The London Olympics burst into life on Friday with a humour-filled opening ceremony watched by 80,000 spectators and more than one billion TV viewers. James Bond, David Beckham and even Mr Bean starred Friday as Britain welcomed the world to the Olympics in an eccentric opening ceremony showcasing the country's rich history and sense of fun. Four years after Beijing's tightly choreographed spectacular wowed the world, Oscar-winning director Danny Boyle's "Isles of Wonder" show eschewed grandeur for a creative and chaotic approach packed with music and comedy. In front of about 80,000 VIPs and spectators, the Queen was depicted parachuting out of a helicopter with Bond actor Daniel Craig, Mr Bean played "Chariots of Fire" and children bounced on National Health Service beds. Soccer superstar Beckham was shown motorboating up the Thames holding the Olympic torch. Thousands of athletes then began trooping in behind their national flags, led by Greece, before the show culminates with the lighting of the Olympic cauldron. Excitement in Britain, which has built up to the Olympics with a nationwide torch relay, was at fever-pitch ahead of the ceremony with Union Flags visible in gardens, windows and streaming from cars. 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. After seven years of planning, the Games officially began in the gleaming new stadium in a once rundown area of the British capital with a colourful show devised by "Slumdog Millionaire" director Danny Boyle. 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 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. The queen told dignitaries earlier that people in Britain had watched the progress of the flame with "growing excitement" as the Games approached. Britain greeted the world on Friday with an extravagant celebration that included Bond, the Bard and a Beatleand a formal welcome from no less a figure than its jubilee queen. London's seven-year countdown to the 2012 Olympic Games came to a crescendo with a stunning, imaginative, whimsical and dramatic celebration of the host country. Fighter jets streaming red, white and blue smoke roared over the Olympic Stadium, packed with a buzzing crowd of 60,000 people, at 8:12 p.m. or 20:12 in the 24-hour time observed by Britons. An explosion of fireworks against the London skyline and Paul McCartney leading a singalong were to wrap up the three-hour show masterminded by one of Britain's most successful filmmakers, Oscar winner Danny Boyle. He led off his spectacular in his favored medium, with a high-speed flyover of the Thames, the river that slices like a vein through London and was the gateway for the city's rise over the centuries as a great global hub of trade and industry. Other footage showed the roaring abundant seas that buffet and protect this island nation. Children popping ballons with each number from 10 to 1 then led a countdown that climaxed with newly crowned Tour de France champion Bradley Wiggins ringing of a 23-ton Olympic Bell, from the same
London foundry that made Big Ben and Philadelphia's Liberty Bell. Its thunderous chime echoed around the 80,000-seat Olympic Stadium. Bells in Britain have traditionally pealed to celebrate the end of war and the crowning of kings and queens, and now for the opening of a 17-day festival of sports. The show then shifted to a portrayal of Britain that Britons cling to a place of meadows, farms, sport on village greens, picnics and Winnie-the-Pooh, AA Milne's fictional bear who has delighted generations of British children tucked warmly in bed. But the British ideal to quote poet William Blake, of "England's green and pleasant land" was then to take a darker, grittier turn. Boyle focused heavily on the industries that revolutionized Britain in the 18th and 19th centuries, turning it into the workshop of the world and giving Britons the might upon which they built an empire that reshaped world history. The Industrial Revolution also produced terrifying weapons, and Boyle built a moment of hush into his show to honor those killed in war. "This is not specific to a country; this is across all countries, and the fallen from all countries are celebrated and
London foundry that made Big Ben and Philadelphia's Liberty Bell. Its thunderous chime echoed around the 80,000-seat Olympic Stadium. Bells in Britain have traditionally pealed to celebrate the end of war and the crowning of kings and queens, and now for the opening of a 17-day festival of sports. The show then shifted to a portrayal of Britain that Britons cling to a place of meadows, farms, sport on village greens, picnics and Winnie-the-Pooh, AA Milne's fictional bear who has delighted generations of British children tucked warmly in bed. But the British ideal to quote poet William Blake, of "England's green and pleasant land" was then to take a darker, grittier turn. Boyle focused heavily on the industries that revolutionized Britain in the 18th and 19th centuries, turning it into the workshop of the world and giving Britons the might upon which they built an empire that reshaped world history. The Industrial Revolution also produced terrifying weapons, and Boyle built a moment of hush into his show to honor those killed in war. "This is not specific to a country; this is across all countries, and the fallen from all countries are celebrated and
remembered," he explained to reporters ahead of the ceremony. The 17-day festival of sports excellence finally commenced with a three-hour long opening ceremonydirected by Danny Boyle, who made a name for himself with the Oscar-winning movie "Slumdog Millionaire" notwithstanding the criticism that he had exploited Mumbai's slums. 3-hr extravaganza at Olympic Park The eagerly awaited opening ceremony to the 2012 Olympic Games kicked off on Friday with a mass countdown and the chime of a giant bell, ushering in an eccentric and exuberant celebration of British history, art and culture. Some 60,000 spectators crowded into the state-of-the-art arena at the Olympic Park, built in a previously run-down area
of the city's East End, and over a billion more people tuned in around the world for the three-hour extravaganza. The centre of the stadium was transformed into an English pastoral idyll complete with grassy meadows, fences, hedges, a water mill, maypoles and even a cottage with smoking chimney. A cast including shepherdesses, sheep, geese, dogs and a village cricket team filled the stage during the one-hour prologue to the show that included a dramatic, low-level fly-past by the jets of the Royal Air Force's Red Arrows stunt team. At one end of the stadium stands a grassy knoll topped by a tree and at the other end the bell. In front of each is a "mosh pit" of people conjuring the spirit of the Glastonbury music festival and Last Night of the Proms classical concert. London Mayor Boris Johnson sought to sum up the mood of excitement sweeping the capital. "The excitement is growing so much I think the Geiger counter of
Olympo-mania is going to go zoink off the scale," he told crowds at Hyde Park in the city centre. Among the crowd were celebrities, ordinary Londoners, visitors from abroad and dignitaries including US First Lady Michelle Obama as well as presidents, prime ministers and European royalty.At the end of the event, which also includes speeches, the athletes' parade and the lighting of the Olympic cauldron, Queen Elizabeth, celebrating her Diamond Jubilee this year, declared the 2012 Games open. Over the following 17 days, the drama of sporting contest takes hold as more than 16,000 athletes from 204 countries will aim to achieve their ultimate dream - Olympic gold. Danny Boyle has masterminded the show, costing 27 million pounds ($42 million) to stage, less than half the estimated spending on the Beijing equivalent in 2008 and dramatically different in style. The ceremony opened with a countdown followed by a chime of an especially cast, 23-tonne Olympic bell which was rung by Britain's Tour de France winner Bradley Wiggins. 'Isle of Wonder' Boyle's colourful and sometimes chaotic vision aims to create a kaleidoscope of what it means to be British, an approach that could appeal to the home audience but leave many foreign viewers scratching their heads at times. Entitled "Isles of Wonder" and inspired by Shakespeare's "The Tempest", the show takes viewers on a journey from what poet William Blake famously called "England's green and pleasant land" to the "dark Satanic mills" of the Industrial Revolution. Divided into three main sections, it celebrated the National Health Service, cherished by Britons despite being a political hot potato at a time when austerity measures have forced major spending cuts. It includes a moment's silence to those who fell in conflict, spectacular light effects generated by coloured "pixel" light boxes beside each seat and giant
puppets of some of the most famous characters from children's literature. Spectators were urged to join in traditional sing-a-longs, beloved by East End pub-drinkers, and help to create spectacular visual effects at
an event that sets the tone for the sporting spectacle. Boyle has conceded that audiences overseas may
an event that sets the tone for the sporting spectacle. Boyle has conceded that audiences overseas may
be confused. "In the second half of it you'll see what we call the industrial parade which is actually slightly surreal, some of you will be baffled, I can guarantee it," he told reporters. He also paid tribute to the 10,000 volunteers, cast and crew taking part in the ceremony. "We hope the feeling of the show is a celebration of generosity," he said. "There's no better expression of that than these volunteers." Chinese reporters at the stadium asked British colleagues what the various stages meant, saying they were struggling to understand the concepts. "It's really difficult to explain this to Chinese readers," one said. Boyle has been at pains to encourage volunteers taking part in the show and tens of thousands more who attended rehearsals this week to keep its content a surprise. That has not prevented details being leaked through Twitter, Facebook and the mainstream media. Ex-Beatle Paul McCartney was among the many performers on the night, but the biggest secret of all - who has the honour of lighting the Olympic cauldron at the end of the show - was a mystery till the end. The big finale was the entrance of the Olympic Flame into the Stadium. It passed through the athletes to the final Torchbearer, who ceremoniously lit the Cauldron, indicating the beginning of the Games. The Flame will continue to burn for the whole of the Games. Yes, they can: top Indian athletes at London More than 10,000 performers took part in the opening extravanganza which would bring about the country-side scenes -- a cricket pitch, traditional country side cottages, mining wheel and people dressed in the Victorian era. The competitive action will unfold on saturday as theathletes will battle for glory and honour in the next 17 dayswith powerhouses USA and China expected to retain their supremacy. India @London Olympics India has sent more sportspersons -- 81 -- than to any other Olympics in the hope that they will better the country's best performance at Beijing four years ago when the nation won one gold and two bronze medals. Beijing bronze-winning wrestler Sushil Kumar will lead the contingent by holding the Indian tricolour and soak in the electrifying atmosphere at the brand new stadium built at a cost of 486 million pounds for the mega-event. Profiles of Indian athletes: Yes, they can: top Indian athletes at London Indian athletes who may rewrite Olympic history for their country Pinning them down (profile of Sushil Kumar) Despite the bronze at Beijing, Sushil Kumar isn't yet done with Olympic medals. The focused wrestler is ready with a plan. No half measures for Mary Kom (profile of Mary Kom) HT looks at the stuff the pint-sized five-time world boxing champion is made of. The Contender (profile of Vijender Singh) Vijender Singh, the boxer whose punches wreaked havoc in Beijing four summers ago, wants Olympic gold Golden Eye (profile of Abhinav Bindra) Beijing Games gold-medallist Abhinav Bindra is geared up for an encore and a slice of history Loaded with hope (profile of Ronjan Sodhi) With an enviable form, double-trap shooter Ronjan Sodhi is now eyeing the final frontier. For Lee, tomorrow never dies Goals keep Leander Paes hungry and focussed on a record sixth Olympic appearance. Lull before the storm (profile of Saina Nehwal) Ace badminton player Saina Nehwal is leaving nothing to chance in London. Powerpuff girls (profile of women archers) Archers Deepika Kumari, Bombayla Devi and Chekrovolu Swuro have their target clearly set. Sky is the limit for Gagan Narang (profile of Gagan Narang) His cupboard is is overflowing with medals, awards and trophies but one honour is missing. This champ knows the virtues of contentment Self-belief is a trait Manavjit Sandhu is never short of.Fighter Jwala ready to rock and roar (profile of Jwala Gutta) Shuttler Jwala Gutta's attitude is to get what she wants, and in London she wants gold. Her Lakshaya: Olympic glory (profile of Krishna Poonia) Krishna Poonia managed family while training hard for the Olympics. (With inputs from AP, Reuters, AFP, PTI, HT) Source: Hindustan Times
