Olympic Opening Ceremonies 2012: What You Need to Know for Start of London Games

The 2012 Summer Olympics are only days away, and like all big international events, London will be flexing its muscle with an opening ceremony performance that should wow the rest of the world much like Beijing did four years ago.

While matching that particular opening ceremony will be tough, London should be able to at least come close to measuring up.

Some of the opening ceremony's information has already leaked and that has given several interesting clues about what this year's games will bring.

Where: London, United Kingdom

When: Friday, July 27, at 7:30 p.m. EDT (Tape delayed)

Channel: NBC (Check local listings)

Live Stream: NBCOlympics.com

The full Olympic schedule can be found on NBCOlympics.com.

What to Watch For

First and foremost, the ceremony will feature the athletes from every country in the Games. Keep an eye out for the biggest stars from each country carrying their respective flags and waving them proudly as they enter the ceremony.

The Olympic torch will ignite the cauldron, which is the Olympic flame that will burn throughout the games. This signifies the official beginning of the event.

Leaks have already come out for the specifics of the event. Here are some things to look out for.

According to Dan Martin of Guardian.co.uk, Sir Paul McCartney will be performing to close out the opening ceremony. Of course, McCartney is an international superstar and former Beatle as well as a native of Liverpool, England. He should rock the house with a stadium full of very pleased fans cheering him on.

Dillon Mullan of the Washington Post is reporting that a pre-recorded segment will be played involving Queen Elizabeth II and the latest James Bond actor, Daniel Craig. It's safe to say that dynamic should be interesting at best.

According to Letrisha Langford of Yahoo! Sports, you can also expect to see over 15,000 performers in between the beginning and end of the ceremony, which "will begin with the sound of the largest harmonically tuned bell in Europe."

Speeches from important people in the Olympic Games will be heard as well, according to the same report from Langford.

Sebastian Coe, the head of the London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG), will speak first and is expected to be followed by Jacques Rogge, the president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

In all, there is a lot to live up to with the past performances of other countries, but it looks like London will try its best to match the opening ceremonies of old. Nobody expects them to outdo Olympic opening ceremonies of the past, but just coming close should be more than enough.