Jul 28, 2012
Danny Boyle was in charge of directing the opening ceremony of the 2012 London Olympic Games. He promised excitement, but we got a lot more than that. We had history, culture, fireworks, movies, actors, the Queen, literature, athletes, James Bond, comedy, action, and music, a lot of music.
Millions of people around the world watched Boyle’s spectacular 3-hour-45-minute production. The industrial revolution took place before our eyes; we saw Voldermort flying over the stadium, James Bond taking the Queen to the stadium in a memorable entrance; David Beckham arriving with the Olympic Torch; the list goes on. The world saw a perfect reflection of the British culture.
Music was extremely important in the ceremony. With so many British icons in music history, how can they be included in just one show? Well, Danny Boyle did it. The Clash, the Rolling Stones, Queen, the Sex Pistols, David Bowie were just a few of the iconic bands that were heard.
Arctic Monkeys surprised everyone by covering “Come together” from The Beatles and “I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor“. After that, Alex Trimble from Two Door Cinema Club sang “Caliban’s Dream”, a song written by Underworld’s Rick Smith.
Finally, the moment we were all waiting for: Sir Paul McCartney. No one in this planet would have been a better choice to close the ceremony. More than 80,000 voices were heard as they sang “Hey Jude” at the stadium.
Boyle managed to show the world the entire British culture in the most dramatic and exciting way by wrapping it all inside one stadium and letting it burst among the eyes of the world.
If you think someone was left behind this show, you might want to wait for the closing ceremony…
Random facts:
> A celebratory concert featuring Paolo Nutini, Snow Patrol, Stereophonics and Duran Duran was held in Hyde Park during that same day.
> The show was rehearsed more than 200 times.
