London 2012 - Isles of Wonder

It's been two weeks since the Games of the XXX Olympiad at London came to an end. However, I'm definitely suffering from post-Olympics syndrome. Although I was not personally in London to watch the Games, the experience of watching it at home has been a wonderful one for me. My anticipation for the Games began in January, when I recalled London was the host city, and it was heightened as the date approached the opening ceremony. Most people would know that I have a huge thing for many things British/English, so the fact that London was the host city has definitely made me look forward to the Games even more. Many of my friends would have noticed my excitement via Facebook, when my timeline cover photo featured the Olympic rings at various locations in London. Heck, I even tracked down the current location of the Olympic flame through the official website! Before the Games began, I checked out the schedules for all the diving and swimming events which I wanted to watch to make sure I did not miss them. I am a huge fan of aquatics sports since being a former competitive swimmer, I know it well. Also, because most of the athletes I know such as USA's Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte, South Korea's Park Taehwan, Great Britain's Tom Daley, Chris Mears and Jack Laugher, China's He Zhong and of course Malaysia's very own Bryan Nickson Lomas and Pandelela Rinong Pamg, are swimmers and divers. 

So my London 2012 'experience' began with the wait for 4 am (MST) for the official opening ceremony of the Games. Titled "Isles of Wonder", the ceremony had a very different approach from Beijing's "greatest ever" opening ceremony four years ago. Contrary to how most people disliked the London opening ceremony (probably because Beijing's ceremony was more extravagant, more awe, and more artistic left a legacy that couldn't be beaten), I personally enjoyed most of the performances throughout the night. It was simply all things British! The opening sequence "Pandemonium" featuring the industrial revolution has got to be one of my favourite performance of the night. Particularly, the forging of the Olympic rings was very unique compared to the previous Athens and Beijing editions, as each individual ring came from different corners of the stadium and meeting in the centre to form the five interlocking rings, signifying the union of five different continents and peaceful coming together of the different nations at these Games. Simple, yet brilliant concept. For those of you who missed it, you can watch it here.

These "satanic mills" during the industrial revolution sequence (Pandemonium)

Forging of the Olympic rings (Pandemonium)

The Olympic rings (Pandemonium)

Next came the short film "Happy & Glorious" featuring the royal arrival of Her Majesty The Queen unlike any other! You have got to give it to Britain for their sense of humour. The following sequence entitled "Second to the right, and straight on till morning" paid tribute to children literature, the National Health System and Great Ormond Street Hospital. It was definitely entertaining, from the music to the use of children performers and the entire choreography. Next, the performance of Chariots of Fire led by Sir Simon Rattle accompanied by the London Symphony Orchestra featuring Rowan Atkinson as the legendary Mr. Bean was definitely one of the highlights of the ceremony. Whoever said they didn't enjoy the humour probably doesn't have any sense of humour? (Come on, it's Mr. Bean!). The next performance featuring the digital age "Frankie and June says...thanks Tim!" was not so much my cup of tea, but the dose of great British music featured was definitely the bomb! In fact, music was definitely the main feature of the night! Perhaps this was why I enjoyed the ceremony unlike many others, because the music is simply brilliant. I am a sucker for British music, despite not knowing every single one of them. A moment of silence during the memorial wall section and the memorial performance which paid tribute to the victims of the London bombings in 2005 was definitely an emotional one, even for me. 

"The Queen" jumping off the helicopter during the royal arrival (Happy & Glorious)

A Tribute to Great Ormond Street Hospital (Second to the right, and straight on till morning)

Tribute to Sir Tim Berners-Lee, the inventor of the World Wide Web, who tweeted the above message to everyone (Frankie and June says..thanks Tim!)

The lighting of the Olympic cauldron, which came after the parade of nations, was another highlight of the ceremony. The theme of the London 2012 - Inspire A Generation, was very clearly conveyed when seven British Olympians handed the privilege of lighting the cauldron to seven upcoming young athletes. The cauldron, designed by Thomas Heatherwick, was made up of steel pipes and individual copper petals inscribed with the names of each competing nation. Seven petals were then lit, and the flame spread until all petals were lit, before the steel pipes then rose and converged to unite the 204 individual flames into one flame of unity. It was a spectacular feat. I quote the BBC commentator "Breathtaking in its beauty and its ambition".  I was definitely very emotional during this part of the ceremony. And what better way to end the ceremony than to have Sir Paul McCartney himself performing his ever-famous Hey Jude? As I mentioned earlier, music was definitely the main feature of this ceremony. In short, London's ceremony was a symphony of British music, coupled with British humour and the remarkable use of children during the ceremony, conveying London's aspiration to 'inspire a generation'. 

The converging of individual flames on 204 copper petals

The Olympic flame of unity

Photos source from London 2012, the official Games website.