London 2012 Olympic Games: Opening ceremony live blog
Columnist By Andrew Hawkins, 28 Jul 2012 Andrew Hawkins is a Roar Expert
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2,556 readsThis morning’s London 2012 Olympic Games opening ceremony in London marks the official beginning of the Games of the 30th Olympiad. Join us as we bring you all the highlights with our live blog.
Oscar-winning film director Danny Boyle, renowned for such films as Slumdog Millionaire and Trainspotting, is the producer of the ceremony, which begins at 6am AEST.
Much of the ceremony has been kept under wraps, but it is known to be a celebration of Britain’s past, present and future. It has the title Isles of Wonder, after Shakespeare’s The Tempest.
For sporting fans, however, the real excitement comes at the end of the ceremony with the lighting of the cauldron which will burn for the next 16 days.
Organisers have steadily thrown out hints over the last few days. It will only be one person who lights the cauldron, unlike in Vancouver, and the cauldron will only be seen from inside the stadium – a first for the Summer Olympics.
However, it is still unknown who will light the cauldron or how it will be lit. Bookmakers have Britain’s most prolific Olympian, rower Steve Redgrave, as favourite ahead of decathlete Daley Thompson, the first four minute miler Roger Bannister and young diver Tom Daley.
The lighting of the cauldron is expected around 9:45am AEST, but could be later depending on the timing of prior segments.
Interest also lies in the parade of nations, with the Australian flag bearer announced as champion basketballer Lauren Jackson as of Friday morning.
Flag bearers of note include tennis players Maria Sharapova (Russia), Novak Djokovic (Serbia) and Marcos Baghdatis (Cyprus), controversial athlete Caster Semenya (South Africa) and cyclist Chris Hoy (Great Britain).
There will be other tributes to sporting legends past and present (with Muhammad Ali and David Beckham among those expected to feature) and to Britain’s sporting heritage throughout the ceremony.
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The Crowd Says (42) | Page 1 of Comments
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7:36am
underwhelmed said | 7:36am | Report comment
onlyonce•5 minutes ago−
I did watch most of it and I have to say that I am amazed with all that PRAISE-PRAISE-Praise! Not even one word of objective criticism is out… why? why is it SO ABOVE any critique?? because we got “politically correct” to the point that we are so scared of upsetting the hosts?? I won’t elaborate on my opinion, I will only state that IT WAS NOT FUN for me to watch. I was totally UNDERwhelmed, I was not smiling while I was wataching it hoping to see something that will MAKE IT a fun and ATTRACTIVE spectacle. Instead, it was very bleak and yes, Dickensonean. SHould it only be about the UK chracter and history? (Which I think can offer something more pelasant to the eye than hard-working industialization-era proletariat or nursing jumping on and around hospital beds.) I was not smiling and I won’t aplogize for it. I would comare it with not a very succesful party – a hostess invites a lot guests and entertains them by talking only about bleak parts of her family history. No, I did not like it. Anybody wanna join me in this??
12:37pm
AndrewTheHawk said | 12:37pm | Report comment
Underwhelmed – thank you for your comments. I do agree, I was praiseworthy above – due to the late timing of the blog, I ended up skimming over the surface.
I do agree with you that Channel 9′s coverage was pretty poor, compared to what it could have been. I was annoyed that they kept crossing back to the Australians in the crowd instead of showing every nation!
I would love to commentate an opening ceremony one day, we’ll see if this happens.
As for Danny’s Boyle work, I was in awe. I think it was fantastic. But obviously that’s a personal opinion, and you obviously disagree.
10:40pm
Mary said | 10:40pm | Report comment
I totally agree with you Sonia. Thank you for bringing this up. I waited by the tv for the Maltese team to be paraded like all the other nations and was rather disappointed to not even see the team. I know they only have a few athletes participating however it is always lovely to see the team of Malta.
I have even tried searching the Internet for some information and pictures of the Maltese team to no avail. Was it channel 9 or the whole of the Olympic broadcast team that didn’t film the team walking into the stadium.
10:20pm
jumpers said | 10:20pm | Report comment
Olympics is just a BIG BORE!! BORING! BORING! BORING! wat a waste of money when it could be saving lives, giving the poor decent lives, etc. Nothing more than big business at work!!!!
8:39pm
Sonia said | 8:39pm | Report comment
Complaint regarding Channel Nine Not showing all the countries entering in the Olympic Stadium in favour of showing Aussie Athletes sitting around doing nothing
As Channel 9 have an absolutely antiquated method of receiving complaints I am in search of other avenues. Thank you for this opportunity. This may seem a little trivial to most, however for the hundred thousand Australians of Maltese decent this is a real insult. Whilst televising the Athletes of all countries entering the Olympic Stadium, Channel Nine felt it was more interesting to pan their cameras across to 4 Aussie Basketball players sitting down cooling their heels really interesting stuff, in the meantime Malta had entered and all of Australia missed them. My parents assumed Malta was not entered in the Olympics, how sad for that small team who would have a greater following than they could ever imagine. Shame on Channel 9. They clearly do not care about audience feedback, there isn’t even an email address, in this day and age how antiquated. Instead rude receptionists who hang up on you after you have been waiting on hold for 20 minutes. Imagine how the rest of the Olympics will be broadcast by such Culturally Challenged people. What a disgrace. Any way you can help get this message out will be a win for the general public, how dare Channel 9 think they are above receiving genuine heart felt complaints. Power to those choosing to use internet TV over cheap and nasty commercial television.
Regards
Sonia
12:09am
Fiona Lochtenberg said | 12:09am | Report comment
Hey Sonia, you are not alone….I share those sentiments. My sister and I woke up early to watch the ceremony and waited with great anticipation to see the Maltese athletes in the parade. What a shame!!! There are so many Maltese Nationals in this country who would all have been eagerly waiting for that great moment. We are a patriotic bunch but then who wouldn’t be?
12:39pm
AndrewTheHawk said | 12:39pm | Report comment
I am shocked to hear Channel 9 skipped over countries like Malta – I had noticed other countries, but didn’t notice they missed Malta. That is terrible! NBC’s policy is to show EVERY athlete, and while I think many of their other policies are despicable – like showing everything in prime time, so it’s 5-6 hours late – at least they showed every athlete! Channel 9 should adopt the same policy.
3:11am
HardcorePrawn said | 3:11am | Report comment
I have to agree, it was massively disrespectful to every country that got ignored just so that Nine could show the Australian team larking about. It’s especially poor when you consider the huge number of migrants that live in Australia. Unfortunately this is indicative of Nine’s treatment of sport, as any Rugby fan who has hoping to see last year’s World Cup could tell you!
3:22am
NF said | 3:22am | Report comment
9 & sport is like oil & water is doesn’t mix well it’s treatment of sport overall is pathetic it be nice if they lost there right to host any sport at all due to there constant mistreatment of it no matter the code.
3:50pm
Sam said | 3:50pm | Report comment
Hi Sonia, Thank you for posting the complaint. I agree with what happened, and we also wondered too, who we could complain to. We had watched all the other countries coming out, and waited til we started the ‘M’ countries as my son put it, and then the camera goes to a bunch of guys just sitting on the ground, doing nothing, whilst the voice over introduces Malta. Are u serious!!! the camera goes back to the next country. My husband is Maltese, and was so looking fwd to showing our kids Malta coming out, and that is pretty much the country they dont show. As was prev mentioned we have thousands of Maltese over Australia, that would have been waiting to see them, they could have moved the camera after they were introduced, but given they are a small competing country with a strong community in Aust, its so bad that Channel 9 , cant broadcast properly. We too tried looking on the net for video footage of them coming out, and couldnt find anything. If any one does find something on the team coming out, please post the link for us to view. Thanks, Sam.
3:57pm
Sharon said | 3:57pm | Report comment
Absolutely agree 100% I was furious about them going back and forth to the Australian team. The Athletes parade is one of my favourite parts after the opening ceremony itself…I love sitting with my daughter and looking at the costumes and flags. I felt so sorry for anyone that lives here from any of the countries that were missed out. I would be devastated if it had been my country that was missed ( luckily for me I am British so I did see mine ) but that’s not to say I didn’t want to see each and every country march proudly in to the stadium.
Keep hounding channel nine. It is going to be a theme running right through with their coverage…they don’t seem to realise we live in a multicultural society and that most people would like to have a varied and fair coverage of the games.
The other thing that is annoying is the hype about Gold Medals….they hype and hype the athletes for Gold and then become very negative in their descriptions of anything but, using words like disappointing. These athletes are good enough to go represent their country at the Olympics for Goodness sake!!!!!! We try to teach our children that it’s not about winning or losing but how you play the game and then we wipe that out as soon as the Olympics comes around. Very sad.
10:25am
Roarsome said | 10:25am | Report comment
Has the London Symphony Orchestra mimed their performance yet?
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10:03am
Jerry said | 10:03am | Report comment
What the f**k happened to Paul McCartney’s face?
9:56am
AndrewTheHawk said | 9:56am | Report comment
That brings an end to the Olympic opening ceremony. There’s a replay on Channel 9 at 2pm if you missed this morning’s action. I’d recommend having a look at it, it is something quite spectacular. Perhaps not as breathtaking as Beijing, but it had a magic to it that Beijing couldn’t match. In many ways, it had soul. Now for 16 days of incredible action – I know I won’t be sleeping much over the next few days!
NOTE: Apparently, the cauldron is going to be moved to Wembley where it will burn for 16 days.
9:49am
AndrewTheHawk said | 9:49am | Report comment
The cauldron lighters were: Cameron MacRitchie, Adelle Tracey, Callum Airlie, Jordan Duckitt, Katie Kirk, Aidan Reynolds, Desiree Henry.
Each was nominated by a champion British athlete.
9:45am
AndrewTheHawk said | 9:45am | Report comment
SINGALONG: Na, na, na, na na na na, na na na na, Hey Jude!!! Great to see the athletes of the world joining together to sing with Paul McCartney.
9:41am
AndrewTheHawk said | 9:41am | Report comment
The flame is lit, it cannot be seen outside the stadium as the IOC had hinted. And now Paul McCartney begins with those immortal words from The End: “And in the end, the love you save is equal to the love you make” – before bursting into song with Hey Jude. And the sound technicians made an absolute mess of the start of that!
9:37am
AndrewTheHawk said | 9:37am | Report comment
There are seven lighters – they light the petals that had been brought in during the parade of nations. Then they all come together to form one cauldron, in the centre of the stage. How amazing!
9:34am
AndrewTheHawk said | 9:34am | Report comment
It’s looking like multiple lighters…against what the IOC and LOCOG had said earlier in the week.
9:32am
AndrewTheHawk said | 9:32am | Report comment
All the six future athletes have been nominated by some of Britain’s top athletes.
9:31am
AndrewTheHawk said | 9:31am | Report comment
Six future athletes, led by Cameron McRitchie, take the flame around the track.
9:29am
AndrewTheHawk said | 9:29am | Report comment
The Olympic flame is brought in by…Steve Redgrave. Where it goes from here, we don’t know.
9:28am
AndrewTheHawk said | 9:28am | Report comment
The athlete’s oath is taken by Sarah Stevenson (Taekwondo), the judge’s oath by Mik Basi (Boxing), the coach’s oath is taken by Eric Farrell (Canoeing).
9:25am
AndrewTheHawk said | 9:25am | Report comment
Here comes the flame – driven in a speedboat by David Beckham!!! Here, it meets Steve Redgrave.
9:24am
AndrewTheHawk said | 9:24am | Report comment
The Olympic flag flying alongside the Union Jack. What a moment.
9:22am
AndrewTheHawk said | 9:22am | Report comment
And Muhammad Ali blesses the flag! He looks a shadow of his former self, very sad. Now the Olympic flag will be raised as the Olympic Hymn is sung.
9:20am
AndrewTheHawk said | 9:20am | Report comment
The Olympic flag is carried in by 8 great goodwill ambassadors, including UN Secretary-General Ban-Ki Moon and former champion distance runner and poverty fighter Haile Gebrselassie.
9:18am
AndrewTheHawk said | 9:18am | Report comment
The Olympic Games of the 30th Olympiad have officially been opened by Her Majesty The Queen.
9:15am
AndrewTheHawk said | 9:15am | Report comment
Rogge: “In many ways, the Olympic Games are coming home tonight…to the birthplace of modern sport”
9:13am
AndrewTheHawk said | 9:13am | Report comment
Now for that familiar Belgian accent of Jacques Rogge…
9:09am
AndrewTheHawk said | 9:09am | Report comment
Sebastian Coe says “I’ve never been prouder to be British or to be a part of the Olympic movement”
9:08am
AndrewTheHawk said | 9:08am | Report comment
Now for the speeches from LOCOG president Sebastian Coe and IOC president Jacques Rogge…
9:06am
AndrewTheHawk said | 9:06am | Report comment
This ceremony has featured The Beatles at every turn – She Loves You played earlier, the Arctic Monkeys are playing Come Together, and Paul McCartney will sing Hey Jude at the conclusion of the ceremony.
9:02am
AndrewTheHawk said | 9:02am | Report comment
I would hate to be the man on the broom tomorrow…imagine cleaning up those 7 billion pieces of confetti!
The Arctic Monkeys are now playing for the athletes…
9:00am
AndrewTheHawk said | 9:00am | Report comment
Then, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II made the most incredible entrance a head of state has surely ever made. In her 60 year reign, it was the first time she acted in a film as she welcomed James Bond (played by Daniel Craig) to Buckingham Palace. He provided her escort in a helicopter to the stadium, before both parachuted in. Amazingly, the Queen didn’t have a hair out of place…(ha ha)
The UK national anthem, God Save The Queen, was performed by a signing choir for hearing impaired children.
This was followed by two more scenes in the cultural display.
There was a tribute to the National Health Service, which featured a tribute to children’s literature. J K Rowling read an excerpt, before some of the villains of children’s literature – think a 10 foot Lord Voldemort, Cruella de Vil, and Captain Hook terrorising kids. But, from the clouds, came a number of Mary Poppins’ to save the day.
Then, there was a tribute to Britain’s musical heritage and the Saturday night out as teenagers danced to music from The Beatles through to Dizzee Rascal.
The comical highlight of the ceremony so far has been a performance of the theme from Chariots of Fire by the London Symphony Orchestra. However, it was made such a highlight by the appearance of Rowan Atkinson as Mr Bean.
This was followed by a sombre tribute to those who weren’t there, with a haunting performance of Abide With Me.
That brought us up to the parade of nations, which is just finishing now as Sir Chris Hoy leads out Team Great Britain!
8:56am
Tristan Rayner said | 8:56am | Report comment
Wow, here come team GB. 7 billion pieces of confetti have been dropped on the Olympic Stadium!
8:47am
AndrewTheHawk said | 8:47am | Report comment
The cultural display earlier featured a number of segments.
The start of the ceremony saw a typical English countryside setting featuring the Glastonbury Tor, referred to as the mythical heart of England. Think farm animals, green grass and village cricketers. But then, Tour de France winner Bradley Wiggins rang the world’s largest harmonically tuned bell to start the ceremony. This was followed by a choral tribute to the four countries of the United Kingdom – England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. This returned to England’s unofficial national anthem, Jerusalem.
Kenneth Branagh then emerged as an industrialist in the middle of the Industrial Revolution, reading the immortal words of Prospero from Shakespeare’s The Tempest. The green, pleasant lands transformed into dark, satanic mills as hinted in Jerusalem. This culminated in the rising of a ring, which rose to draw four other rings to form the Olympic rings.
8:39am
AndrewTheHawk said | 8:39am | Report comment
The Australians were led out by Lauren Jackson, who had real troubles trying to wave the flag!!!
8:37am
Tristan Rayner said | 8:37am | Report comment
We’re awaiting the Great Britain team (alphabet check – something like A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z GB.)
3:01am
HardcorePrawn said | 3:01am | Report comment
Traditional I’m afraid: The Greeks always come out first, then the rest of the nations in alphabetical order according to the language of the host country, then finally the hosts.
8:36am
Tristan Rayner said | 8:36am | Report comment
The athletes are streaming into the stadium – we’ve seen Australia led by Lauren Jackson.
Earlier, the London Olympics burst into life fun-filled opening ceremony watched by 80,000 spectators and more than one billion TV viewers with plenty of (British?) humour
Queen Elizabeth II and James Bond, alias actor Daniel Craig, were shown in a spoof film parachuting from a helicopter into the Olympic Stadium in east London before the real monarch took her seat to loud applause.
The ceremony kept Boyle’s promise to showcase British history with a dash of quirky humour, tracing time from a bucolic past through the Industrial Revolution before fast-forwarding to the present day.
The show even included a tribute to Britain’s state-run National Health Service while actor Kenneth Branagh, “Harry Potter” author J.K. Rowling and “Mr Bean” Rowan Atkinson all had roles.
More than 80 world leaders and royals attended the ceremony while First Lady Michelle Obama represented the United States alongside a host of celebrities including Angelina Jolie.
Earlier the Olympic flame was rowed up the River Thames in the royal barge as it approached the end of a 70-day relay around Britain and Ireland and made its way to the stadium.
“I can say with pleasure that London is ready and we are eagerly waiting for the opening ceremony,” said Jacque Rogge ahead of the ceremony.
8:35am
AndrewTheHawk said | 8:35am | Report comment
Hi everyone! We’ve had a few dramas this morning but we’ve finally gone live! To recap what’s happened so far, here’s been the Tweets from this morning…with much of the interest still to come!