This is our chance as the UK (not just England and not just London) to show the world what we're all about. Like an extended TV ad for tourism with the world watching. Most tourists come for two things - the countryside and the heritage. So you have loads of kids with green and blue sheet things like large ribbons running about to symbolise green fields, rivers and lakes, others with big blocks of rock for the mountains all doing some sort of dance thing. (ok, so i'm not a choreographer). You do bits about our castles, industrial heritage things we brought to the world like the telephone, tv, football, steam engines, penicillin. (Gloss over the bad parts). Have Irish dancers, Scottish pipe bands, Welsh male voice choirs as well as the Morris dancers. Fireworks over the Thames like they do at New Year. Lots of British iconic images like the Houses of Parliament, Big Ben, Edinburgh Castle, York Minster, the two Liverpool cathedrals....It would be brill if all those lovely mad people from the Sealed Knot got to do one of there re-enactments from the civil warWell its just a thought, it doesnt have to be bigger and better just British!

yikes! you londoners have a lot of pressure to outdo Bejing!! im in los angeles and so you might want to contact spielgberg or lucas to get things going ASAP!!! good luck. i think you guys can top BEIJING...im rooting for you...

I totally agree with the comment from hally78 and its very important to make it British and find our identity as its been stripped away over the years. Rememeber, it does not have to be bigger or cost 48 billion, it has to be unique to the British Isles and send out a meesage to the world that Britain is NOT just greedy London, but, from small hamlets and villages to beautiful towns and cities accross the land.

Well it certainly was a visual delight .. But think London should be an audio delight with a 1.5 hour all genre symphoney representing all the genres that have developed in the city, and some its great music artist.. Think Paul McCartney teaming up with Andrew Lloyd Webbar, before a drum and bass section by Goldie. Think of bands of all genres playing into the great piece of music of all time..

When I was watching the Beijing Olympic Opening Ceremony, I could not help my tears. Since I am a traditional-educated Chinese in the UK. I am also a fun of Zhang Yimou. But it is still a huge surprise in my eyes. When my husband and I talked about how will London do in 2012, My husband said: We should not be the second best but different. I totally agree about it. I think every country has it only charactor. Beijing one is amazing, lots of Chinese say: it is very Chinese, very universal, very morden... So, I though,what is very British then?......... HUMOR ! English Humor!!

I agree with your comments Bill that:London is a different place and time moves on too. We have different cultures to celebrate, and a range of our own unique strengths, values and assets to draw on. We'll create our own very special night in four years' time. There's no competition here – and from my perspective nothing other than even more inspiration to take back to our own plans – firstly for Handover on 24th August and then planning ahead for 2012.However when billions of people have just watched this amazing opening ceremony in Beijing then they will expect the UK to produce just the same if not a better experience in 4 years time. During the opening ceremony it was often referred to that the participants had been rehearsing that particular segment for 1 year and that is the dedication and commitment we need for our opening ceremony as we will have just the same if not more people watching us and wanting us to fail. I agree that this opening ceremony should be used as inspiration for our own ceremony and it should be unique to our great country but we need to start thinking now of ways we can top Beijing as we can with imagination and use of the latest technology!

I know I may get some flack for this as a citizen of the USA, however, I am so very excited for you all in lovely England. After living there for a too brief period of time, I feel like London is my second home. The summer games will be a wonderful excuse for me to travel back. I celebrate with you all and look forward to being there. I can't wait.

Why not go completely different for 2012 and not have the opening ceremony in the stadium but along the Thames with teams arriving on barges. That way it would truely be the peoples olympics as anyone who could find a spot could be part of it. I know this wouldn't recoop the money but boy would it be different and would really get everyone involved!!!

No doubt the Chinese put on a great show but lets not get carried away...London should not be spending millions of dollars on a one night show. Having said that London should play to its strengths...one thing that comes to mind is the strong scientific heritage with world renowned scientists like Newton and Dirac and the great learning centers of Cambridge and Oxford which have contributed to scientific progress in many countries.

As much as I loved the opening ceremony in Beijing, I also enjoyed Calgary's in 1988. Both Canada and China brought their own individual style and panache to their respective ceremonies. And that is what Great Britain has to do. I was at the Queen's Golden Jubilee in 2002. If Britain comes anywhere close to producing a spectacle like that, we will give Beijing a run for their money. Britain has to think "outside the box". What a brilliant idea of Nellie to have the teams arrive by the Thames - Bring it on! This is the chance to put the Great back in Great Britain!

The opening ceremony was stunning. Our turn next. But.I am dreading it if we just go down the same old tried & tested, & frankly unoriginal route. Everything needs to be simplified so that everyone who is watching can see for themselves what we are depicting - we do not need to have 3 BBC commentators explaining everything to us by reading from a press pack, because the theatrics that we can do - that look good - are then 'shoe horned' in to fit something that tenuously represents Britain.If you see great theatre, you don't need to have subtitles, or someone whispering in your ear telling you what you should be watching - if you do need that then you're failing to convey what you are portraying. By nature we in East London, & the country as a whole do not do flash. We are as a country understated. We invented cricket, not cheer leading. Most of the incredible things we have done was some eccentric going off to the ends of the earth, or inventing something in a shed, or having a laugh. Of course we have to put on a show, everyone is expecting it. That does not mean spending a tenner more on fireworks than China, or letting off 1 more rocket. I would opt for turning it on it's head - instead of shooting things up in the air, have airships dropping gold foil to symbolize rain - we must - repeat must - use our sense of humour & originality. Less is more. Let's not just go along ticking boxes. Let's think outside all the boxes.I'm worried that it's really going to be an IOC show that happens to be hosted in London, rather than the London games. I'm not a massive fan of the logo, but at least it looks an example of our forward thinking. We need more forward thinking.

I don't think It has to unique to Great Britian...It Has To BE Britian. That's the whole point of the opening ceremony; showing to the world who we are, our passion, our life, our heritage, in all - showing the world that we are a strong united community.We need to create something thats we can be proud of, not something to top anyone else.The Chinese goverment used their opening ceremony as a real sigm of their growing wealth but yet also they retained their ancient traditions & culture. As I am only 15 I also feel it is vital that the opening ceremony of the games of the XXX olympiad appeals to all age ranges and all walks of life. For instance, on the issue of music, 'youcantforgetit-k' said 'Think Paul McCartney teaming up with Andrew Lloyd Webbar, before a drum and bass section by Goldie.' Many of my personal friends would despise that idea. I myself would. I believe finding the equilibrium between old and new is paramount (To all aspects of the opening ceremony). We have such a rich history in literature, music, science & philosophy and even sport itself. All these aspects should be represented in creative and imaginative ways. We could possibly ask our then poet laureate to create a beautiful work of poetry that is on the 2012 Olympic Games. All the ceremony has to be is...inspiring to the public, the athletes and I, personally, think most importantly it has to be inspiring to young athletes...like myself.

I think that instead of spending millions of pounds on an expensive opening ceremony , that we should do something simpler with an ecological theme. We could somehow show case the planet rather than ourselves.

I can see it now...the torchbearers at the opening ceremony in London 2012: Gordon Ramsay with a T-shirt on that says F..K YOU, which he takes off right before handing the torch over to... Clarrisa..the only living fat lady who rides in the sidecar of a vintage cycle who then passes it over to...a costumed "Mr. Fish & Chips" who carries the torch in the chip holder..who passes it on to Margaret Thatcher who sleep walks the torch to...The Queen who skips whilst the torch hangs from her handbag. Who lites the Olympic Torch??? You guessed it...Buckingham Palace guard carrying a corgy who happens to have the torch in his/her mouth. What do they light? An exact replica of Lord Nelson..standing at the stern of his mighty ship!That might annoy the French, but oh well. Go you Brits! Try to have a sense of humor about it all.

I am really confident about our opening ceremony for 2012. Our culture and history is just as rich and vibrant as that of China, if not more so. We've brought more to the world than probably any other nation. All the biggest world sports were introduced by us: Football, tennis, squash, golf, rugby, cricket, snooker, billiards, badminton, curling also played a key role in the development of sports such as boxing, Sailing and Formula One. All the inventions we've come up with ( i could make another list but would be here all night.. Google it) All the great authors mentioned above by Jen R8, we've built the biggest empire the world has ever seen, all the great British explorers. I could go on and on about music, art, architecture etc. We definately have enough to celebrate and are creative enough to put on the best show ever! Its extremely important that we do too.

They are saying that the games will be a sustainable games, so why not take it all the way by incorporating the the theme in to the opening ceremony by having either a large wind turbine (or turbines) all the way around the main arena built in to the roof and using this/these in some way to light the flame, by means of the rotating blades being lit at the end and the whole turbine turning so as to ignite the flame by means of coming round very close to it and then once lit moving back around out of the way.These wind turbines would not just be for show they would also provide sustainable power for the games from the moment they are installed, so they would start to capture energy for the Olympics many months before the games starts. And/Or a large solar panel that captures light and over a period of time somehow stores the energy and 'on the night' converts this energy into a laser beam and fires it at the torch to light it.

does anybody know what the official process is for the opening ceremony?Are they putting it up for bids from companies, is somebody currently responsible for gathering ideas?Our company Litescape based in Manchester have got a pretty deep interest in next-gen display and lighting technologies for large scale applications. It'd be good if we could get a chance to present to somebody some ideas we've got.

Personally I think Britain should celebrate how green it is - and not from an environmental point of view, but in celebration of its gardens and lush countryside, untouched by poisionous snakes and biting bugs etc. Our traditions and history all encompass gardens in some form or another from our stately homes to our patch of lawn. Good luck. But let's be original please!!

I'm just an American here but I love the symbolic aspect of the opening ceremony. I'd love to see in London a show showcasing the Unity that exists between all the different countries that make up the UK. There's always different segments to the show each showcasing a different nation. I'd love to see the Welsh Dragon come alive off the flag, the Lions from the English Royal Coat of Arms, Children dancing through a field of flax flowers in Northern Ireland, and a showing of the intellectual thoughts during the Scottish Enlightenment. I would then show how so much of the world can trace their families or at least their history back to the area in which all of the performers from all aspects of the show unite under one kingdom and form on the stage the Union Jack.

I think the British seasons should be a jumping off point into various aspects of our 2012 opening ceremony. We all love to talk about the weather! Spring: new life in gardens, parks, public footpaths, plants and animals. Also the birth of the English language and our spelling. Perhaps the rebirth theme as we have changed so much technologically recently and in other ways.Summer: posh picnics, tea and cake, royalty, castles and cathedrals, mountains and beaches. A funny take on the class system. Autumn: the wind to signify the spirit of Britian - its humour especially but also its history. The wind could also be used as a symbol of changing perceptions, e.g. disability, human rights etc. Our schooling systems.Winter: cosy fireside and pub stories inc JKR, Tolkien, Shakespeare etc and poetry, i.e. our oral traditions. There just has to be snow and music as the perfect backdrop to a relaxed, fun time. Quidditch broomsticks as fireworks above the arena? The possibilities are endless!

Thanks so much for the fantastic response to my blog! Martin Green, our Head of Ceremonies, and I have been reading all the comments from out here in Beijing with real interest and excitement. To see so much passion, so many great ideas and such thought being invested is wonderful – thank you.As you can imagine our minds, just now, are focused on delivering our Handover Segments here in Beijing and the many ways they will be celebrated back in the UK. After that we look forward to kick starting our Education and Culture programmes and then later in the year and early in 2009 the planning will start in earnest for the London 2012 Ceremonies.Clearly the experience here in Beijing has been full of learning, but your comments, thoughts and ideas are just as important and what we’ve seen so far bodes really well for a healthy discussion and debate over the next few years.Thanks again – enjoy Handover – for the Olympic Games on Sunday 24th August, and for Paralympic Games on 17th September.All the best, Bill

Good luck with the handover and I hope you can maintain this level of excitement for the next four years. No pressure then . . but please remember this is about sports men and women, they need support and funding in the UK in order to achieve, and the expectations in 2012 will be pressure indeed. The opening ceremony is important. But the emphasis should be on providing the facilities for all athletes to perform exceptionally from now to the start of the Games. If we want to stand proud of our achievements in 2012, with medals galore, then invest in your sportsmen and women NOW.

How about a Harry Potter inspired Quidditch match as part of the opening ceremony?Can't wait to see what you finally do....

The problem is that, although I was blown away by the Chinese ceremonies, I would find alot of what they used very cheesy if London 2012 were to try the same thing.The common theme is trying to combine proud heritage with bright future. The natural solution is traditional music and massed bands (always a British strong-point), followed by a more contemporary segment stressing Britain and London's more recent achievements, particularly in culture and music (Led Zepellin = great choice).What I would love to see personally (though heavily influenced by having just watched the Edinburgh Tattoo) is contributions from other commonwealth countries. I can see the criticism...Britain can't do it alone etc, but a vast part of our heritage is the spreading of legal, parliamentary, sporting and musical traditions to countries all over the world, each of them adapting this to make it their own. Showing this interconnection would be in keeping with the Olympic ideal, and would also display Britain's heritage without being overly 'interpretive' and would implicitly admit, though not wallow in, Britain's role as regards the flip-side of this process (ie. Empire). I think everyone sensed the yawning chasm in China's cherry-picked history in the Opening ceremony.This could be complemented by a second half stressing the co-operative global links and cosmopolitan nature of London today.

For the 2012 opening ceremony, to shorten length of the parade - perhaps you could ask the athletes to jog round the stadium? With some up tempo music to add in some carnival atmosphere, plus some dancers and unicycling cirus performers whizzing by to chivy them up a bit!?Maybe even create a small hill for them to jog up and wave to everyone from the top of - victoriously taking the hilltop. To give everyone a taster of medal success from the high ground. Or instead have a big podium, or a turret tower, or an Escher like spiral bridge. Or have the athletes coming through two entrances, breaking left and right and walking round just half of the stadium, and meeting up again at the hill?

i think we would have a very impressive opening ceremony for 2012 of we included the many pipe bands from all parts of the UK as they forms a vital part of this countries heritage.