And look: here's JK Rowling on hand to read a tribute and usher us off to see Lord Voldemort, Mary Poppins and the Child Catcher out of Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang. They emerge to the strains of Mike Oldfield's Tubular Bells and promptly start leaping on beds and tending to the sick and frail. Out on the lawns come "the staff and patients from Great Ormond Street hospital". But, thank heavens, Danny Boyle pressed on regardless. Reports suggest that culture secretary Jeremy Hunt was opposed to a full-scale song-and-dance celebration of the National Health Service (what with it being privatised under our noses and all).
By the time we reach Chile we'll probably have found out all the names of these protesters, quizzed them about "Their Favourite Cycle Route" and possibly fitted all their bikes with a new set of tyres. The spokesman for Scotland Yard said: "A number of people in breach of regulations imposed on a monthly cycling event have been arrested." Officers blocked off their route and some were forcibly removed from their bikes as others tried to break through a cordon. Police vans headed off scores of people from a pro-cycling group as they rode in formation close to the park. The incident happened on the outskirts of the Olympic Park on one of the main thoroughfares to the venue.Ī spokesman for Scotland Yard said police intervened when participants in a monthly cycling event breached regulations restricting their route. "Jamaica!" shouts the Voice and out steps Usain Bolt, the three-time gold medalist and one of the undisputed titans of the 2012 Olympics.Ī number of cyclists were arrested during scuffles with police close to the Olympic Stadium as the opening ceremony got under way inside. But his challenge for the evening will be to bat away the subject of Mitt Romney. They do," he said.īut when the spectacular finally does appear on American television in a few hours, Sir Peter is opening the doors of his palatial official residence to 700 guests many of whom are likely to need some guidance on the bits of British history popping up on the screen. There's all sorts of speculation and funny little stories of cows mooing on the grass to James Bond parachuting in from outer space. "There's a great deal of excitement, partly because they've managed to keep the details of tonight's ceremony under wraps. Westmacott was relieved that the show hadn't proved to be the washout that afflicted the Queen's jubilee a few weeks back.
NBC has delayed the start of the broadcast here until it's all but over in London in order to show it at prime time and pull in all those advertising dollars.
The British ambassador to the US, Sir Peter Westmacott, made a fleeting appearance on a Washington TV news station a few minutes ago flagging up to Americans that they're being kept in the dark far longer than the rest of the world about the delights or otherwise of the Olympic opening ceremony.