The Jerusalem Post
Jpost search icon google-icon iphone
  Set as Homepage
Wed, May 22, 2013   13 Sivan, 5773
newspapers magazines
 
    • Breaking News
    • Diplomacy & Politics
    • Defense
    • National
    • Mideast
    • Syria
    • Iran
    • World
    • Business
    • Sports
    • Health & Science
    • Environment
  • Video
  • Opinion
    • Columnists
    • Editorials
    • Op-Eds
    • Letters
  • Jewish World
  • Lifestyle
    • Arts & Culture
    • Food & Wine
    • Travel
  • Features
    • Insights & Features
    • Week in review
    • On the Web
    • Shalva Superheroes
    • Obama in Israel
  • Blogs
    • In the news
    • Judaism
    • From the Middle East
    • Lifestyle
    • Aliya
    • Science and Technology
  • JPost Apps
    • iPhone app
    • iPad app
    • Android app
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • RSS feeds
    • JPost Toolbar
    • JPost Newsletter
    • JPost Alert
  • Premium Zone
    • The Jerusalem Report
    • The Experts
    • 20 Questions
    • e-paper
    • Ivrit
    • Christian Edition
    • Dash
    • Magazine
    • Metro
    • In Jerusalem
  • French
    • Politique & Social
    • Affaires Palestiniennes
    • Diplomatie & Monde
    • Art & Culture
    • Israel
  • Green Israel
JPost Learn Hebrew  
Advertise with us  
Nefesh Guided Aliyah  
Eldan  
AFMDA  
Africa Israel Group  
Isram Group  
Kupat Ha  
JPost Twitter  
JPost Facebook  
Classifieds  
         
 
 
    
Breaking News
 
 
  • JPost.com
  • International
 

2012 Olympic Games officially kick off in London

By JPOST.COM STAFF, REUTERS
07/28/2012 01:33
Tweet

Ceremony marks opening of the London Olympics with extravagant show featuring Queen Elizabeth alongside James Bond.

The Israeli delegation at the 2012 London Olympics
The Israeli delegation at the 2012 London Olympics Photo: Murad Sezer / Reuters

The Israeli delegation to the 2012 Olympics marched through Olympic Park in London night, part of the opening ceremony kicking off 17 days of international athletic competition.

Earlier Friday, over 20,000 people in various venues in London attended the British Zionist Federation’s “Minute for Munich” program that was promoted via social media.

      
REUTERS/Dylan Martinez 

Fireworks explode over the Olympic Stadium during the opening ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games (Photo: REUTERS/Dylan Martinez)

Murad Sezer / Reuters 

Israeli Olympians at the London 2012 Olympic Games opening ceremony. (Photo: REUTERS/Murad Sezer)

Reuters 

Israeli Olympians at the London 2012 Olympic Games opening ceremony. (Photo: REUTERS)

Murad Sezer / Reuters 

Israeli Olympians at the London 2012 Olympic Games opening ceremony. (Photo: REUTERS/Murad Sezer)

REUTERS/Max Rossi 

Israeli Olympians at the London 2012 Olympic Games opening ceremony. (Photo: REUTERS/Max Rossi)

Murad Sezer / Reuters 

Israeli Olympians at the London 2012 Olympic Games opening ceremony. (Photo: REUTERS/Murad Sezer)

Reuters 

Artists perform during the opening ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games (Photo: Reuters)

REUTERS/Toby Melville 

Britain's Queen Elizabeth watches the opening ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games at the Olympic Stadium. (Photo: Toby Melville/Reuters)

REUTERS/Kai Pfaffenbach 

Performers take part in the opening ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games at the Olympic Stadium (Photo: REUTERS/Kai Pfaffenbach)

  • 20,000 Londoners hold Munich moment of silence
  • Israeli judo team: Lebanese refuse to train near us

Earlier, James Bond actor Daniel Craig and Britain's Queen Elizabeth stole the show at the beginning of the ceremony, appearing together in a short film beamed to 60,000 spectators in the main stadium and a billion viewers around the world.

The comedic, quintessentially British moment complemented a London show that film director Danny Boyle, an Oscar winner for "Slumdog Millionaire," turned into an unabashed celebration of the host nation's history, culture and eccentricity.

In the tongue-in-cheek film Craig wears his trademark tuxedo and enters Buckingham Palace. The 86-year-old monarch with two corgis at her feet and in her cinematic debut, turns from a writing desk and says simply: "Good evening, Mr. Bond."

Doubles of Bond and the queen then parachuted from a helicopter above the stadium, built on the Olympic Park in a once derelict area of London's East End, and the national anthem sang by schoolchildren and Union flag raising followed.

The surreal footage and stunt had been kept a closely guarded secret in the buildup to the ceremony, which also includes speeches, the athletes' parade and the lighting of the Olympic cauldron.

Over the following 17 days, the drama of sporting contest takes hold the length and breadth of Britain as more than 16,000 athletes from 204 countries will aim to achieve their ultimate dream - Olympic gold.

The ceremony, inspired by Shakespeare's "The Tempest" and backed by rousing music from across the centuries, began with a playful recreation of an English rural idyll with grassy meadows, fences, hedges, a water mill, maypoles and a cottage.

A cast including shepherdesses, sheep, geese, dogs and a village cricket team filled the stage during the one-hour prologue to the show that included a dramatic, low-level fly-past by the jets of the Royal Air Force's Red Arrows stunt team.

Click for full JPost coverage

After "England's green and pleasant land" came the "dark Satanic mills" of William Blake's famous poem.

Titled "Pandemonium", the next phase saw the grass brutally uprooted and fences torn down to be replaced by a blackened landscape of looms and foundries that conjured the Industrial Revolution.

To the deafening beat of hundreds of drummers, giant chimneys rose from the ground and began to belch smoke as a small army of volunteers, dressed as 19th century factory workers, forged one of the five Olympic rings.

The giant orb was raised to the sky to join the four others, letting off a fountain of sparks and drawing gasps from many in the audience.

All around, especially designed "pixel" light boxes installed next to every seat accompanied each scene with giant images of waves, flags and words.

At one end of the stadium stands a grassy knoll topped by a tree and at the other end the 23-tonne bell, which Bradley Wiggins, Britain's winner of this year's Tour de France, rang to kick off proceedings.

In front of each is a "mosh pit" of people conjuring the spirit of the Glastonbury music festival and Last Night of the Proms classical concert.

Ex-Beatle Paul McCartney will be among the many performers on the night, but the biggest secret of all - who has the honor of lighting the Olympic cauldron at the end of the show - remained a mystery.

  • Send
  • Large
  • Small
  • Print
  • Share
Most Viewed in
1
Oklahoma tornado death toll expected to rise to 91
2
US discussing religious freedom worries with Israel
3
Israeli restaurateur goes viral with online meltdown
4
S.Korea deploys Israeli missile on border with North
JPost Community
Tweet
Olympics London Olympics Queen Elizabeth ceremony Israeli athletes London
Share this article
Tweet
Share
Send
Your comment must be approved by a moderator before being published on JPost.com. Disqus users can post comments automatically.

Comments must adhere to our Talkback policy. If you believe that a comment has breached the Talkback policy, please press the flag icon to bring it to the attention of our moderation team.
JPost Services
conferenceConference
newsletterNewsletter
iphoneMobile Apps
kotelcamKotel Cam
kolboJPost Alert
premiumPremium
JPost TV News  
Mobile Apps  
Bank Hapoalim  
Meir Panim  
Yad Ezra  
Rambam Hospital  
TourLuxe  
Zev Goldstein PLLC  
Penrose Gallery  
JPost Premium Zone  
JPost kotel Camera  
         
 
Israel Focus
JPost TV News
Coming soon to a screen near you!  
Nefesh B'Nefesh Guided Aliyah
Already living in Israel? Enjoy the Benefits of Aliyah!  
Give "Freedom" this Passover
to needy Israeli families. Donate now  
War Threatens
Protect the People of Northern Israel  
Intelligence Squared
The international debate forum, announces it is coming to Israel  
Bank Hapoalim
Israeli's number one bank  
Jerusalem Post Lite
Lite Edition of the Jerusalem Post for English improvement  
Learn Hebrew with us
Get 10 minutes free personal coaching in Hebrew through phone or Skype  
JPost newspapers
Sign up for the JPost newspapers and receive one month free subscription  
Kosher English Magazine
English language weekly magazine - especially for religious people  
JReport Kindle Edition
Now you can get the Jerusalem Report directly to your Kindle  
JPost Premium Edition
The very best articles are available only in our Premium edition  
Lifestyle Magazine
 
 
Real Estate
Don't Look For a House!
In Israel, our website will do it for you!  
 
Travel
Eldan Rent a Car
20% off all Car Rental Reservations in Israel  
Hertz Car Rental
Special Online Discounts!  
The King David Jerusalem Hotel
One of the world's truly iconic hotels, and a Jerusalem landmark  
 
 
 

Sites Of Interest:

Jerusalem Hotels
KKL-JNF
Poalim Online
BreitBart.com
Our Friends
Jerusalem Attractions
Jerusalem Tours
itraveljerusalem.com

JPost sites:

Learn Hebrew
The Jerusalem Report
Our Magazines
JPost Edition Francaise
Green Israel
Christian World
Jerusalem Post Lite

Services:

JPost Mobile Apps
JPost Premium
JPost Newsletter
JPost Toolbar
JPost News Ticker
JPost RSS feeds
JPost Archives
JPost Alert
JPost Kotel Cam

JPost Conferences:

NYC Conference
Diplomatic Conference

Information:

About Us
Feedback
Staff E-mails
Copyright
Sitemap
News Partners
Advertise with Us
Price List
Statistics
Ad Specs
Terms Of Service
Jpost.com, the online edition of the Jerusalem Post Newspaper - the most read and best-selling English-language newspaper in Israel. For analysis and opinion from Israel, the Jewish World and the Middle East. Jpost.com offers expert and in-depth reporting from Israel, the Jewish World and the Middle East, including diplomacy and defense, the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, the Arab Spring, the Mideast peace process, politics in Israel, life in Jerusalem, Israel's international affairs, Iran and its nuclear program, Syria and the Syrian civil war, Lebanon, the Palestinian Authority, the West Bank and Gaza Strip, Israel's world of business and finance, and Jewish life in Israel and the Diaspora.
 
About Us | Advertise with Us | Subscribe | Premium | Newsletter | RSS | Contact Us
 
All rights reserved © The Jerusalem Post 1995 - 2012