The unplanned watching of the Opening Ceremony London 2012
So we settled down instead to watch the Opening Ceremony of London 2012 with our daughters and one of their friends. I expected to be mildly impressed – there had been lots of speculation about who would light the cauldron and Danny Boyle was in charge of the show, but had my laptop ready to do some pinning on Pinterest as the evening went on.
Within a few minutes I was hooked. What a spectacle! It took the teens a bit longer to get into it ….. maypoles, industrial chinmneys and Victorian gentlemen dancing in their top hats.
The kids and NHS staff dancing and jumping on beds were intriguing and twitter lit up with some hilarious comments “so that’s why there has been a shortage of NHS beds etc” but there seemed to be a genuine unity and pride. We tend to prefer to be cynical as a nation.
The defining moment of the night however was probably when 007 Bond (Daniel Craig) went to meet the Queen at Buckingham Palace and they got into a helicopter and the quirky British sense of humour was apparent. I jokingly said maybe the Queen and Bond will seem to drop down on ropes into the Stadium …… I wasn’t far wrong!!!!
When Mr Bean appeared in Orchestra playing Chariots of Fire it was hilarious … perfect comedy.
I relived my youth in the music section and although the kids really wanted One Direction to appear they enjoyed laughing at the crimes against fashion!
Have to admit the part when all atheletes from all 204 countries came in wasnt the most interesting but as this was primarily about sport we cant really begrudge them their moment. It was a bit like the Eurovision Song contest ….. we seemed compelled to watch it …..but the BBC commentary waned a bit. They churned out random facts including one about one nation (can’t remember which) being the only country competing with ONLY ONE VOWEL in it`s name!!!!
When Team GB arrived in their Jedward white and gold tracksuits we lost the upperground on passing comment on other nations outfits. Someone tweeted that we could always melt down the tracksuits to make a few extra gold medals!
The lighting of the cauldron was spectacular and it would have been a perfect way to finish, and I loved the music, including Northern Ireland singer Alex Trimble from Two Door Cinema Club
….but no….
It is a national celebration so it was time to roll out the ageing Beatle and have a sing along …..unnecessary in our opinion. What did you think?
I just took a few pics on my iphone but below are some links to some wonderful images
The Guardian pictures of the Opening Ceremony
London 2012 Opening Ceremony in pictures by MSN
Pics of Opening Ceremony from Digital Spy
So, are you excited/interested/bored already by the Olympics? After the Opening Ceremony there is definitely more interest in our house.
Taking part in the BritMums Olympic Blog Hop
One Direction is ALL the rage here in our house – so, had we been watching, we would have been anticipating them, too. I have a 10 year old girl who is convinced she is marrying Harry Styles. (sigh)
Taking my daughters to see One Direction next year!
Hi JM – I’m the same as you, once I see something like this, I’m hooked. There’s something indescribably inspiring and exciting when we all “catch the vision” So glad you witnessed this with your family, it will be something you will remember watching together always… its not quite the same to have viewed it afterward. I think that when WE were children, we took it for granted to be together for the BIG THINGS, nowaday we have choices and it might not seem as important, but it really is a big deal.
My Sister just left after a lovely little visit, will catch up with YOU soon too!
Blessings,
Barb
I’m loving watching the games – even sports I didn’t think I liked – it’s been fun –