London Olympics 2012 opens with razzle-dazzle (22pics)

From Boyle’s Isles of Wonder, a green and pleasant land, John Milton’s capital city of Hell (Pandemonium) to James Bond and Mr. Bean's Chariots of Fire cameo, London lived up to the expectation of presenting a swanky openiong ceremony for the XXX Olympiad. But, with the final lighting of the Olympic cauldron, London took the ceremony to a different height to a differnt dimension - The cauldron consisting of 204 petals, one for each competing nation, were lit by seven young athletes chosen by British Olympic champions and to end it all, Paul McCartney's Hey Jude -- well done London, well done Danny Boyle.

THE GAMES HAVE BEGUN...

Paul McCartney sings Hey Jude in the Olympic Stadium.

AND THE OLYMPIC CAULDRON IS LIT. Fireworks go off all over the Olympic Park as clips of iconic Olympic moments are played.

The cauldron was designed by Thomas Heatherwick.

The next generation of Olympians are lighting the Olympic Cauldron. The cauldron consists of 204 petals, one for each competing nation or territory, which were lit by seven young athletes chosen by British Olympic champions.

The seven youngsters meet and are hugged by their mentors and now they make their way into the centre of the stadium and there is the cauldron.

Sir Steve Redgrave passes the flame to young rower. Each Torchbearer and Ambassador nominated a talented young athlete to carry the Flame.

And here comes the Olympic flame through Thames, Sir Steve Redgrave takes it, with David Beckham besides it. Redgrave enters the stadium.

There are nine Flagbearers, representing our common aspiration to the best we can be.

Haile Gebreselassie - an inspirational beacon of hope.

Sally Becker -we salute her courage and compassion.

Shami Chakrabati CBE - an eloquent voice raised for human rights and freedom, recognised for her integrity.

Doreen Lawrence OBE - a passionate campaigner for reform.

Leymah Gbowee - a great peace maker.

Ban Ki-Moon - powerful advocate of cooperation.

Daniel Barenboim - believes in the possibilty of harmony in place of conflict.

Marina Silva - United Nations champion of the Earth.

Muhammad Ali - respect, confidence, conviction, dedication, generosity and spiritual strength.

And Her Majesty The Queen declares the Games open!!!

"I want to thank the entire team at the London Organising Committee - ably led by Lord Coe - for their excellent and hard work." Jacques Rogge - President of the IOC

"To my fellow countrymen, I say thank you for making all this possible." Seb Coe - Chair of the London 2012 Organising Committee

'Bike a.m.' segment that celebrates the bicycle - not just its part in the Games, but its role in ordinary life.

So we come to the end of the Parade of Nations and it is the Artic Monkeys entertaining the crowd now.

And finally the hosts, Great Britain.

That is LeBron James of USA.

It is the 'Super Serb' Novak Djokovic.

World No.1 Women's tennis player Maria Sharapova leds the Russian charge.

The Indian contingent led by Sushil Kumar.

The Jamaicans led by the fastest man on earth, Usain Bolt.

Hockey player Natascha Keller is carrying the Flag for Germany. She made her debut in Atlanta 1996 and won a gold medal in Athens 2004. Her grandfather Erwin Keller won a silver medal in hockey at the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin. Her father Carsten Keller won a gold medal in hockey at the 1972 Olympic Games.

The 2008 Beijing Olympics table toppers China in Red

Australia comes in now led by three time Silver medal winner basketball star Lauren Jackson.

Team Argentina

Parade of Nations, 204 nations lead by Greece, flag bearer is Taekwondo star Alexandros Nikolaidis.

THE MOMENT HAS COME NOW: Parade of Nations

And there dives the Queen , snap from the Queen's royal entrance. A person dressed as Queen Elizabeth II parachutes into the Olympic stadium during the Opening Ceremony.

Emeli Sandé sings ‘Abide With Me’. Fifty dancers, including the choreographer Akram Khan, dramatise the struggle between life and death.

Look who paid a visit, it is MR.BEAN

Montage video of Olympic torch relay, from 1948 when the flame was brought to Wembley and it is again being brought back to the Olympic stadium through River Thames and guess who is the driver, DAVID BECKHAM.

Now a tribute to Sir Tim Bernad Lee, the creator of World Wide Web. His innovative thinking has changed the way we communicate for ever, and is reflected in the use of social media to arrange a Saturday night out. The stroy earlier depicted through characters Frankie and June.

It is a love stroy depicted through music from each decade.

Some funky groovy beats in now as Mum and Dad stay at home and watch TV, teenage son plays video games but the teenage girl – June – is getting ready to go out dancing. Music from 60s. 70s and 90s as Frankie chases June.

From offical site of London Olympics, "Frankie and June say...

The story starts in an ordinary house – the kind of house in which most British people live. Our fictional family – played by non-professional volunteers, chosen from among our volunteers – is ready for Saturday night".

And there is Lord Voldemort

Mr. Bean's appearance was a surprise but full of laughter as usual.

You better believe it guys, it is MR.BEAN at the Olympic stadium.The London Symphony Orchestra are performing the theme from the film most associated with the Olympics; Chariots of Fire with a very familiar face joining them on keyboard, Rowan Atkinson as Mr, Bean and that is classic English humour on display.

And this is how the 5 rings are forged. The Olympic rings are lit with pyrotechnics during the Opening Ceremony.

And here comes Mary Poppins to banish all the nightmares. Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!

The great villains of British literature appear as puppets, including Captain Hook from Peter Pan, Cruella de Vil from 101 Dalmatians, Voldemort from Harry Potter and the Childcatcher from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang come into the Olympic Stadium.

Tributes paid to the nurses and the national health system, music by Mike Oldfield.

London 2012 ?@London2012
'God Save The Queen', the National Anthem of the UK, is sung in the Stadium

The Union Flag is carried into the Stadium to be raised by representatives of the Royal Navy, Army and Royal Air Force.

A huge GASP all around the stadium as Her Majesty The Queen dives off the plane (you would know it is not her). The Queen has just 'parachuted' into the Olympic Stadium...what a royal entrace.

And wait for this, it is Daniel Craig, though it is a video and he is meeting the Queen at the Palace, escorting the Queen from the Buckingham Palace to the the Olympic stadium and that is for real. Helicopter hovering above the stadium.

@London 2012 ?Her Majesty The Queen leaves Buckingham Palace with James Bond 007 (played by Daniel Craig) by helicopter... #OpeningCeremony

965 drummers in unison and with that entralling music, the five olympic rings are forged high above the stadium.

@London2012 Giant Olympic Rings are glowing, having been forged from red-hot metal. They're rising high above the field of play #OpeningCeremony

This segment ‘Pandemonium’ is under way and right at the middle of the stadium rises 7 chimneys, 5 beam engines, 6 looms, 1 crucible and 1 water wheel, the industrial revolution on dispaly.

Tour de France champion Bradley Wiggins ring a bell during the Opening Ceremony.

It is the great England histroy on display now.

Caliban’s speech from Shakespeare’s The Tempest is spoken by the character of Isambard Kingdom Brunel, Britain’s mostrevered engineer. Followed by the drumming is led by Dame Evelyn Glennie.She is profoundly deaf since childhood.

And they are playing cricket at the Olympics opening ceremony.

'Jerusalem' is sung in the Olympic Stadium; 'Londonderry Air' from the Giant's Causeway, N.Ireland.

Final countdown begins and Tour de France winner Bradley Wiggins is up on the stage and he rings the bell. The Olympic Bell sounds.... it's the start of the London 2012 Olympic Games! The Olympic Bell is the largest harmonically tuned bell in the world and was made by the Whitechapel Bell Foundry, whose workshop is just a few miles from the Stadium.

This from the offical London Olympics twitter handle @London2012 "Right now, musician Frank Turner is leading the Olympic Stadium in a singalong - must be an amazing feeling #OpeningCeremony".

Here is Danny Boyle at the Olympic stadium.

It’s stopped raining so they will be underway in 20 minutes meanwhile the coverage of the opening ceremony on TV will be on in 15 minutes. 

Twitterverse tweeting that the prologue has just finished and Danny Boyle is on stage.

Courtesy: Kevin McCallum ?@KevinMcCallum
The prologue has just about finished...Danny Boyle is on the stage...

Oh God! It just started to rain. This was not supposed to happen.

The Tweeteverse are abuzz but the coverage on TV is yet to start.

The Opening Ceremony prologue has begun on the Green and Pleasant Land!

We are just hours away from the opening of the biggest sporting extravaganza and to witness Danny Boyle's 'Isles of Wonder' Olympic Opening Ceremony and here at Zeenews.com you would able to catch all the live updates of the opening ceremony.

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There would sheeps, Paul McCartney, James bond and even a cricket match as Oscar award winning director Danny Boyle will present to the world a glimpse of England and a spectacle to match the 2008 Beijing Olympics opening ceremony.

People have started puring in for the Olympics opening ceremony. Click on the pic to go to the Photo Gallery.

A day before 10,500 sportsmen and women from 204 competing nations try to fulfil their dreams, the opening ceremony will be officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh and will feature 15,000 performers, £27 million and

three hours of entertainment.

Greece will lead the parade, followed by other competing countries in alphabetical order and finally the host nation Great Britain.