[Sport] 2012 Olympics opening ceremony

The Olympics are here! Hurrah!  

Every four years (ok, every two years if you include the winter Olympics), I get very excited about a whole bunch of sports to which I normally pay very little attention. The Olympics are, to me, a wonderful celebration of sporting achievement, and the chance for many sports to showcase themselves before a much larger audience than they would normally receive. The competition is of the utmost quality, and there are always moments of high drama.

Because the real logo looks too stupid......(Credi: economicshelp.org)

This year, of course, the Olympics are taking place in London. In fact they’ve already started, with the football competition beginning last Wednesday owing to the large number of games that have to be played.

Yesterday was the opening ceremony, and what a spectacle it was. There was lots of questioning beforehand about how Britain’s opening ceremony could possibly match the one from Beijing. But fortunately Danny Boyle, the artistic director, didn’t even try, instead putting a rather eccentric (some might say very British) spin on the whole thing, and taking the audience on a trip through history.

Rather than posting a comprehensive review of the event, I thought I’d list the thoughts that I jotted down as the ceremony took place, some of which appeared on Twitter. I’ve roughly grouped them together where I felt it appropriate.

One of my favourite moments of the opening ceremony. The Olympic rings

are created from 'molten steel' in the middle of a recreation of British industry. (Credit: usmagazine.com)

• Oooh, Kenneth Branagh. Makes the whole thing a bit more highbrow somehow.
• This is rather interesting. I'm enjoying the contrast between the countryside scene, with its slow paced dancing, and the increasing amount of industrial landscape, with high tempo activity.
• Rather enjoyed the way that the Olympic rings were produced there. Very clever.
• Blimey, they've got all the stereotypically British stuff. The Queen, James Bond, Jerusalem, mentioning the war. What's next?
• Even the second verse of the national anthem made it in! Bet the Queen doesn't hear that bit much any more.
• Dancing nurses? Whatever next. That's the only time the NHS will ever get its name up in lights though!
• So many Mary Poppins! Any problem is now solved.
• Is that the Childcatcher? Odd……oh wait, there are lots of childrens’ story vllains. This is taking a bit of a darker twist than I thought it would..
• Giant inflatable punch and judy? Creepy.
• Mike Oldfield is an interesting choice. Where’s the iconic tubular bells theme though?
• Woohoo, it’s Simon Rattle. Wait, is that Rowan Atkinson? Oooooh, it’s Mr Bean. Genius work from Rowan Atkinson as usual.
• Chariots of Fire recreation, and they’ve even done it at St Andrews again. Brilliant. I recognise that skyline!
• That trip through British musical history was rather good. Nice mix of different genres. Too.
• What on earth is Tim Berners-Lee doing there? He looks a bit awkward to be honest. But nice to see a scientist being recognised.
• That memorial wall was a beautiful touch. Almost had me in tears.
• Love the fact that the Czech team are all wearing wellies.
• Interesting gender-stereotyping from the Germans - blue jackets for the men, pink for the ladies.
• Glad to see that the Queen is enjoying herself so much! Clearly her fingernails are more interesting than the parade.
• Hmmm. Not sold on the choice of the Arctic Monkeys.
• Please not David Beckham as the torch lighter. Please. Looks like Steve Redgrave might be lighting the torch now. Much better. Hang on, who are all of these people. Young athletes? Ok, now I’m seriously impressed Danny Boyle. That is a beautiful gesture, and really (literally) goes with the whole ‘passing of the torch’ motif, as well as the stated aim of inspiring the younger generations.
• That Olympic cauldron is beautiful.
• I rather enjoyed all of that. Very uplifting, some touching moments, and a great sense of spectacle.