London 2012 Opening Ceremony Plans Revealed

The Opening Ceremony at the 20120 London Olympivcs is to be named Isles of Wonder.

The theme is taken from William Shakespeare’s ‘The Tempest’.

The ceremony’s artistic director, Danny Boyle, explained the genesis of the idea alongside creative director Stephen Daldry.

Slumdog Millionaire and Trainspotting director Boyle stated, “We’ll be celebrating the whole of the country… there are so many ‘Isles of Wonder'”.

Boyle added that the story is about the recovery of a land poisoned by its industrial past.

It is estimated that the ceremony on July 27th will be watched by one billion TV viewers worldwide.

The biggest ringing bell in Europe has been commissioned to hang at one end of the stadium and sound at the opening of the Games. It will be inscribed with a quote from ‘The Tempest’: “Be not afeard, the isle is full of noises”.

Last month, Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt was forced to defended the doubling of the budget for the Olympic ceremonies to £81m; Hunt claimed that it is “an extraordinary business opportunity” likely to attract foreign investment.

Boyle said a third of the ceremonies budget money would be used for the opening ceremony which is substantially less than the £65m devoted to the 2008 Beijing opening ceremony given to curated by Chinese film director Zhang Yimou.

All four ceremonies throughout the Games – the preshow and show events of the opening and Closing ceremonies are expected to be watched by four billion people and advertising experts estimate this is worth up to £5bn in airtime exposure.

Stephen Daldry said they were the “greatest shows on earth and the task was enormous.” He added that all together they would represent one united journey.

More detailed information will be released about the ceremony through the year.

At this stage the following numbers are confirmed – a cast of 15,000 volunteers, 23,000 costumes, 12 hours of music, 60 musicians, 15,000 sq m of staging, 13,000 props and one million watt PA system with 500 speakers.