The London Olympics officially kicks off tonight with the Opening Ceremony. It is expected that the ceremony will be watched by as many as 4 billion people worldwide.
I don’t know about all of you, but I will be one of the 4 billion watching tonight. I can’t wait to see what Director Danny Boyle has planned for the evening.
Boyle has tried to keep the plans for the night under wraps, however has said the ceremony will depict Britain’s past, present and future.
I am very interested in the music for the event. I read that:
- there will be a renowned orchestra of about 60 musicians
- 12 hours of music will be created
- The orchestra, conductor and composer have spent three months recording in the studio before the games begin.
Danny Boyle - Director of the Opening Ceremonies
Sounds like there will be some beautiful music throughout the Olympics.
According to Huff Post – Sports:
Boyle has stressed that the ceremony is not a concert – “the real stars are the athletes” – but music will play a key role, with musical direction by electronic duo Underworld, who have worked with Boyle since his 1996 movie “Trainspotting.”
Music heard coming from the stadium in recent days ranges from “Jerusalem” – of course – to songs by The Beatles, The Who, the Sex Pistols, and Vangelis’ theme from “Chariots of Fire.”
There are also songs by newer acts, including Dizzee Rascal and Tinie Tempah, two homegrown stars forged in the grittyLondonenvironment that Boyle is celebrating.
The final act will be former Beatle Paul McCartney – due to lead the audience in a sing-along of “Hey Jude,” with thousands of voices urging “take a sad song and make it better.”
There also will be a parade of athletes from the more than 200 participating nations, speeches by dignitaries – including the queen, who will officially declare the games open – and of course the lighting of the Olympic cauldron.
The identity of the torchbearer who will ignite the cauldron it is the most closely guarded secret of all – and so far, that has not leaked.
Now, everything sounds great…except they forgot to include Clay Aiken…oh wait…it is an All-British cast. They don’t know what they are missing!!
In addition to the athletes and performers, some 60,000 spectators will be in the stadium, including political leaders from around the world.U.S.first lady Michelle Obama and her daughters and a sprinkling of European and celebrity royalty will be among those attending.
The level of coverage for London 2012 is unprecedented. Between NBC and the UK’s BBC alone there will be more than 8,000 hours of content. NBC has 5,535 hours of coverage planned over its free-to-air and cable channels and its online properties — that’s 2,000 more hours than in Beijing.
Television coverage on NBC will start with the Today show, which will broadcast fromLondon with a seven-hour daytime program and breaks for news. Primetime Olympics programming, hosted by Bob Costas, starts at 8 PM — when all other Olympic coverage on NBC’s other channels will stop.
I will watch swimming, diving, gymnastics and probably a bit of Track & Field.
What about you? Do you plan on watching the London Olympics? What sports are you most interested in watching?
So…it seems that the London Olympics will be a good distraction while Clay is taking his break from public life. Of course, I would rather hear from him, but…I am excited about the Summer Games!!
I sure will be watching tonight. My 4 your old granddaughter is hooked on the girls gymnastics team. She LOVED watching "the girls" when they were still qualifying. Love watching men and woman competing in gymnastics too!. Swimming as well. Hope we hear some tweets from Clay. Wonder if he will be watching!
Yes, I plan to watch the soccer games, swimming and gymnastics. Gymnastics was my thing growing up, I was on a gymnastics team in high school. I love the soccer games, by kids played it growing up and now my grandkids. If I can catch more of it, I will. Love the Olympics and hope we hear from Clay soon. Who knows he may have gone over to watch in person. 🙂
Love the Olympics and will probably be watching a lot of the games. I too, like the swimming, and
the gymnastics especially. It makes a person feel so proud – we have a women from the city near
where I live that will be participating. Her name is Tianna Madison and she will be in the running
meets. Her Mom and Dad will be leaving Wed. for London. There was a great write-up in our morn.
Newspaper, today! Many special events as a send-off were also had for her – I wish her the best!
Wondering if Clay may be going to London, also.
That's neat, Marlene that you have a "local celebrity."
i wont be watching tonight but i wonder if clay may or my not be going to london
I'll post this in here so it's not up on intense debate for months and months. What's up with Clay's tweet? I feel like I've just been scolded. I just spent all afternoon looking up venues for me to call or email. Its the only thing I could think of to help out. The only other thing would be to buy a ticket for the gala or shippensburg. If I knew for fact those were the only options I would have bought a ticket the minute they went on sale. Sometimes no news or no instructions will yeild less than desireable results. What should I do with my list of venues? I could just cry right now!
As for this article, thank you musicfan! I can't help but notice that Danny's photo looks alot of like Clay of old hair do and glasses days. LOL
I have no inside info on Clay's tweets, but I would bet that he had some really negative messages sent to him and he was responding to them. The problem with twitter is that sometimes we see things that really are not for us. Have you ever read some of the hateful things that people send to Clay? It really must be hard to take. I would probably curl up in a ball if I read those things from my "fans"
I do wish we had more info about the tour, however, it is 5 months away and I know that the tour is being put together now. The PA venue sort of jumped the gun.
Clay has always tried to have the tour mostly set before he announces it. That is the way it always is with him.
So…I don't know for sure what he meant about the list of states, but I didn't send him nasty tweets about it…
Continue to reach out to the venues. You just might be the brick that gets the concert at a place. Clay does need our support and I am sure he knows it. Everyone has a bad day every once in a while.
Clay and his music makes me so happy. I will help him in any way I can!! He has already repaid me a thousand times!!
Clay is one of the most awesome people in the whole world!and Im sorry there are haters who bother him .I wish noone ever hurt him. but there will always be bad people. a zillion of us love you.
I will be watching the Olympics for sure! My favorites are Swimming, gymnastics, synchronized swimming, diving, & track & field. I am so proud that a person from Toledo is in the Olympics. It is his first time & he is competing in the high jump. He is only 21, but it'd be GREAT if he'd win a Gold!!!
Thanks for the reply Ellison – it is exciting about Tianna!
Being British I will be watching parts of the Olympics, but I would much rather be watching Clay singing here in Northern Ireland or even mainland UK.
Margaret, NI
Me too, Margaret…Me Too!!
I love the OLYMPICS and plan on watching as much as possible.
I will be watching a lot of the Olympic coverage and I'm excited about several of the sports. I decorated our living room with USA flags and other patriotic decorations. I'm hoping to cheer on a friend in the next winter Olympics.