2012 Summer Olympics opening ceremony

"Isles of Wonder" redirects here. For the soundtrack album, see Isles of Wonder (album).
"London 2012 opening ceremony" redirects here. For the Paralympics opening ceremony, see 2012 Summer Paralympics opening ceremony.

2012 Summer Olympics
opening ceremony
Part of 2012 Summer Olympics
The "Pandemonium" segment, during the final rehearsal of the ceremony on 25 July
Date27 July 2012; 12 years ago (2012-07-27)
Time21:00 – 00:46 BST (UTC+1)
VenueOlympic Stadium
LocationLondon, United Kingdom
Coordinates51°32′19″N 0°01′00″W / 51.53861°N 0.01667°W / 51.53861; -0.01667
Also known asIsles of Wonder
Filmed byOlympic Broadcasting Services (OBS)
Done and Dusted
FootageThe ceremony on the IOC YouTube channel on YouTube
Olympic rings
Part of a series on
2012 Summer Olympics

The opening ceremony of the 2012 Summer Olympics took place on the evening of Friday 27 July 2012 in the Olympic Stadium, London, during which the Games were formally opened by Queen Elizabeth II. As mandated by the Olympic Charter, the proceedings combined the ceremonial opening of this international sporting event (including welcoming speeches, hoisting of the flags and the parade of athletes) with an artistic spectacle to showcase the host nation's culture. The spectacle was entitled Isles of Wonder[1] and directed by Academy Award-winning British film director Danny Boyle.

Prior to London 2012 there had been considerable apprehension about Britain's ability to stage an opening ceremony that could reach the standard set at the Beijing Summer Games of 2008.[2][3][4] The 2008 ceremony had been noted for its scale, extravagance and expense, hailed as the "greatest ever",[5] and had cost £65m. In contrast, London spent an estimated £27m (out of £80m budgeted for its four ceremonies), which was nevertheless about twice the original budget.[6] Nonetheless, the London opening ceremony was immediately seen as a tremendous success, widely praised as a "masterpiece" and "a love letter to Britain".[7][8][9]

The ceremony began at 21:00 BST and lasted almost four hours.[10] It was watched by an estimated worldwide television audience of 900 million, falling short of the IOC's 1.5 billion viewership estimate for the 2008 ceremony,[11][12] but becoming the most-viewed in the UK and US.[13][14] The content had largely been kept secret before the performance, despite involving thousands of volunteers and two public rehearsals. The principal sections of the artistic display represented Britain's Industrial Revolution, National Health Service, literary heritage, popular music and culture, and were noted for their vibrant storytelling and use of music. Two shorter sections drew particular comment, involving a filmed cameo appearance of the Queen with James Bond as her escort, and a live performance by the London Symphony Orchestra joined by comedian Rowan Atkinson. These were widely ascribed to Britain's sense of humour.[15] The ceremony featured children and young people in most of its segments, reflecting the 'inspire a generation' aspiration of London's original bid for the Games.[16]

The BBC released footage of the entire opening ceremony on 29 October 2012, edited by Danny Boyle and with background extras, along with more than seven hours of sporting highlights and the complete closing ceremony.[17]

  1. ^ "Isles of Wonder". 27 July 2012. Retrieved 29 July 2012.
  2. ^ Harris, Stephen (23 August 2012). "Engineering the London 2012 Olympics opening ceremony". The Negineer. Archived from the original on 28 September 2015. Retrieved 24 August 2012.
  3. ^ Spencer, Richard (25 August 2012). "London 2012 cannot match Beijing Olympics opening ceremony 'because of trade unions'". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 12 January 2022. Retrieved 24 August 2012.
  4. ^ Hepple, Philip (16 February 2012). "Five Ways for London to Top the Beijing Olympics Opening Ceremony". Huffington Post. Retrieved 24 August 2012.
  5. ^ "Press hails 'greatest ever' Olympic opening show". Agence France-Presse. 9 August 2008. Archived from the original on 11 May 2013. Retrieved 13 March 2013.
  6. ^ Kortekaas, Vanessa (5 December 2011). "Cameron doubles budget for Olympic ceremonies". FT.com. Retrieved 29 June 2012.
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference Dawson was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ Goldsmith, Harvey; Phillips, Arlene; Quantick, David; Brown, Mick; Beard, Mary (29 July 2012). "London 2012: the experts' view of the Olympic opening ceremony". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 12 January 2022. Retrieved 5 August 2012.
  9. ^ "Media reaction to London 2012 Olympic opening ceremony". BBC. 28 July 2012. Retrieved 1 August 2012.
  10. ^ Fowler, Scott (27 July 2012). "Brits show their knack for theater, humor". The Kansas City Star. Retrieved 31 July 2012.
  11. ^ Sponsorship Intelligence (September 2009). Games of the XXIX Olympiad, Beijing 2008: Global Television and Online Media Report (PDF) (Report). International Olympic Committee. p. 3. Retrieved 27 August 2018.
  12. ^ Ormsby, Avril (7 August 2012). "London 2012 opening ceremony draws 900 million viewers". Retuers. Archived from the original on 8 August 2016. Retrieved 13 March 2013.
  13. ^ Douglas, Torin (28 July 2012). "Olympics ceremony: 27m UK viewers watched opening". BBC. Retrieved 29 July 2012.
  14. ^ Pomerantz, Dorothy (28 July 2012). "Olympics Opening Most Watched Non-U.S. Ceremony Ever (And Pretty Good)". Forbes. Retrieved 29 July 2012.
  15. ^ "A "noisy, busy, witty, dizzying production": What the world thought of London 2012's opening ceremony". Daily Mirror. 28 July 2012. Retrieved 22 August 2012.
  16. ^ "Case Study – LONDON 2012: How We Won The Bid" (PDF). Higher Education Academy Oxford Brookes University. February 2010. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 August 2012. Retrieved 24 August 2012.
  17. ^ London 2012 Olympic Games, BBC Shop, London, October 2012. Retrieved 28 October 2012.