FLAMING FANTASTIC

Sunday, 29 July 2012

London has opened the 2012 Olympic Games with a glittering opening ceremony watched by over one billion people worldwide.

The Australian team, led by flag bearer Lauren Jackson, was given a rousing ovation. More than 200 of Australia's 410-strong team, all dressed in their bottle green blazers and white trousers and skirts, marched proudly in the ceremony.

The boisterously British ceremony took spectators through a tour of British history and culture in a sprawling production. It was a journey that began in a pastoral countryside complete with geese, cattle, sheep and dancing farmers and milkmaids, through a steel-forged Industrial Revolution, then through an array of distinctly British musical styles: 60s pop to punk to hip hop, all the way to the modern day.

Along the way, there were tributes – some mesmerizing, some bizarre – to just about everything British; Mary Poppins, Harry Potter, the National Health Service, the BBC and, of course, the Queen.

Britain’s greatest Olympian, rower Steve Redgrave, had the honour of carrying the flame into the Olympic stadium, but the task of lighting the cauldron itself fell to a group of seven young athletes nominated by British Olympic heroes.

The show concluded with a dazzling fireworks display to the accompaniment of the song ‘Eclipse’ better known as the final track on Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon, followed by a solo performance of Hey Jude by Sir Paul McCartney.

Britain is breathing a sigh of relief. The first test of these Games is over. Now, the really big show begins!