They said that the first half an hour or so felt like a history lesson as the Opening Ceremonies of the London Olympics kicked off with a walk through the era of the Industrial Revolution. But it was only a small part of the genius that director Danny Boyle (“Slumdog Millionaire”, “Trainspotting”) had in mind to put on a show worthy of an entry in history books.
The grand opening of the London 2012 Olympic Games was, of course, grand. It was filled with dancers, acrobats, LED lights, fireworks, puppets and mascots, dancers, and more than 10, 000 crème de la crème athletes from around the world.
But like all grand openings, this one wasn’t any less expensive. Okay, maybe less than half as expensive as 2008’s Beijing Olympics. The entire shebang costs a reported $42 million. Imagine that!
And because it was held in London, you can only imagine the soundtrack.
Yup. Background music consisting of plenty of “works” from Muse, Blur, the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Underworld (electronic dance music!) and even the late Amy Winehouse. All part and parcel of Britain’s pop culture, of course.
After the “show”, 86-year-old Queen Elizabeth II officially declared the games of the 30th Olympiad open, which automatically cued the Olympic torch to be brought into the stadium by Sir Steven Redgrave after it was passed on to him by Britain’s soccer pride, David Beckham.
The London Olympics’ opening ceremony was then brought to a close by Sir Paul McCartney (what did we say about the Beatles?).
We might not have been present in Stratford’s Olympic Park, but we were one of the billions watching around the globe who simply couldn’t tear their eyes away from the sporting extravaganza.
If you missed it, do yourself a favour and watch it here. And as they all say, “Let the games begin!”
For more videos, hit up the Official Olympic Channel on YouTube here.
