2012 London Olympics Opening Ceremonies.

The London 2012 Olympic Games Opening Ceremony took place on 27 July 2012.

Titled 'Isles of Wonder', the Ceremony welcomed the finest athletes from more than 200 nations for the start of the London 2012 Olympic Games, marking an historic third time the capital has hosted the world’s biggest and most important sporting event.

The Opening Ceremony reflected the key themes and priorities of the London 2012 Games, based on sport, inspiration, youth and urban transformation. It was a Ceremony 'for everyone' and celebrated contributions the UK has made to the world through innovation and revolution, as well as the creativity and exuberance of British people.

The spectacular finale of the event saw the Olympic Cauldron, formed of 205 copper petals representing the competing nations coming together in London for the Games, ignited by seven young Torchbearers nominated by Britain’s past and present Olympic and sporting greats.

The Opening Ceremony is a celebration showcasing the best of the Host Nation. It also features a parade of all competing nations and the highly anticipated entrance of the Olympic Flame, which ignites the Cauldron and signals the start of the Games.

The eyes of the world will be on London for the Opening Ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games. The Ceremony will provide an opportunity for the world to view the artistic expression of the Artistic Director (Danny Boyle) and his team, and the culture of our Host City and the UK. There are certain elements that must feature in every Ceremony, as outlined in the International Olympic Committee (IOC) charter. The artistic performance of the Ceremony then gets underway and welcomes the world to the London 2012 Games.

The name of the Olympic Opening Ceremony show will be ‘Isles of Wonder’ and the worldwide broadcast will commence at 9pm. The Ceremony will kick off with the sound of the largest harmonically tuned bell in Europe, produced by the White chapel Foundry, and the Stadium will be transformed into the British countryside for opening scene ‘Green and Pleasant’, which includes real farmyard animals. The Ceremony will also include a special sequence celebrating the best of British, featuring volunteer performers from the NHS.

Danny Boyle, Artistic Director of the London 2012 Olympic Opening Ceremony, said: ‘Our Isles of Wonder salutes and celebrates the exuberant creativity of the British genius in an Opening Ceremony that we hope will be as unpredictable and inventive as the British people.’

A total cast of 15,000 will take part in the Olympic and Paralympic Opening and Closing Ceremonies watched by an estimated audience of four billion.

The Games were officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II, who was accompanied by Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. For each, it was the second Games they have personally officiated at, Philip having opened the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne and Elizabeth having opened the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal. The Games held in Australia and Canada in , 1988, 2000 and 2010 were opened by their countries' respective Governors General.

A comedic short film starring Daniel Craig as secret agent James Bond and Queen Elizabeth II was screened during the television coverage of the ceremony. Sir Paul McCartney performed the song "Hey Jude" at the end of the ceremony.

Simon Rattle was then introduced to conduct the London Symphony Orchestra in a performance of Vangelis' "Chariots of Fire". Mr Bean (played by Rowan Atkinson) appeared playing a repeated single note on synthesiser. He then lapsed into a dream sequence in which he joined the runners from the film of the same name, attempting to beat them in their iconic run along a beach by riding in a minicab and tripping several of his competitors.

The Parade of Nations followed, accompanied in part by popular songs including "West End Girls" by Pet Shop Boys and Stayin' Alive from the Bee Gees. According to custom, Greece led the parade, followed by other competing countries in alphabetical order and finally the host nation Great Britain. The British delegation entered to David Bowie's song "Heroes". Each nation's flag was planted along the model of Glastonbury Tor. At the end of the Parade, Arctic Monkeys performed a their song "I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor" and a version of the Beatles' "Come Together". Speeches by Sebastian Coe and Jacques Rogge followed, and the Queen officially opened the Games.

Lighting of the Olympic cauldron

Beckham handed the Olympic torch to Steve Redgrave, six-time Olympic medallist in rowing. He ran the torch into the stadium and handed it to a team of seven young athletes: Callum Airlie, Jordan Duckitt, Desiree Henry, Katie Kirk, Cameron MacRitchie, Aidan Reynolds and Adelle Tracey; each nominated by a famous British olympian. After completing a lap of the venue, each were hugged by their nominating olympians, and each presented with their own torches, which were lit from the original. They then completed another partial circuit of the stadium, before each lighting one of two hundred and four copper petals — one for every nation competing in the Games — mounted on long, hinged arms. When the flame had spread to each of the petals, they were raised up and converged to form the Olympic cauldron. During the cauldron lighting, Alex Trimble, the lead singer of Northern Irish indie rock band Two Door Cinema Club, performed the song "Caliban's Dream". The song was written specifically for the ceremony by Rick Smith of Underworld. Paul McCartney and his band performed the ending of "The End" and "Hey Jude" to close the ceremony.