The Olympic Opening Ceremony

Where to start? I have never liked Giles Coren who writes in The Times; until now. He says at the end of his marvellous report:  "It was all so left of centre and democratic and global, yet posh, elitist and parochial. Just like you and me. ........... And if we don't win a single medal, it won't matter. Because we had this." And it expressed exactly how I felt. In fact nearly all the journalists have taken the opportunity to write some of the best articles ever. Comments range from "shaken and stirred", "deliciously barmy", "playful irreverence" to "wild and wacky".
The following are my own particular highlights. They start with the countdown, a montage of pictures for each second. Then the route of the Thames with the Pink Floyd flying pig over Battersea Power Station. With so many delays to the redevelopment  of this iconic building, now with new plans, was Danny Boyle also suggesting that pigs might fly. And what was the image created by the parasols outside the riverside pub? A finger pointing the way down the river.

Kenneth Branagh gave a brilliant speech from The Tempest before the transformation of our green and pleasant land into an industrial nightmare which was truly staggering.  The smoking chimneys that were raised one after another was the most stunning visual of the whole evening.

The accompaniment to Pandemonium (from John Milton's Paradise Lost), not the 965 drummers (why 965?) but their leader, the greatest percussionist in the world, Dame Evelyn Glennie. An inspired choice. Of course the forging of the Olympic rings will never be forgotten or bettered.

More inspired choices with Mike Oldfield's Tubular Bells for the section wonderfully titled Second on the right and straight on till morning. I was especially happy with the inclusion of Portsmouth. And how brilliant were the flying Mary Poppins. Only to be surpassed by JK Rowling quoting from Peter Pan.

But I did have an uneasy feeling when Sir Simon Rattle (the best again?) conducts The London Symphony Orchestra in Chariots of Fire. Far too jingoistic for me, only that I fell for the joke with the introduction of Mr Bean.

The Times said a  total of 637,191 lights were installed on tablets on more than 70,000 seats. An awesome spectacle. Thank you lighting designer Patrick Woodrofe, another genius. I especially liked the lyrics of The Sex Pistol's Pretty Vacant being flashed around the audience. A joke on them?

It wasn't that it was David Beckam driving the boat to bring the torch to the stadium, it was who accompanied him. England Under 17 footballer Jade Bailey carried the torch itself. The future of England football rather than the past.

Obviously I could not forget the superb design of the cauldron with over 200 copper petals lighting each other and being lifted to come together to form a wonderful piece of art.

Then the music. And who is Frank Turner? I guess I should have known as his brand of folk rock is right up my street. Not the greatest songwriter in the world, but a great live performance of "I Still Believe" during the Pre-Show. I had to watch the fireworks again to hear Pink Floyd's Eclipse. But the best music was saved for the section entitled Frankie and June Say Thanks Tim. A collection of typical British music from the 60's to present day. It is here I have to quote Giles Coren yet again when he said "If I'd come all this way just for the seven seconds of The Specials'  Message to you Rudy played that loud ...... it would have been worth it". Fabulous. I can watch it again and again on iplayer. So thank you Danny Boyle for giving us a night to remember. I leave with a final quote from Giles. "And if we don't win a single medal, it wont matter. Because we had this." How true.