The organizers of the 2012 London Olympics have revealed details of the opening ceremonies in the East London Olympic Stadium, and it will be a far shout from what we saw four years ago in China.
Though there will be plenty of technology involved in the production of such a large-scale scene, this ceremony will pay homage to the English tradition and the natural world. The scene will be set in a rolling countryside of England. Over 1000 automated ramps, and 50 tonnes of sound equipment pumping out a million watts (for reference – your car’s stereo is about 30 watts), will come together on a massive countryside-themed stage that takes up the whole of the playing surface. Needless to say, this calm countryside will take their’s to 11.
The field will be complete with hills, rivers, and even grazing animals (decidedly less technical than spidermen flying around the stadium). The show, titled “Isles of Wonder,” will begin at 20:12 local time for the preshow, with the official ceremonies underway officially at 21:00 (9 PM) local time.
Each of the four nations of the British Isles will be represented by their flowers – the rose of England, the thistle of Scotland, the daffodil of Wales and flax from Northern Ireland.
And perhaps the crowning jewel of the whole ceremony, the big superlative – it will be kicked-off with the ringing of the world’s largest harmonically-tuned bell – standing over 6 feet tall and 9 feet wide. Sympathy is due to the poor person who has to ring that bell.
This ceremony, which is expected to be broadcast to over a billion people worldwide, will contrast to what we saw in 2008, but that will be just fine – it would be foolish to try to one-up the Chinese organizers at their own game, and a change of pace will capture the British spirit.
For full details of the ceremony, check out the press release here, and look .
London 2012 Olympic Games Opening Ceremony director Danny Boyle pays tribute to volunteers. (Photo Courtesy: LOCOG)