Opening Ceremony "Isles of Wonder": Astonishing Facts About Olympic Introduction
The Olympics have finally arrived, and all eyes are on the city of London to ensure they conduct a performance for the ages to entertain viewers from all over the world.
It’s estimated that up to a billion people will have their eyes glued to their television in eager anticipation of what the London officials have up their sleeve.
Well, I have some good news.
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There has been $42.3 million thrown towards entertaining you, and an incredible list of eye-popping names and events have been planned.
Here are 11 interesting tidbits to think about while watching the Olympic Ceremony tonight (7:30 p.m. ET, NBC).
1. On Friday morning Big Ben rang for three minutes. This is the longest it has rung since King George VI’s funeral back in 1952.
2. Director Danny Boyle (Slumdog Millionaire, 127 Hours) has been deemed the ceremony’s “mastermind” who plans to “capture the nation’s identity, values, heritage, as well as its present and future” (via Washington Post). It better be interesting if he plans on keeping the ADD world we live in today entertained for three hours.
3. Around 60,000 fans will be in attendance at Olympic Stadium, but there were still seats available, for the small price of $3,157.
4. London is the first ever city to host the modern games three separate times (1908, 1948).
5. The official mascots of the Summer Games are Wenlock and Mandeville, who represent drops of steel from a Bolton steel mill. Huh?
6. A small farm is going to be on hand, with 70 sheep, 12 horses, 10 chickens, nine geese and three sheep dogs being utilized in the festivities. Cue PETA outrage.
7. Dancing nurses? There’s going to be a score of them on hand to celebrate the National Health Service, which is their universal health program. Thanks for rubbing it in, guys.
8. “Shaken, not stirred”. Rumor has it that the current James Bond (Daniel Craig) has filmed a spot that will be shown during the Olympics, with a stuntman dressed like Bond parachuting into the stadium once the short clip finishes. The Bond series runs deep in Great Britain’s history.
9. Bond isn’t the only popular British movie character. Appearances from characters “Alice in Wonderland,” “Peter Pan,” “Harry Potter” and “Mary Poppins” are all expected to make cameos.
10. Paul McCartney is schedule to perform, and Elton John will be on hand. This one’s a no-brainer.
11. Last but not least is the mystery as to who will be lighting the Olympic cauldron. Some have guessed soccer star David Beckman will be kicking a flaming soccer ball, but sportsbooks has Roger Bannister as the odds-on favorite. He famously broke the four-minute mile back in 1954.
It’s going to be a wild couple of hours, and with the lineup presented, expect London to more than live up to the bar set by Beijing in 2008.
Fun facts provided by Yahoo! Sports, Washington Post and New York Daily News
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