children centre-stage, seven teenage athletes were given the honour of lighting the Olympic cauldron that will burn for the duration of the Games, in keeping with the theme of “Inspire a Generation”.
More than 10,000 athletes from 204 countries will compete in 26 sports over 17 days of competition in the only city to have staged the modern Games three times.
Most of them were there for the traditional alphabetical parade of the national teams, not least the athletes from Egypt, Tunisia, Libya and Yemen competing in their first Olympics since their peoples overthrew autocrats in Arab Spring revolutions.
Brunei and Qatar were led in by their countries' first ever female Olympians and so, along with Saudi Arabia, ended their status as the only countries to exclude women from their teams.
At a reception, the queen spelled out the role played by her family after the Olympics were revived in Athens in 1896.
“This will be the third London Olympiad. My great grandfather opened the 1908 Games at White City. My father opened the 1948 Games at Wembley Stadium. And, later this evening, I will take pleasure in declaring open the 2012 London Olympic Games at Stratford in the east of London,” she said.
“Over recent months, many in these islands have watched with growing excitement the journey of the Olympic torch around the United Kingdom. As the torch has passed through villages and towns, it has drawn people together as families and communities.
”To me, this spirit of togetherness is a most important part of the Olympic ideal. And the British people can be proud of the part they have played in keeping the spirit alive.“
The opening show, costing an estimated 27 million pounds, was inspired by William Shakespeare's play ”The Tempest“, his late-life meditation on age and mortality.
But it was children who set the tone, starting from the moment when live pictures of junior choirs singing in the landscapes of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland were beamed into the stadium's giant screens, four traditional songs woven together into a musical tapestry of Britain.
Oscar-winning film director Danny Boyle began his sweep through British history by grassing over the arena in a depiction of the pastoral idyll mythologised by the romantic poet William Blake as ”England's green and pleasant land“.
Idyll turned swiftly to inferno as the Industrial Revolution's ”dark Satanic mills“ burst from the ground, before those same mills forged the last of five giant Olympic rings that rose into the sky.
At the end of a three-hour extravaganza, David Beckham, the English soccer icon who had helped convince the IOC to grant London the Games, stepped off a speedboat carrying the Olympic flame at the end of a torch relay that inspired many ordinary people around Britain.
Past Olympic heroes including Muhammad Ali, who lit the cauldron at the 1996 Atlanta Games, and British rower Steve Redgrave, the only person to win gold at five successive games, welcomed the flame into the stadium.
Yet it was not a celebrity but seven teenage athletes who lit a spectacular arrangement of over 200 copper 'petals' representing the participating countries, which rose up in the centre of the stadium to converge into a single cauldron.
Moments later, a balloon-borne camera relayed live pictures of the earlier-released interlocked rings gliding through the stratosphere against the curved horizon of the planet below.
The performance included surreal and often witty references to British achievements, especially in social reform and the arts, and ended with former Beatle Paul McCartney singing ”Hey Jude“.
Many sequences turned the entire stadium into a vast video screen made up of tens of thousands of ”pixels“ attached to the seats. One giant message, unveiled by Tim Berners-Lee, British inventor of the World Wide Web, read ”This is for Everyone”.
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42 comments Feed
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But bloody hell it went on for AGES. At least the closing ceremony will have some pyrotechnics to prevent boredom
Loved the humour.
True British sportsmanship.... ;-)
God save the Bean......
www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVM0FzHlDVI
God save the Bean
Congrats everyone.
On another subject, damn, Nalbandian is out of the olimpics. :(
Now - roll on Rio in 2016 - have no doubt we will get an equally spectacular special of Brazil and South America
What do you mean with ” Hilarity and Fun”………..?
Mr. Bean masterly shows us the bloody serious reality of sports……….….
Whilst the “Olympic IOC Dinosaur Turnips” are using a lot of British Tax Payers money in an absolutely futile attempt of deleting “Their” material from the net…..
They should know better…………
www.youtube.com/watch?v=sCRzvWU93Mc
james bond rides again .lol.
great .
Tonight I sat outside a pub and listened to a Northern English Tory bloke go on about the Falklands, ONCE I'd asked him. He said the days of colonialism were over and they were too costly.
I asked him about the ideals of supporting a tiny nation being bullied by a nation many times larger, again he again spoke of money.
What's up with you right-wing arseholes? How about morals, standards and ethics? (Fuck me, I forgot: You lot generally have none.)
I promise you lot in the tiny nation of the Falklands us ordinary lot in the UK will stand by you lot to be free: and free to do whatever way you choose.
Sorry for posting in an inappropatiate thread that has nothing to do with the Falklanders at all. That Tory asshole just made my blood boil.
It's not money mate, it's ethics.......(Money can NEVER buy that)
@13 There was no snub. The Argentine team were happy and excited to be there, they got the same TV time as other countries and the only thing missing was a wave from the VIP section as the Argentine team was not supported by their own government.
TTT believes that the Argentine flag was not placed in a prominent position on the mound and that was a snub. LOL! Seriously, he had to work hard to feed his persecution complex that day.
It is about time to put Paul McC out to grass............
Totally agree regarding Macca. Can't stand him,
The Queen really did parachute into the stadium.
But the 'blow-away' moment for me was when the 204 flames of all the nations of the world rose in harmony and coalesced into a great fire of hope for the world.
Such symbolism!
Never in the history of the world has this symbolism been presented so effectively. I hope it was a Brit who conceptualised it, it deserves a knighthood.
The cauldron was forged in North Yorkshire.
how they will do this, without putting it out, or dropping the thing,
will be very interesting.
The Falklands have no need for concern, as they know. Any British government that tried to abandon the Falklands would face a lynch mob. The Falkland Islands can count, 100%, on the British people for the rest of time.
Could someone tell me in what article did Mr TTT say that Argentina was snubbed?
He must have spend hours trying to find something to be offended about. The truth is it was CFKC who snubbed the Argentine team.
The rest of the world may eat British slyness, but we don't, I think that's why we will always be enemies, we simply don't believe your veneer of “gentlemenness”. When you delaminate, you get the real Brit... Conqueror.
It is a bit worrying that he believes he speaks for all Argentines because I have never met an Argentine in all the years I have spent in Argentina that shares his views at all.
Firstly, what has your post got to do with the Olympics? I'm glad the opening ceremony went okay, but I have to admit that I'll be glad when it's all over.
Secondly, the 'views' of 1 man do not a government policy make.
Your comment ”I asked him about the ideals of supporting a tiny nation being bullied by a nation many times larger, again he again spoke of money.
What's up with you right-wing arseholes? How about morals, standards and ethics? (Fuck me, I forgot: You lot generally have none.)”
I remember asking the same questions of the left-wing arseholes in 1982, who were quite content to let the Argentines keep the Falklands after the invasion. Many of the Labour opposition were quite vocal against retaking the islands by force, despite the fact that diplomacy wasn't working. Fortunately Michael Foot, the Labour Leader managed to keep the opposition in their place, and he supported the Tory government who retook the islands. Lefties like Tony Benn were quite happy to throw the Falklanders to the wolves.
In fact I've met very few 'right-wingers' who share the mentality of this 'bloke' you met in the pub, or 'left-winger' to be honest. It's mainly the 'liberals' who are the ones that spout on about money, and peace and love etc...
You must've just got one looney. But don't cast aspersions about the 'right' based upon the opinion of one man who may or may not have been an actual Tory, any more than I base my views of the 'left' upon the opinion of those such as George Galloway.
You are one of the best posters one this interesting newspaper.
I was pissed and made it clear.
“Sorry for posting in an inappropatiate thread that has nothing to do with the Falklanders at all. That Tory asshole just made my blood boil.”
That comment also made clear I was hijacking a post topic.
“I remember asking the same questions of the left-wing arseholes in 1982, who were quite content to let the Argentines keep the Falklands after the invasion. Many of the Labour opposition were quite vocal against retaking the islands by force, despite the fact that diplomacy wasn't working. Fortunately Michael Foot, the Labour Leader managed to keep the opposition in their place, and he supported the Tory government who retook the islands. Lefties like Tony Benn were quite happy to throw the Falklanders to the wolves.”
Morals and standards belong to decent folk, this current government has done nothing to assure me that they understand either, neither did the last right wing government called Labour.
In these modern times I'll happily chat about politics to left and right. I'll also retain my own ethics and morals: something our politicians have forgotten.
As to the opening ceremony: HM allowing the fake to Parachute into the stadium just shows our our sense of humour is special and quirky.
To sum up mate (about that Northern twat), that bloke was a Northern Bear in appearance, but was a wanker in his FU attitude. I hope his nippers have a different attitude.
Just what opening ceremony did you watch? The Argentine team where shown entering the stadium at 1:26.05, the flag being carried by the Captain of the Women's Hockey Team Luciana Aymar, known as 'the Magician', leading 'the Lionesses'. The rest of the team where shown looking very excited and proud to be representing their country. The Argentine team stayed on screen until 1:26:49, that's more than 30 seconds exposure, more than many other countries got.
Stop trying to stir up trouble where there isn't any. No one 'snubbed' Argentina, unless Argentine television did. However, the 1 billion plus people around the world saw Argentina, hardly a 'snub'.
@30 - Moriarty. Sorry, it is possible that I was a little hung over from a barbie I attended yesterday,mwhich went onto the early hours of the morning (rain and all), and didn't read your post correctly.
The Argies were in nation list order and came on way before the time you stated. They actually got a big cheer: by the time it got to “C” the audience realised that they had an entire alphabet of nations to welcome :)
I'd love to know who @31 Zethee was annoyed with......
I'm impressed with the quality of posting this newspaper gets: drunk, hungover or with tea. :)
Nope. I just checked it on catch up TV of the BBC coverage of the opening ceremony. Remember the opening ceremony went on for nearly 4 hours, Greece, as is tradition, entered 1st at 1 hour, 22 minutes and 8 seconds into the opening ceremony; the preceding time was taken up by the show, you know the green and pleasant land, the dark satanic mills, the Olympic ring ascending in the stadium, the NHS and Great Ormond Street Hospital dance off, plus the 'social' media music and dance fest.
Argentina came in at the time I stated 1:26:05 into the opening ceremony. It was a good ceremony, although I could've lost the dancing doctors and nurses, but hey, what do I know about art?
As you (almost, nearly) said, the Olympics welcomes people, not politics. Us Londoners welcomed your team and nation in that spirit!
TTT is just being an odd ball,
My favourite bits were the victorian engineer (kenneth branagh) Brunel with his mighty words and..... the Artic Monkeys with their Beatles cover and the the eerie white angels... oh and Dave Beckham...oh and rowan akinson... oh and the forging of the rings... oh and the Queen and 007. Oh and....
At truth telling. But it's pretty much directed at anyone actually believes that by choosing to let nations come out in alphabetical order, we somehow did this to snub Argentina.
No-one really cares that much about them.
I watched the British coverage on the BBC and Argentina were there and present, no snub occurred, actually the predominately English crowd cheered loudly for them which was all very decent. This isn't Argentina, we are capable of acting like decent human beings and not trying to politicize the games.
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