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Preparing for a great show in a truly special venue

Tim, Handover Ceremonies team

Preparing for a great show in a truly special venue

Tim, Handover Ceremonies team,
19 Aug 2008
We are into our final week of rehearsals for the London Handover Ceremony and through my many years of working on shows worldwide I can honestly say this has been the most fascinating event I have been involved with.

It is the first time in quite a few years that I have felt a real sense of a team, the whole cast and production team totally look out for one another and I have never worked with such a happy together collective. From the urban dancers of ZooNation to the Royal Opera House dancers there are no traditional entertainment egos here, just a true will to put on a great show for everyone back home and around the world.

Aside from the sporting aspirations of many, to entertainment industry professionals there is no bigger event in the world and I have always dreamed of working on an Olympic Opening or Closing Ceremony. Three years ago I was sat in a bar watching London win the bid thinking maybe just maybe I could be involved in 2012. Little did I know that a few years later I would be one week away from the closing ceremony of the 2008 Olympics and I cannot describe the sense of excitement, pride and terror at the thought! Working on concerts and television shows I am used to audiences of thousands and millions but when the figure changes to billions its an entirely different prospect. 

A few days ago myself and Lighting Designer Durham Marenghi were allowed a slot of time to programme the vast lighting system in the Birds Nest Stadium in advance of our technical rehearsals and this was one moment I always remember. Once past security and into the ring road built in around the field of play, a momentarily glance to the right and we finally saw our venue, I have worked in many stadiums but there is something truly special about this venue. We were very lucky to get to walk onto the track and stand in our performance area for the night, for that one moment I felt like an Olympian!

tim r handover team birds nest stadium

But for now it's back to our secret rehearsal space and fine tuning our show, so that in just a few days time we can make everyone proud of what's to come.
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3 Comments on this post
19 August 2008, said:

Today during the coverage of the olympics I saw some extrodinary photos of extraordinary athletes, surely this is the answer to the what do we do for an opening ceremony - we celebrate all the great olympic participants from the past. Making the opening a true affarmation of the olympic spirit, remembering all those who have gone before looking forward to all the great olympians to follow. Not some Glitzy show trying to impress the world when our athletes are our ambassadors not a london show.Please lets reafirm the olympic spirit and show the world what the olympics is truly about.Jackie Wadey

20 August 2008, BoBells said:

@Derek/Jackie.wadeyI understand where you are coming from however personally I do not agree. The olympics should not just be about sports, but it should also be about cultural exchange and understanding.The Opening and Closing ceremonies are the perfect opportunity for this take place.For the London games I would not like to see 10,000 children synchronized dancing, but why not 10,000 pearly kings and queens having a good old knees up? Perhaps one section could be a tribute to British cinema, imagine a James Bond car chase complete with explosions and 007 abseiling into the stadium!And we mustn't forget the theatre tradition of the West End. Imagine what Loyd-Webber could come up with! And also all the pomp and circumstance of the Royals and the miliarty. I really hope the Queen makes a grand entrance in her gold coach!

24 August 2008, sketch said:

I'm looking forward to what we come up with, I agree with the fact we need to show off our culture a bit, and show off what makes us proud to be British. But perhaps in doing so, we could celebrate all the differing cultures our countries have ?...also, I'm not sure if it'll happen, but..if we are to have 'the greatest rock concert ever'..to open the show in 2012, I'm reeally hoping we dont roll out all the old fav's..Elton John, Paul McCartney etc...every time theres a British celebration of some kind they perform, but I think if we are to put on a show, they should think harder as to who they want to perform and perhaps make the line up a little more contemporary, to show of all the great music our country makes now, perhaps having one-off colaborations ?...as opposed to having all the old usuals, it could be a chance to suprise people with bands or groups they hadn't heard of ?...not that I'm saying they need to be unsigned people, but...y'know..- Sketch

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