Ceremony

London is going to make a history

LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) - London's Olympic Stadium will be transformed into a rural British idyll for the Games opening ceremony on July 27, organizers said on Tuesday, June 12.

The ceremony's artistic director Danny Boyle -- whose film "Slumdog Millionaire" won eight Oscars -- said the £27 million ($42 million, 33 million euro) ceremony would give Britons "a picture of ourselves as a nation."

"On entry to the Olympic Stadium in East London the audience will see a scene that represents a traditional and idyllic view of the British countryside," Games organizers LOCOG said in a statement.

"The set will be complete with meadows, fields and rivers, and featuring families taking picnics, sport being played on the village green and farmers tilling the soil whilst real farmyard animals graze."

Real farmyard animals will be grazing in the country scene, with a menagerie including 30 sheep, 12 horses, three cows, two goats and 10 chickens, plus three sheepdogs.

Fresh from headlining last week's spectacular concert at Buckingham Palace marking Queen Elizabeth II's diamond jubilee, ex-Beatle Paul McCartney is to close the ceremony, which will be attended by the queen.

A billion people worldwide are expected to watch the extravaganza on television, LOCOG said.

Boyle paid tribute to the cast of 10,000 volunteers, who have already held 157 rehearsals.

"I've been astounded by the selfless dedication of the volunteers," he said. "They are the pure embodiment of the Olympic spirit and represent the best of who we are as a nation."

"The best way to tell that story is through working with real people," added the filmmaker, who has reserved a role for staff from Britain's state-funded National Health Service in the ceremony.

The largest bell in Europe will ring inside the stadium to open the extravaganza, which has been named "Isles in Wonder" after a speech from William Shakespeare's play "The Tempest".

The 27-ton bell is inscribed with a quote from one of the play's characters Caliban: "Be not afeard, the isle is full of noises".

London Games chief Sebastian Coe said organizers had designed "one of the biggest sets ever built" for the stadium, which will be equipped with a million-watt sound system.

Some 80,000 spectators will be able to watch a full dress rehearsal at the venue at a date yet to be announced

An elaborate set will recreate "meadows, fields and rivers, with 


families taking picnics, people playing sports on the village green


 and farmers tilling the soil." There will be real grass, trees and 




even, suspended above the stadium, artificial clouds – one of which 


will shower rain.

Meanwhile dozens of live sheep, horses, cows, goats, chickens, 


ducks, geese and sheepdogs will roam the stadium's "countryside."

It won't all be traditional, however: the Guardian reported that one 


end of the venue will be converted into a mosh pit to represent 


Britain's biggest music festival, Glastonbury, while English electro


 stars Underworld are collaborating on the soundtrack.

The show is designed to be "as unpredictable and inventive as the British people," artistic director Boyle said.

Some 15,000 performers will take part in total, according to the 


organizers, 10,000 of them volunteers.

The total budget for the Olympic opening and closing ceremonies is


 £81 million ($127 million), Agence France Presse reported – 


double what was originally planned.

The games will be officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. A short film starring Daniel Craig as secret agent James Bond will be screened during the television coverage of the ceremony. Sir Paul McCartney has announced he will perform at the close of the ceremony.

The ceremony will include a soundtrack based on iconic pieces of British music, including the themetunes from Doctor Who and radio soap opera The Archers, pop and rock songs, and pieces of classical music

In June 2012, Boyle showcased the London Olympic opening ceremony preview, which promised a huge set of rural Britain consisting of "A village cricket team, 12 horses, 10 chickens, 70 sheep, a model of Glastonbury Tor, two mosh pits, and the largest harmonically tuned bell in the world" along with a real cloud that will rain. It is supposed to showcase the mystic landscape of Britain, both rural and urban. There would be mosh pit at each end of the set, with one having people celebrating a festival and another people at the last day of the prom. A replica of the Glastonbury Tor will adorn a side of the set with a huge bell. Boyle has promised an opening ceremony where everyone will feel involved, he also said "I hope it will reveal how peculiar and contrary we are – and how there's also, I hope, a warmth about us." The set would contain real grass, real soil and ploughs. The use of real animals has drawn criticism from PETA. Boyle wrote a reply to PETA assuring them of the genuine care of the animals.

The Closing Ceremony also looks forward to four years to the next Games. The


 mayor of the Host City passes a special Olympic Flag to the president of the 


International Olympic Committee, who passes it on to the mayor of the city 


hosting the next Games. The receiving mayor then waves the Flag eight 


times.






We shall live opening ceremony as well as events and game


 live from here ..........

The 2012 Olympics will open on a vision of the British countryside, recreated in the heart of London.

That's what we know so far about the July 27 opening ceremony, the first details of which were unveiled today.

According to organizers, the ceremony is supposed to showcase "the best of the host nation." They've chosen the theme "Isles of Wonder" – its name taken from a line in Shakespeare's Tempest – for the three-hour, multi-million-pound event.

Directed by filmmaker Danny Boyle, the spectacle will open with a scene entitled "Green and Pleasant," which is supposed to bring rural Britain to the Olympic Stadium in east London.