I loved the opening ceremony -- it was wonderful to weave the history of the country into the ceremony. I loved the bit with the Queen -- just thinking about it makes me smile. Your country should be very proud of the show.

I watched the opening ceremonies and hated the network people talking over the music, and in some cases, speeches. They did not have to tell us the obvious, and were so intrusive, I muted most of it. It could have been enjoyable, but they chose to spoil it, at least for me.

I'm with you on this. It is annoying to have some inane comments floating over the top of an event of which one can form one's own opinion. Informative comments are OK. However, our family keeps a book on inane comments made during these sort of events. My favourite was said by an Australian commentator a number of years ago:"He dove through the water like butter through cheese"...(?) At least it keeps it amusing

I don't think I have ever watched an opening ceremony but I am glad I caught this one. It was "brilliant"

The arrow lighting of the torch by an archer was in Barcelona

One of the best I have ever seen...we watched the whole thing and loved it!

Was wonderful to watch, however what would have been better, was to be able to watch it live!! In AZ it was taped so unfortunately we had heard about all the good stuff before we were able to see it. I like the element of surprise!! But they are doing the same with the events, playing them in primetime. Thus you can hear who won what before actually seeing it. Guess I just need to stay clear of the news, and MSN Homepage!!

Your country should be very proud, they were wonderful. I am betting the closing will be equally as good !

Like many others, my television screen caught and captured me through the opening ceremonies. My favourite part is always the parade of athletes because I love the "costumes" they have chosen. It's neat to see the culture of the country reflected in the clothing of their athletes, which really stands out for me during the parade.

I Loved the opening ceremony! Didn't see your post until today-- In an interview prior to the opening Meredith V was interviewing Mr. Dooley(?) he stated that Beijing opening couldn't be "topped" but in a different way or perspective he thought the London opening would be memorable for its own special features. (paraphrasing here). Anyway, loved the timeline, the forging of the rings, the highlighting of Britan's contributions such as literature, esp. children's. The kids jumping on the beds and Mary Poppins chasing away the boogie men, the doves, the Queen's good sense of humor in "parachuting in". Really loved the symbolism put in by all the leaves accompaning each country's team being put together to make the cauldron a composite of all. Speedboat racing down the Thames and the honor guard of all the construction workers who built the stadium. The seat pixels. AWESOME! in its own right.

For those confused about modern love story... the man who developed the world wide web was a Brit, and the love story was a vingette showing the development of our modern digital age.
I rather like that each country has their own "flavor" for the opening and closing ceremonies, with the parade of athletes being the constant. The 2 things that make me sad about the parade of the athletes is they don't get to see the show, and since some competitions are the next morning some opt out of the parade so that they are able to compete with out being tired out from being in the ceremony.

I am in the minority here, I did not like the opening program. I thought it was too black in mood and very disjointed in the way the parts were done. The music did not do anything except give me a raging headache. I am so sorry but on a scale of 1-10 , I give it a 1.