Ever since London won the bid for the 2012 Olympics, opening ceremonies have become of significant importance to us Brits, even more so after Beijing’s breathtaking opening to the 2008 games. We are in the middle of a recession, all we can currently provide is Fatima Whitbread and Daley Thompson standing on top of an open top London Bus eagerly waving a solitary sparkler. I have been praying that opening ceremonies go back to basics, after all it’s all about the tournament you’re hosting not how many millions of fireworks you can fire into the sky.
Thankfully the South Africans did not disappoint. The opening ceremony was not about how much money you could throw at a pyromaniac until he turned night into day. It was a celebration of all things African. There wasn’t any sign of tens of thousands of people drumming in frighteningly efficient unison, instead there was people dancing with smiles on their faces having fun, which is why we get into sport in the first place. It was stunning in its simplicity.
There is something spiritually uplifting about African music, it brings people together in the same way football does. You felt after watching that the next month is going to be a vibrant carnival. Soccer City is a quite fantastic stadium and the noise inside it is deafening through the television, you can only imagine what it must be like to be in that wonderful cauldron.
South Africa is home to many a majestic animal – Buffalos, Elephants, Lions, Leopards etc so hat’s off to them for their use of the Dung Beetle. It would have been predictable to represent Wildebeests sweeping across South African plains, instead they went for half a dozen people holding aloft a Dung Beetle kicking a giant Football across the pitch and it was a much more delightful sight, sublimely ridiculous.
It was an oddly unnerving sight seeing R Kelly perform, it felt about as right as Gary Glitter doing a number in 2012, and that’s all I’m prepared to say on that matter.
I for one will be shouting for South Africa. You always want the host nation to do well to keep the initial wave of excitement flowing. With the support the South Africans, I can see them pushing for a quarter final spot. The noise in their stadiums will be the thirteenth man let alone the twelfth.
Go Bafana Bafana!!
I think it’s rude that the African people keep using their bazookas because they said it’s their tradition.The Europeans (and I as well) complained about the horrible noise and they could care less, they keep using them.It has an awful annoying sound that sounds like a big swarm of bees.It’s totally uncalled for.