Hi Huneybees,
The
London 2012 Olympic Games has officially kickstarted while we, in Singapore were mostly in dreamland. I startled up at 6am to check out my Twitter feeds to find it flooded and when I logged into Youtube to watch it LIVE, they were already introducing the Team from Zambia. *WHAT! I Missed TEAM SINGAPORE?!*
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| Fans gather in Trafalgar Square to celebrate the opening of the Games. |
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| The Orbit and the Olympic Stadium form a spectacular backdrop as the Red Arrows perform a flypast ahead of the Opening Ceremony. The evening started with fighter jets streaming red, white and blue
smoke and roaring over the 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. |
The Olympic Stadium, in East London became the focus of millions of
people around the world as the Opening Ceremony, titled
'Isles of Wonder', gets underway last night. Do you know that London is the only country to welcome Olympic for 3 times?
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| The Orbit and the Olympic Stadium form a spectacular backdrop as the Red Arrows perform a flypast ahead of the Opening Ceremony. |
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HRH The Prince of Wales and HRH The Duchess of Cornwall meet Masie
McCubbin from the London 2012 Ceremonies Costume team as they visit the
costume store at 3 Mills Studio in east London.
A total of 23,000 costumes are being created for the four London 2012 Ceremonies this summer. |
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| The Olympic Stadium is transformed into British countryside for the
opening scene ‘Green and Pleasant’ahead of the Opening Ceremony for the
London 2012 Olympic Games. |
Oscar Winner and one of Britain’s most successful filmmakers and director of
“Slumdog Millionaire” and
“Trainspotting” - Danny Boyle, the Opening Ceremony Artistic Director, had a ball with his favored
medium, mixing filmed passages with live action in the stadium to
hypnotic effect, with 15,000 volunteers taking part in the show.
"The Ceremony
is an attempt to capture a picture of ourselves as a nation, where we
have come from and where we want to be."
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| Performers playing the roles of HRH The Queen and James Bond parachute
spectacularly out of a helicopter hovering above the stadium during the
Opening Ceremony. |
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| Mayor of London Boris Johnson and his wife Marina Wheeler pose inside the Olympic Stadium |
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| Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, William and his wife Catherine, and
Prince Harry watching the ceremony. |
He seeks inspiration in British culture from Shakespeare to 007
to create an astonishing opening ceremony for the 2012 Olympic Game. Not only there was a a stand-in for Queen Elizabeth II parachuting into Olympic Stadium, the 86-year-old monarch herself stood solemnly while a
children's choir serenaded her with "God Save the Queen," and members of
the Royal Navy, Army and Royal Air Force raised the Union Jack.
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| The Union flag is raised by members of the armed forces during the Opening Ceremony. |
Much of the opening ceremony was an encyclopedic review
of British music history, from a 1918 Broadway standard adopted by the
West Ham soccer team to The Who's "My Generation" to "Bohemian
Rhapsody," by still another Queen.
He led off his spectacular in his favored medium: A movie depicted a
high-speed flyover of the Thames, the river that winds 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.
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| The Olympic Rings light up the stadium during the Opening Ceremony at the 2012 Summer Olympics. |
To open the ceremony, children popped balloons with each
number
from 10 to 1, leading a countdown that climaxed with Bradley Wiggins,
the newly crowned Tour de France champion. Wearing his race-winner's
yellow jersey, Wiggins rang 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, A.A. Milne's bear who has delighted generations of
British children tucked warmly in bed.
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| Village cricketers play on the pitch during the pre-show of the Opening
Ceremony. This section of the Ceremony depicts a British meadow, with
people following traditional country pursuits – farmers tilling the
soil, sport being played on the village green and families enjoying
picnics. |
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| Farmers of the British countryside during the pre-show prior to the
Opening Ceremony. This section of the Ceremony was accompanied by choirs
from the four nations of the UK. Each choir performed in a place as
powerfully symbolic as the song itself – ‘Jerusalem’ was sung in the
Stadium in London; ‘Londonderry Air’ came from the Giant’s Causeway,
Northern Ireland; ‘Flower of Scotland’ from Edinburgh Castle, Scotland,
and ‘Bread of Heaven’ from Rhossili Beach, Wales. |
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| A view of the the set depicting the English countryside during the
Opening Ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games at the Olympic Stadium
on 27 July. |
The rush of images showed a cricket match, the London Tube and the
roaring, abundant seas that buffet and protect this island nation - set
to a pulsating soundtrack including snippets of the Sex Pistols' version
of "God Save the Queen" - a anti-establishment punk anthem once banned
by the BBC.
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| A view of the the set depicting the English countryside during the
Opening Ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games at the Olympic Stadium
on 27 July. |
But the British ideal - to quote poet William Blake, of "England's
green and pleasant land" - then took a darker, grittier turn.
The set was literally torn asunder, the hedgerows and farm fences
carried away, as Boyle shifted to the industrial transformation that
revolutionized Britain in the 18th and 19th centuries, the foundation
for an empire that reshaped world history. Belching chimneys rose where
only moments earlier sheep had trod. The Industrial Revolution also produced terrifying weapons, and Boyle
built a moment of hush into his show to honor those killed in war.
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Performers in the role of Mary Poppins float inside
the stadium during the Opening Ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games
at the Olympic Stadium
Thunderous applause greeted the British team, marched to the
David Bowie track “Heroes.” A helicopter showered the athletes and
stadium with 7 billion tiny pieces of paper — one for each person on
Earth.
Other than popular British singers and icons, 2 other famous characters made their appearances.
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| British actor Rowan Atkinson in his role as Mr Bean takes part in the
Opening Ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games at the Olympic Stadium
on 27 July. Atkinson is one of the best-known British comic talents of
his generation. With his friend Richard Curtis, he created two memorable
television characters, Mr Bean and Blackadder, and has appeared in many
successful West End stage productions and feature films. |
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| Dancers display the initials GOSH - Great Ormond Street Hospital, one of
its most-loved hospitals to which author JM Barrie bequeathed all the
royalties from his masterpiece, Peter Pan. This section of the Opening
Ceremony honours Britain’s greatest achievements including its amazing
body of children’s literature. |
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| A performer in a giant ball is passed around over the spectators in the mosh pit |
Even the big guy, British scientist and Londoner Sir Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of the
World Wide Web turned up at the ceremony. What a rare chance to see the father of www.
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| British solo artist Emeli Sande sings 'Abide With Me' - the hymn was
Mahatma Gandhi's favourite and was played by the band on the Titanic
when it sank. |
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| Fireworks light up at Tower Bridge as the bridge is raised to allow
David Beckham piloting a speedboat carrying the Olympic flame through to
make its way to the London 2012 Olympics Opening Ceremony. |
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| The boat is being piloted by David Beckham who played an important role
in bringing the Games to London and has been a big supporter ever since.
Carrying the Torch on the boat is Jade Bailey, a young footballer
tipped to become one of the sporting stars of the future. It set off
from Tower Bridge to make its way to the Olympic Stadium. |
At 7.36am (Singapore time) the torch arrived at the stadium and it was time for the grand finale of the passing on the last league of the torch, lighting it up and ringing the bell....
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| These horns were lighted up by the 7 ambassadors and it spun inwards lighting more horns |
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| The horns were then raised and combined into one huge torch right in the middle of the stadium. |
Sir Paul McCartney closed the ceremony with his beautiful song of 'Hey Jude' and large amounts of gorgeous fireworks filled the area...
What a beautiful beginning. Can't wait to catch the games later today...
