Just realized it's Korean not Chinese 
The Opening Ceremony for Beijing 2008.
- Thread starter Nick 0208 Ldn
- Start date
Is Taiwan there?
I'd just like to point out at this time, when the closing ceremony is upon us and the torch gets handed over to London, it will be collected by... Boris Johnson.
Why is NBC not showing this live in the US? Where are the Americans watching this?
That speech by the IOC president would have sounded more natural if Stephen Hawking had read it out.
feckin tape delay maybe. or else it's on MSNBC.
I hope they don't feck it up. they should show the games live and let people deal with as they want. I know they'll do the tape delay thing too for primetime but live should be the 1st option.
He will then trip over his own feet and make us a laughing stock.
Maitha bint Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum
Some guy is running up the walls
Wow!
This has got to be the best opening ceremony ever
London as got its work cut out.
London as got its work cut out.
Ah, thanks.
So we are now officially underway, and London knows what it ahs to at least match in terms of opening ceremonies.
Damn it commercial!! What's Jacky Chan is doing there??
We have got our work cut out big time. That was spectacular.
How many events is Theo Walcott being entered for?
spectacular Opening Ceremony
It will be interesting to see what we come up with, it will probably be something like Trooping the Colour Mk.ii
We could always light the olympic flame by roasting Jade Goody on a spit?
London will be be bland, no doubt. We don't do spectacular for some reason.
It'll take forever to burn through all that flab
Plus the toxic fumes might just feck all the athletes over.
That was the lamest part by some margin.
I wouldn't say that.
It may have gone massively over budget but the show at Millennium Dome was pretty good as i remember it.
The fireworks at New Year on the Thames are right up there now too, with the Lonodn Eye and Big Ben making up the centre piece.
The world's most globally representative city as the host, i very much doubt that it will be bland.
Pomp, ceremony and excitement.
Have a little faith, does no good to write us off four years in advance.
Nah, it'll be bland. Compare London's stadium to the Bird's Nest and Water Cube and you'll see where I'm coming from. If anything the London olympic stadium will cost more. And that's just the setting.
I do recall being on the Victoria Embankment at New Year 2000, pretty strong stuff- I think we can put on a great show but I'm just worried we will make it a political correctness monstrosity- we have a stint in this year's closing ceremony which should give us a flavour of what we can expect.
It should also be noted that it will be the Queen's diamond jubilee year which I imagine will feature prominently should she still be here.
A bit silly to be comparing Lonodn and Beijing prices it seems to me.
However our stadium id designed to be sustaibale for the city, and set an example for the future. The theory going that vast parts of the stadium could be transferred on to future host cities, thus enabling more countries to bid and the overall cost to go down.
The PC things is a concern for me too, and there was soem controversy earlier this year in fact when it emerged that British icons like the Red Arrows would not be considered. We have to find the right balance between heritage and modernity.
It's insanely over priced - majority of the stadium has temporary stands. But that doesn't explain why it's so bland. Again, function over form. Much like what I expect of the games.
Well keep on being miserable then
, i'm going to remain optimistic. Was there in Trafalgar Square when the announcement was made, would hardly fit to be otherwise now would it.The Beijing Opening Ceremony cost £3,000 a second apparently.
Maitha bint Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum. Everyone knows that
You're welcome.
The thing is that London seems to have a habit of ballsing these sorts of things up. You might have enjoyed the Millennium Dome but most considered it flop (and a few even paid for it with their careers). That's not to mention the debacle of the Millennium Bridge or even the perennially delayed opening of Wembley Stadium which impacted on our bid for the World Cup and a couple of FA Cup Finals after that. There's also the whole Picket's Lock fiasco which is still fresh in the minds of most followers of athletics.
I'm not a militant northerner who wishes nothing but ill on London (honest), but looking at the choice of the Olympics logo you've not exactly got off to the best start, and I don't hold much hope for Olympiad itself either.
I can't argue with much of that [Pickets Lock is not terribly far from where i live so no need for reminders there] and the logo was and still is a shocker. The Dome [now the O2] should never have been closed after only 12 months, i think many regret that now.
That all being said, there is the London Eye which continues to be an amazing success. And Ashburton Grove finished on time, and the upgrades to Centre Court at Wimbledon are goign to schedule too as far as i am aware.
The bid team proved people wrong by winning the chance to hsot the 2012 Games in the first place, i can only hope we won't hold true to a similar standard over the next four years at when the time comes.
No way will London be able to follow that up. No chance in hell. apart from actual sport, personal life and space, today was the greatest thing I've ever seen on tele.
Amazing opening ceremony, no way we'll be able top that.
fecken great ceremony.... I loved the first bit with the drums
Same. It really set the tone.
I dont think London needs to worry though, everyone can just do their own thing. Maybe have a dazzling laser show instead of casting so many performers.
I can't even remember what happened at past ceremonies, even Sydney. It was a great ceremony though this Beijing one. The drums at the start and those guys under the white box things were my highlights.
I am watching the NBC feed right now, and to the side of the athletes in the background there is a white and red flag with a picture on it...the person in the picture on the flag almost looks like Saddam Hussein...but I can only see it sporadically
Who is it?
Who is it?
IIRC the Qatar athletes came out with a flag with a picture on it... i think it's their crown prince or something like that.