The London 2012 Summer Olympics (Opening Ceremony)

The London 2012 Olympics is over but memories of the events that transpired still remain fresh in my heart. I’ve always been a fan of the games and my favourite part is the opening and closing ceremonies where I get to see the creativity and variety the host nation have to offer. After Beijing 2008, I kept wondering what surprise the United Kingdom would spring up on us even though, this is not the first time the city of London had been privileged to host the games(London hosted in both in 1904 and 1948 but this year’s games was the first modern Olympics for London).

The Opening Ceremony

I waited eagerly, week after week till July 27th 2012, for the opening ceremony themed the Isles of Wonder. I heard the inspiration for the festivity was drawn from Shakesphere’s Tempest. With a $40million budget, the extravagance which was artistically directed by Danny Boyle was indeed worth the wait. For those of you who don’t know Danny Boyle, he is an English film director and producer who has won numerous awards since 1995 including the Oscars & Critics Choice Awards (2009) and AFI film Awards (2010). He is best known for directing the 2008 film, Slum-dog Millionaire. He’s not only been honoured with awards by Americans but also from other European organizations in Norway, Scotland etc. Anyways, back to the ceremony.

Thanks to our fluctuating power supply in Nigeria, I was unable to enjoy every bit of the ceremonies (opening and closing) as I would have loved to. But from what I saw, I was quite impressed. The stadium of about 80,000 seats couldn’t take the mammoth crowd of 5.3million visitors that showed up for the Olympic Games, so the overflow had large screens to encourage everyone outside the stadium in hyde park to follow the event in real time. Earlier on, an extra 9,500 security officials were deployed to London to ensure order and strengthen the already existing security forces. As the countdown to the opening ceremony began, rock music filled the air and people were seen ringing bells alongside Big Ben which rang for three minutes.

The opening was truly a wonder as the volunteer performers showcased the history of the United Kingdom, citing eras like that of the green and pleasant land, the industrial revolution, the migration of blacks into Europe, the Royal Guards and the impact of the entertainment industry on the European culture. We saw clips that reminded us of bedtime stories, nannies, fantasies, dancing, movies such as Olivia twist, Annie, Alice in wonderland, Mary Poppins, etc. Characters like Mr Bean turned an orchestra rendition into British comic relief while James bond (007 as played by Daniel Craig) escorting the Queen (Elizabeth II) in a helicopter ride to the venue and David Beckham made the wait for the Olympic torch all the more exciting. We were entertained with readings/recitations by celebrities such as JK Rowling & Kenneth Branagh, Acapella music that rang so pure, the Chariots of Fire & Abide with Me symphony etc. If you missed it, there are not enough words or pictures to tell how grand it was. Through it all, there was one part I’m sure everyone in the 204 participating countries watching wanted to see and that was the Parade of Nations.

As I waited for the Nigerian contingents to come out, I noticed great British hits were being played in the background including songs from Coldplay, Adele and the Bee Gees. I also learned the names of a few new countries I never knew existed like Andorra, Brunei, Laos, Nairu, Maldives, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, Uzbekistan, etc. Before the 2012 olympics, I didn’t even know the difference between Yugoslavia and Macedonia, I didn’t even know there was a name dispute between Taiwan (which was introduced as the Chinese Taipei) and China (introduced as the People’s Republic of China).

While dignitaries from participating countries showed up to show political support for their athletes, I was disappointed that I saw no one, not even the Vice President or the Minster of Sports, from Nigeria to show support for our country. I was glad at the number of participating Nigerian athletes though. Of course the parade which started with Greece, home of the ancient and modern Olympic games, ended with the United Kingdom the current host.