LONDON OLYMPICS: 10 POINTS ABOUT THE OPENING
CEREMONY
[PHOTO -Searchlights light up the Olympic
Stadium during
a rehearsal for the opening ceremonies in London on Friday
for the 2012 Summer Olympics. AP/MANILA
STANDARD]
MANILA, JULY
27, 2012 (BBC NEWS) By Claire Heald BBC 2012
- With less than 48 hours to go until the real deal, final rehearsals for the
Olympic Games opening ceremony have been held.
The contents, like the stadium, are under wraps, so what can we reveal about
it?
1. Even in the Twitter age, you can keep a secret.
When details of the opening ceremony started to leak out at the beginning of
the month, in the press and on the internet, Olympic Games organisers Locog had
a brainstorm, then a brainwave:
Bring in the demographic most likely to
be unable to contain the information and make it a matter of national pride with
a #savethesurprise hashtag. It was broadcast on the big screens throughout the
rehearsal.
2. In the land of the Pantomime Tradition, the 80,000-strong audience are up
for participation.
Sure, there's the excitement of being part of the crowd, they will have
wanted to be here and paid up to £2,012 for the privilege. But they're prepped
by warm-up instructors, involved, intrinsic to what takes place.
3. Directors as trailblazing as Danny Boyle can stick to the adage of "leave
the crowd wanting more".
At the dress rehearsal, some planned gaps were left in the programme. If you
read every article, scoured Twitter, interrogated anyone who was there,
surprises - such as how will the cauldron be lit? - will remain come "curtain
up".
4. He uses smoke and mirrors, light and shade.
There are dark parts in these Isles of Wonder as he said there would be, on
his journey from green and pleasant land through to industrial legacy.
5. Tasking a film director with an Oscar-winning pedigree (for Slumdog
Millionaire), brought rave music and film together with Trainspotting's
soundtrack and live theatrical staging for Frankenstein makes a stunning mash-up
of live performance, film, and gig.
6. Danny Boyle said he would be honoured if his ceremony was compared to
Sydney's "people's Games" and it is populist in its casting, using volunteers,
but with pomp and punk.
The NHS element, with real-life nurses, is there. And it feels very British.
But it is still an "opening ceremony" constructed in definite segments.
7. The 204 competing nations will parade, as is non-negotiable in an Olympic
opening ceremony.
Each team following their national flag - which, fingers crossed, should be
right on the night. A small number of athletes, including those from South
Sudan, will march in under the IOC's Olympic rings flag. It will take 1 hour 29
minutes.
Set to Underworld's mix of music of many beats-per-minute, in the hope that
the athletes will step to it.
8. LA84 opening ceremony, you can keep your jet pack flying men.
Beijing, hold fast your stadium wall-walking gymnasts. The cables that span
the rooftop and were included as part of the stadium build for celebration
ceremonies are used to great effect.
9. It's a £27m "spectacular". And it is an aural and visual treat.
At times, it smells great, the lights are fantastic. But, at time of writing
it is still not a sell out, with tickets in the £2,012 and £1,600 price bracket
still available.
10. Maybe it was the evening stadium breeze, maybe the anticipation of what's
to come in the sporting arena during the next two weeks.
But in living rooms across the country, turn on the surround sound, fire up
the massive TV. And grab a jumper. There are goosebump moments. Throughout.
London-based Olympic officials 'to blame' over wrong Korean
flag
[PHOTO - Members of the North Korean Olympic team are staying at a
Glasgow hotel]
Olympic officials in London are to blame for a flag row which jeopardised a
women's football game at Hampden Stadium in Glasgow, it has emerged.
The North Korean women's team walked off after a video introducing their
players showed the South Korean flag. They later returned to play the match.
BBC Scotland understands the video package was sent from London and Hampden
organisers had no input.
Prime Minister David Cameron said it was "an honest mistake".
" Start Quote We shouldn't over-inflate this episode - it was unfortunate, it
shouldn't have happened and I think we can leave it at that" End Quote David
Cameron
UK Prime Minister
In a news conference on the eve of the opening ceremony of the Games, he told
assembled journalists: "This was an honest mistake, honestly made.
"An apology has been made and I'm sure every step has been taken to ensure
these things don't happen again.
"We shouldn't over-inflate this episode - it was unfortunate, it shouldn't
have happened and I think we can leave it at that."
BBC Scotland's Olympics correspondent Kheredine Idessane said: "These video
packages are sent centrally from London, out to the other venues, so, this isn't
a Glasgow problem.
"There were the correct North Korean flags flying in the top tier of the
stadium where they have all the flags displayed from countries who are competing
in the tournament."
The North Korean team could only be persuaded to return for their match
against Colombia after the error was corrected.
As yet the London games organisers have been unable to clarify who made the
video.
The blunder had the impact it did because of the situation which exists
between both Koreas.
Members of the North Korean Olympic team are staying at a Glasgow hotel Both
countries are still technically at war after the 1950-53 conflict ended in an
armistice.
Speaking after the match, North Korea's coach Sin Ui Gun said: "Our team was
not going to participate unless the problem was solved properly."
A statement released by London 2012 organisers said: "Ahead of the women's
football match at Hampden Park, the Republic of Korea flag was shown on a big
screen video package instead of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea flag.
"Clearly that is a mistake, we will apologise to the team and the National
Olympic Committee and steps will be taken to ensure this does not happen again."
The incident made headlines around the world - except in communist controlled
North Korea.
State news agency KCNA reported the women's Olympic football team beating
Colombia 2-0 but made no mention of the flag row.
Meanwhile, Hampden Stadium will host two more Olympic football games on
Thursday.
In the men's preliminaries, Honduras play Morocco at 12:00, followed by Spain
v Japan at 14:45.
Chief News Editor: Sol Jose Vanzi
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