2012 Summer Olympics opening ceremony

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Excerpt from the first part of the opening ceremony

The opening ceremony of the 2012 Summer Olympics in London took place on July 27, 2012 in the Olympic Stadium. It was entitled The Isles of Wonder ( "The Islands of Miracles"), inspired by the play The Tempest ( The storm ) by William Shakespeare . The main elements of the almost four-hour show were the development from traditional country life through the industrial revolution to everyday life today and the idea of ​​Great Britain as a cultural nation. Queen Elizabeth II made the official opening, seven young athletes lit the Olympic flame .

The artistic director was the film director Danny Boyle , the producer was the film director Stephen Daldry , who was also the overall artistic director of all the ceremonies. Rick Smith was the musical director for the electronic band Underworld . Mark Fisher was the main designer of the stage and the lighting effects. Frank Cottrell Boyce wrote the script for the show .

Preparations

Boyle had admitted that the size, extravagance and cost of the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing could not be surpassed: "You can't make it bigger than Beijing." The budget for the opening ceremony was £ 27 million (34 million euros ) , compared to £ 65 million (€ 83 million) in Beijing. 15,000 volunteers made themselves available as actors and sacrificed several hundred hours for the rehearsals. In January 2012, Boyle was the theme of the opening ceremony known: The Isles of Wonder (Islands of Wonders), inspired by William Shakespeare's play The Tempest ( The storm ) . A main source for the celebration was the book Pandaemonium by filmmaker Humphrey Jennings , which contains various eyewitness accounts from the time of the industrial revolution of the 18th and 19th centuries. Actor Mark Rylance was supposed to play a central role in the opening ceremony, but had to cancel in early June for family reasons and was replaced by Kenneth Branagh . Three weeks before the show, Boyle leaked additional details, including the use of twelve horses, ten chickens and 40 sheep. After protests by the animal welfare organization PETA , Boyle assured that the animals would not be harmed.

procedure

Prologue and countdown

An open-air concert in Hyde Park was embedded in the opening ceremony . Paolo Nutini and Duran Duran performed before the start of the celebration, which was shown on big screens . While the athletes marched into the stadium, before the flame was lit, stereophonics and Snow Patrol played . At exactly 8:12 p.m. local time, the Red Arrows aerobatic team flew over the Olympic Stadium and Hyde Park.

At the beginning of the opening ceremony at 9:00 p.m. local time, the feature film Green and Pleasant Land , produced by Danny Boyle and the BBC , was shown. This followed the Thames from its source in Gloucestershire to London and finally found its way into the stadium from the perspective of London traffic; excerpts from everyday British life and country life were shown. The soundtrack included excerpts and a. from the South Bank Show by Andrew Lloyd Webber , the theme from EastEnders , London Calling by The Clash and God Save the Queen by the Sex Pistols . At the end of the film, posters from all the Olympic Games were on display (with the exception of the 1900 Games in Paris, 1936 in Berlin, 1984 in Los Angeles and 1996 in Atlanta). Groups of children held balloons labeled 10 to 1, which burst during the countdown. The show was opened by the ringing of the largest harmonious bell in the world. Bradley Wiggins , 2012 Tour de France winner , struck the 27-ton bell made by the Whitechapel Bell Foundry . In this the lines "Be not afeard, the island is full of noises" from Shakespeare's The Tempest were engraved.

First part of the demonstration

Depiction of rural Great Britain (shot during final rehearsal)

The theme of the first part of the opening ceremony was the economic and social development of Great Britain from traditional country life through the industrial revolution to the 1960s. It started with a model of Glastonbury Tor and a model of a village in the center of the stadium , with live animals and actors representing villagers. This was followed by children's choirs with a cappella performances of the unofficial hymns of the four British regions: In the stadium itself Jerusalem (for England ), then pre-produced recordings from Giant's Causeway ( Danny Boy for Northern Ireland ), Edinburgh Castle ( Flower of Scotland for Scotland ) and from Rhossili beach ( Bread of Heaven for Wales ). The recordings were underlaid with rugby game scenes.

Historic horse buses from the London General Omnibus Company brought 50 men in Victorian clothing into the stadium. Kenneth Branagh , who represented the engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel , stepped out of one of the carriages . He and his companions began to measure the idyllic landscape. Branagh climbed the man-made hill at Glastonbury Tor that had been built at the north end of the stadium. There, standing under an artificial oak, he recited the poem of the slave Caliban :

“Don't be scared, the island is full of noises, tones and graceful melodies that bring joy and not pain. Sometimes a thousand jingling instruments sound. Above my head - and sometimes I hear voices, Which, if I woke up after a long sleep, would make me sleepy again; then it seems to me in the dream. The clouds would open and reveal treasures, ready to rain down on me, that when I wake up I will 'scream' and cry because I want to dream again. "

Depiction of the industrial revolution (recorded during the main rehearsal)

As the villagers began clearing away the grass, houses, and other props, the oak rose into the air and filthy, coal-smeared workers emerged from the mountain from below. This represented the rural exodus of the rural population to the emerging industrial cities. At the same time, as a symbol of the industrial revolution, seven chimneys rose from which tower workers hung. Meanwhile, workers were forging a structure that would eventually become an Olympic ring. Boyle referred to this portion of the celebration as "Pandemonium," a reference to the capital of Hell in John Milton's poem Paradise Lost . Under the direction of percussionist Evelyn Glennie , a thousand drummers brought the rhythm of change to life.

Loud demonstrators appeared to show the harshness and oppression of the time. Suffragettes and other groups carried banners with their demands. Meanwhile, factory owners spurred their workers to work on steam engines and looms. During a minute of silence, accompanied by soft music, reminiscent of the First World War, soldiers and red poppies could be seen. The increasing beating of the drums symbolized further progress. The first Caribbean immigrants entered the stadium, followed by Beatles actors in the costumes of the album cover of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band . The parade also included real Chelsea Pensioners and Pearlies . Many of the actors, including the Victorian gentlemen, kept repeating the same movements, symbolic of the repetitive processes in industrial manufacturing. Four Olympic rings were flown into the sky above the stadium while the fifth was pulled up and into position. The five joined rings began to burn and sparks rained down.

Presentation of the queen and national anthem

It continued with Happy and Glorious , a short film by Danny Boyle starring British secret agent James Bond (played by current Bond actor Daniel Craig ). A group of children was shown around Buckingham Palace and these children watched from a window as Bond entered the building. The children wore yellow baseball caps with the national flag of Brazil , a small, hidden greeting to the next host country of the Summer Olympics. Bond escorted Queen Elizabeth II , who played herself, out of the building. On this occasion, the entry of the Queen of Sheba sounded , an excerpt from the oratorio Solomon by Handel . Bond and the Queen boarded a waiting helicopter together, which flew them across London into the stadium. Crowds and the animated statue of Winston Churchill in front of the Palace of Westminster waved to the helicopter, which flew through Tower Bridge , among other things . At the end of the film, it appeared that Bond and the Queen were parachuting out of the helicopter to the sounds of the James Bond theme . All scenes at and in the helicopter were played by the doubles Gary Connery and Julia McKenzie. Following this film, the Queen, Prince Philip and IOC President Jacques Rogge entered the gallery. Members of the British armed forces carried the Union Jack into the stadium. When the flag was hoisted, the Kaos Signing Choir , which consists of deaf and hearing children, sang the national anthem God Save the Queen (first and third verse) a cappella and presented it in BSL ( British Sign Language ).

Second part of the demonstration

The second part presented Great Britain as a welfare state and a cultural nation and combined these two elements. National Health Service nurses entered the stadium with children in hospital beds (some of the beds had been converted into trampolines). The cast also included staff from London's Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) Children's Hospital . In 1929 JM Barrie had given this hospital all rights to the children's book Peter Pan . The bed sheets were illuminated and put together to form a smiling face (the logo of the hospital) and the abbreviation GOSH. Nine long-term GOSH patients and their parents stood on Glastonbury Tor and were greeted by the announcer.

After a dance sequence, the nurses put the children to bed and read them bedtime stories. A short film showed a girl reading secretly under the covers with a flashlight. On the artificial hill, the writer Joanne K. Rowling read a few lines from Peter Pan . All of a sudden, well-known villains from British children's book literature appeared as inflatable figures everywhere in the stadium: the Queen of Hearts from Alice in Wonderland , Peter Pan's opponent Captain Hook , Cruella de Vil from One Hundred and One Dalmatians and Lord Voldemort from the Harry Potter book series . In addition, the child catcher from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang appeared . The nurses could not intervene because of an invisible spell and were in a trance until finally 32 Mary Poppins actresses with glowing umbrellas floated into the stadium and drove away the evil characters. Mike Oldfield and an accompanying band accompanied the entire segment with rearranged excerpts from Tubular Bells , Tubular Bells III and In dulci jubilo (sometimes played with huge tubular bells in the back of the stage).

The London Symphony Orchestra then played the instrumental piece Chariots of Fire composed by Vangelis under the direction of Simon Rattle . It seemed Rowan Atkinson in the role of Mr. Bean , who always played on comical way the same sound on a keyboard. He fell into a dream (another one-player) in which he appeared in the famous running scene of the film of the same name on St Andrews Beach . He beat the other runners by overtaking them in a car and bringing down the leader.

A sequence about British pop culture followed. A young mother and her son drove in a Mini Cooper to a typical suburban house that had been built in the middle of the stadium to well-known tunes such as Going Underground from The Jam or the theme song from the soap opera The Archers . The walls of the house served as a projection surface for scenes from various British films, television series and music videos (including Errtum im Jenseits , Push the Button , Kes , Four Weddings and a Death and Trainspotting ). A large group, around two teenagers flirting with mobile phones, danced to well-known British rock and pop songs (including by the Beatles, the Rolling Stones , The Who , Led Zeppelin , David Bowie , Queen , and the Eurythmics ) - all in costume that were adapted to the corresponding time of origin. The dance performances went smoothly into a live performance by Dizzee Rascal , who performed his song Bonkers . At the end of the story, the girl and boy met and kissed to music by Blur while many other kissing couples were shown. The two danced alone in the attic of the house with Valerie from Amy Winehouse . As the house rose, the view of the inside became clear: there sat Tim Berners-Lee , the inventor of the World Wide Web . His tweet “This is for everyone” was instantly projected onto LED lights that were placed at the 80,000 seats.

A film sequence showed David Beckham driving the Olympic flame towards the stadium in a motor boat on the Thames, accompanied by the young player Jade Bailey. Recordings of the 1948 Summer Games and excerpts from this year's torch relay could also be seen . There was a minute's silence in memory of Londoners who died that year, victims of war and the victims of the 2005 terrorist attacks (which happened the day after London was announced as the venue). In the stadium bathed in yellow light, Emeli Sandé performed the song Abide with Me by Henry Francis Lyte and William Henry Monk , while 50 dancers and the choreographer Akram Khan performed an expressive dance .

Invasion of nations and official part

Invasion of the British team

The invasion of athletes from all participating countries followed . According to tradition, athletes from Greece led the invasion, followed by the other countries in alphabetical order and finally the delegation from the host country. Musically, the invasion was partly accompanied by well-known songs such as West End Girls by the Pet Shop Boys , Rolling in the Deep by Adele , Stayin 'Alive by the Bee Gees , Beautiful Day by U2 and Heroes by David Bowie . All flags were placed on the artificial hill. The Arctic Monkeys then played their song I Bet You Look Good on the Dance Floor and a cover version of the Beatles song Come Together . During the latter, cyclists drove into the stadium with pigeon wings and used LED lights to represent the pigeon as a symbol of peace .

The official part began with speeches from Sebastian Coe (Chairman of the LOCOG Organizing Committee ) and IOC President Jacques Rogge . Coe welcomed visitors, praised the sport and promised that London 2012 would inspire a generation. Rogge stressed that the Olympic Games would return to the cradle of modern sport. He thanked the City of London, the Organizing Committee and the volunteers. He also praised the fact that women were also represented in every team for the first time and described this as an important step towards gender equality . The Queen then officially opened the Games, rounded off by a short fireworks display on the roof of the stands.

Accompanied by the chiming of Big Ben , eight outstanding personalities carried the Olympic flag into the stadium. These were the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon , the conductor Daniel Barenboim , the civil rights activists Leymah Gbowee and Doreen Lawrence , the environmentalist Marina Silva , the "Angel of Mostar" Sally Becker , the University Chancellor Shami Chakrabarti and the long-distance runner Haile Gebrselassie . They stopped briefly on the way so that Muhammad Ali could hold them too (it was Ali's first public appearance since 2009). Members of all branches of the British armed forces received the flag, carried it up the hill and hoisted it to the sound of the Olympic anthem .

Igniting the Olympic flame

The Olympic Stadium during the opening ceremony

David Beckham approached the stadium on the motorboat and handed the torch to Steven Redgrave on the banks of the Lea . This carried them inside the stadium, past an honor guard of construction workers who had been involved in the creation of the Olympic Park . Sarah Stevenson (athlete), Eric Farrell (trainer) and Mik Basi (referee) took the Olympic oath one after the other . Seven young athletes nominated by well-known athletes took turns carrying the torch on the last round of the stadium. They were Callum Airlie (nominated by Shirley Robertson ), Jordan Duckitt ( Duncan Goodhew ), Desiree Henry ( Daley Thompson ), Katie Kirk ( Mary Peters ), Cameron MacRitchie (Steven Redgrave), Aidan Reynolds ( Lynn Davies ) and Adelle Tracey ( Kelly Holmes ). They then received six more torches from their nominees, which were lit from the torch carried into the stadium. All seven ran up the ramp between the participants with a torch and lit the Olympic flame together. The fire bowl designed by Thomas Heatherwick consisted of 204 pieces that had been carried into the stadium by each nation. Shortly before the flame was lit, Alex Trimble, lead singer of the Northern Irish band Two Door Cinema Club , sang Only Men Aloud with the Dockhead Choir ! , Elizabeth Roberts and Esme Smith the song Caliban's Dream , which was composed especially for the celebration. The big final fireworks followed, the climax of which was accompanied by the song Eclipse by Pink Floyd . At the end of the opening ceremony, Paul McCartney , accompanied by his band, sang the Beatles songs The End and Hey Jude .

music

Danny Boyle chose the electronic music duo Underworld , with whom he had worked on some of his film projects, as musical director . Underworld composed pieces especially for the opening ceremony, including “And I Will Kiss” performed by Evelyn Glennie and other drummers , and “Caliban's Dream” , which was heard while the flame was being lit. The pieces composed by Underworld met with approval. Michael Hann wrote in the Guardian: "Indeed, Underworld had something of a triumph: the swell and swell they'd learned in the world of dance music gave the sometimes visually overwhelming spectacle a sense of structure."

The opening ceremony soundtrack featured a wide and eclectic selection of mostly British music. The focus was mainly on music from the 1960s onwards. The soundtrack was released as an MP3 download on July 28th at midnight, followed by the release of the album Isles of Wonder on a double CD on August 2nd . In less than two days, the downloadable album topped the iTunes charts in the UK, France, Belgium and Spain, while it reached number 5 in the US.

Main responsible

  • Artistic Director: Danny Boyle
  • Producer and Artistic Supervisor: Stephen Daldry
  • Producer: Tracey Seaward
  • Executive producer of the entire production: Catherie Ugwu
  • TV Executive Producer and Director: Hamish Hamilton
  • Designer: Suttirat Anne Larlarb and Mark Tildesley
  • Screenplay: Frank Cottrell Boyce
  • Musical direction: Rick Smith from Underworld
  • Assistant director: Paulette Randall
  • Movement Director: Toby Sedgwick
  • Choreographers: Temujin Gill, Kenrick Sandy and Akram Khan
  • Stage and lighting design producer: Mark Fisher
  • Lighting design: Patrick Woodroffe
  • Lighting programming: Tim Routledge
  • Technical Director: Piers Shepperd
  • Stadium announcers: Marc Edwards and Layla Anna-Lee

Web links

Commons : 2012 Summer Olympics Opening Ceremony  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

Individual evidence

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