It took me a few days (crappy internet connection), but I finally got through the entire opening ceremony, which is nearly four hours long. With the time difference, there was no way I was going to stay up to watch it live, if it was going to be by myself.
Saw some of BBC Sport's coverage, and one posted on YouTube on the Olympic official channel. Here's Benedict Cumberbatch kicking off BBC's coverage of the event. And no, he's not in his Sherlock character - you can tell by the hair :P
Here's the full thing - watch only if you've better internet connection than mine; it keeps dying every few minutes... really annoying.
[Can't embed, but here's the link - have fun]
- Holy shit - that's (Sir) Kenneth Branagh!
- I could've sworn I saw Muse when they aired the torch relay segment... yeah, they got to hold the torch in their hometown, Devon.
- "Bond" and "Her Majesty" jumping out of the helicopter cracks me up. The corgis are adorable.
- Mr Bean and the Chariots of Fire segment - hilarious, but best enjoyed in small doses. Also, never get him to be in your orchestra during a major global celebration, haha.
- Voldemort! J.K. Rowling! Mary Poppins-es! All the literary heroes and villains! Woah...!
- How come no Roald Dahl? Don't kids like his work? Well okay, J.K Rowling is one of the biggest selling authors on the planet..
- Haven't heard Prodigy's Firestarter for years til now.
- Parade of Nations kicking off to Chemical Brothers. Heh.
- Man, there are some tiny contingents marching in the stadium.
- Why were the Czech Republic contingent wearing blue rain boots? In case of rain?
- Independent Olympic Athletes? Wow.
- Said parade even ended on another Chemical Brothers song. Haha.
- David Beckham steering the boat with the torch, all suave and smirky.
- It was nice to have the young athletes light up the cauldron instead of the usual suspects.
- I admit, the Olympic cauldron was SO COOL. Well okay, it's different...
