# Off-Topic Discussion > Sports >  London Olympics 2012

## Perdita

http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/showbiz/...-ceremony.html


Damon Albarn is reportedly being considered as a candidate to direct the London Olympics' opening ceremony in 2012.

According to NME, the Blur frontman has already met with the London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games for preliminary discussions about the role.

An appointment is expected to be announced early next year. However, a Locog spokesperson refused to be drawn on the possibility of the musician's appointment, saying: "It is complete speculation and we are still months away from making appointments."

Although plans are already under way for the event, the UK Olympics is apparently unlikely to boast the resources used for Beijing's celebrations last year.

"I doubt we will have 20,000 people doing things in unison in our opening ceremony," Paul Deighton, chief executive of Locog said. "That's just fine. That's the beauty of contrast."

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## Perdita

The Spice Girls are set to perform at a spectacular opening ceremony for the 2012 Olympics.

Pop Svengali Simon Fuller – who turned the group into the most successful girl band ever – is behind a sensational move to reform them for the London games.

Simon, 49, said:  “They stand for so much in British music history and I can’t think of a better time for them to get back together for another performance. The demand for them as a band is as strong as ever.”

The event will be seen by an estimated two billion people.

Fuller also hinted that a tour around the time of the Olympics could mark a farewell from Victoria, Mel B, Geri, Mel C and Emma.

He said: “They will not want to be performing hits like Wannabe in their 40s, but it’s amazing how often people talk about another reunion. And I think if they do it,  it’s going to be in 2012.”

The plan to bring the girls to the Olympics comes on a weekend of celebrations to mark 1,000 days until the start of the Games.

Officials have been promising a pop concert which would provide a glittering celebration of Britain’s musical talent.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown has vowed: “The 2012 Olympics will be spectacular. Music and the cultural aspects will be very important.”


Signing up the Spice Girls would be a major coup – they are the most successful British band since The Beatles, selling more than 65million records world-wide.

The girls last appeared on stage in February last year in their Reunion Tour which earned them more than Â£40million.

Two months ago the girls – minus Posh, 35 – met in London for a dinner to talk about a reunion.

Ginger Spice Geri, 37, later revealed: “Right now we are gathering information and thinking about possibilities. But you don’t tell the world until it’s concrete.”

Fuller managed the Spice Girls at the peak of their success, but was sacked by the band in 1997 after falling out with Geri and Mel B. But he has since made up with the group and would be able to mastermind a reunion for 2012.

Not only has Fuller managed the careers of stars such as the Spice Girls, singer Annie Lennox and model Claudia Schiffer, his record label currently holds recording rights for the some of music's biggest stars.

He is also the brains behind the Pop Idol phenomenon.

The girls are currently working hard on their own projects. Posh has her own clothing label while Mel C has begun a six-month run in Blood Brothers on London's West End.

Emma, 33, is a radio DJ for Heart FM while Mel B is carving out a career as a TV presenter. And Geri is working on a movie screenplay as well as being a best-selling children’s author.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/celebs/news/...5875-21788219/

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## beencepe73

I would just like to congratulate London on winning the 2012 Olympics, I honestly didnt think they would get it, but it made my day 

Hopefully Ill be able to take the family to the Olympics to watch a bit

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## Meh

The London 2012 logo is crap. It makes me laugh everytime I see it as it looks like a sex act

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## exhiday09

For me it was either Tokyo 2016 or Rio 2016, screw Chi Town 

Brazil is very lucky now, WC in 2014 and Olympics 2016.

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## StarsOfCCTV

> The London 2012 logo is crap. It makes me laugh everytime I see it as it looks like a sex act


 :Rotfl:  I can't agree with you more. I thought - are they serious? - when they revealed it. It could've been drawn by a five year old. Such a waste of money.

London will be a nightmare during the olympics, I doubt they will have sorted the transport system by then!

I hope I will get reduced tickets, living in London.  :Lol:  Probably the only time I'll go to an Olympics.

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## Perdita

Slumdog Millionnaire helmer Danny Boyle has reportedly been approached to direct the opening ceremony of the London 2012 Olympics.

According to The Times, the award-winning director is a favoured candidate for the event which is expected to have a live audience of 80,000 and be seen by billions on TV screens around the world.

"We want the most imaginative ceremony the world has ever seen. Nothing has been signed yet, but we do fully expect him to do it," a source claimed.

Responding to the speculation, Boyle said: "I can't say any more. It would be lovely, wouldn't it?"

Boyle's previous work also includes Trainspotting, which has been voted the best Scottish film of all time in various polls.

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## Siobhan

> The London 2012 logo is crap. It makes me laugh everytime I see it as it looks like a sex act


is it this one

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## alan45

The Royal Mail has confirmed that London's new Olympic Park will use EastEnders' fictional postcode.

As a testament to the long-running soap opera, an E20 postcode is being introduced for the destination in Stratford.

For the last 26 years, E20 has been exclusively linked to Walford. The postcode has also been used as the name of the club in Albert Square.

Stephen Agar, Royal Mail's director of regulated business, said: "It is fitting that such a significant development in London has been allocated its own easily recognisable postcode more than 150 years after the world's first postcodes were introduced in the capital."

Meanwhile, Andrew Altman, chief executive of the Olympic Park Legacy Company, said: "This is a new postcode for a new part of London. E20 will be one of the capital's most popular districts focused on community-living, sport and entertainment."

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## Abigail

Has anybody applied for tickets? Some of them are priced at Â£750 each  :EEK!:  Who would pay that sort of money for a few hours watching sport? I'd rather watch it from the comfort of my own home than get bashed around on the tube, sit in traffic and pay absurd amounts for food and drink in the height of summer. 

I'll definitely be watching the gymnastics, trampolining and some athletics (not running though). Anything with a ball I'll give a miss, except rugby and maybe squash.

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## Chloe O'brien

It's scandalous the prices they are charging for tickets.  It will all be bankers and corporate big wigs buying all the tickets. As Seb Coe says well they're the ones who funded the games so they should get to be the spectators but what about the working class people. Shouldn't they be trying to promote health and exercise to the public.  If they were to give a load of the tickets to working class families it will have a positive impact on health and exercise of young people as they will witness young people taking part in sport, having fun and winning medals.  The public are more likely to take an interest in sports and get active if they see at the events as some are unlikely to tune in to watch the games on tv.

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Siobhan (27-04-2011)

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## Perdita

Girls Aloud are being lined up to perform at the opening ceremony of the 2012 London Olympics, reports suggest.

The 'Call The Shots' stars previously confirmed that they are to reform for a handful of one-off concerts in 2012 to mark their tenth anniversary as a band, but now Olympic organisers are said to be keen to sign the girls up for a performance at the Olympic Stadium in east London come July 2012.

"With the girls already planning to reform next year Olympic Officials are keen for them to open the games," a source told M Is For Music.

"They are the biggest British girl group in recent years and what better way for them to celebrate their tenth anniversary?" 

Other acts rumoured to have been approached to perform at the opening ceremony include Muse, Coldplay and the Spice Girls.

DS

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## alan45

BBC1 viewers may have to search a little harder for their favourite programmes when the barrage of Olympics coverage begins this summer.
Shows such as EastEnders, Panorama and Songs Of Praise will be moved to BBC2 while the main channel focuses on the Games.
Other programmes, including The One Show and Casualty, will be ‘rested’, and medical drama Holby City could be moved to the second channel.
 The corporation will clear BBC1’s schedules for most of the day in a bid to provide comprehensive coverage of the Games, which start in July.
Among the few BBC1 shows likely to be relatively unaffected are its news bulletins at 1pm, 6pm and 10pm and BBC Breakfast, which will run an edition dominated by the Games.
Last year the corporation’s Olympics chief Roger Mosey promised to ‘make sure that we don’t remove people’s favourite programmes’, adding there would be ‘sanctuaries’ for those who did not want to go ‘Olympic crazy’.

He also said that BBC2 in peak hours and BBC4 would not be ‘overrun by athletes’.
More details are slowly emerging about how that will happen, and although the broadcaster accepts that some viewers will be upset at losing programmes like The One Show, it believes the Olympics is such a one-off event for the nation that changing schedules is the right thing to do.
Radio 4 has already faced criticism from some of its listeners about the level of coverage it is giving to the Games, which are still months away.
Some complained to audience response programme Feedback, notably over the first episode in a series about sport and the British by Clare Balding, which looked at the Olympics.

One listener said they felt it was a ‘softening up’ raid for the ‘saturation bombing of the Olympics coverage’.

Others said there was enough sport on the other BBC radio networks without Radio 4 joining in, asking the station to give listeners a ‘break’ and cut sport until the games begin


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...#ixzz1m3h2zu00

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## Perdita

Danny Boyle's playlist for the opening ceremony to the London 2012 Olympic Games has reportedly been leaked.

The longlist of 86 tracks was apparently revealed to be included in the director's planned event to open the games next month.

Queen, The Sex Pistols, Dizzee Rascal and The Beatles are just some of the artists used to celebrate the best of British music.

The pop and rock music will be joined by classical music and hymns, as well as themes to shows such as EastEnders and Doctor Who.

The leak reportedly came from a "music industry source", while an Olympics spokesman would not confirm the accuracy of the list, reports The Sun.

The likes of Sir Cliff Richard, Bee Gees, Spice Girls, Tom Jones and Elton John are among the artists not to feature in the playlist.

Boyle's 'countryside' themed opening ceremony model was unveiled to the public last week.

The 50-minute pre-show starts July 27 at 8.12pm and the ceremony kicks off properly at 9pm with the ringing of a massive bell.

Sir Paul McCartney will also perform during the closing section of the opening ceremony.

The playlist is as follows:

Captain Algernon Drummond/William Johnson Cory - 'Eton Boating Song'
Elgar/AC Benson - 'Land of Hope and Glory'
The Jam - 'Going Underground'
Muse - 'Map of the Problematique'
Big Ben Chimes
Sex Pistols - 'God Save the Queen'
The Clash - 'London Calling'
Simon May - EastEnders Theme
The Shipping Forecast
Sir Hubert Parry/William Blake - 'Jerusalem'
Elgar - 'Nimrod'
Handel - 'Arrival of the Queen of Sheba'
Eric Coates - 'Dambusters March'
Handel - 'Music for the Royal Fireworks'
Monty Norman - James Bond Theme
Mike Oldfield - 'Tubular Bells'
Mike Oldfield - 'In Dulci Jubilo'
Vangelis - 'Chariots of Fire'
BBC News 1954
Arthur Wood - The Archers Theme
Winifred Atwell - 'Black and White Rag'
Sugababes - 'Push the Button'
OMD - 'Enola Gay'
David Rose - 'The Stripper'
Lionel Bart - 'Food Glorious Food'
Irwin Kostal, Richard Sherman, Robert Sherman - 'Bedknobs and Broomsticks'
Rizzle Kicks - 'When I Was a Youngster'
Eric Clapton - 'Wonderful Tonight'
Colin Tully - Gregory's Girl Theme
William Pitt - 'City Lights'
The Who - 'My Generation'
The Rolling Stones - 'Satisfaction'
Millie Small - 'My Boy Lollipop'
The Kinks - 'All Day and All of the Night'
The Beatles - 'She Loves You'
Mud - 'Tiger Feet'
Led Zeppelin - 'Trampled Under Foot'
The Specials - 'A Message to You Rudy'
David Bowie - 'Starman'
Queen - 'Bohemian Rhapsody'
Sex Pistols - 'Pretty Vacant'
Duran Duran - 'The Reflex'
New Order - 'Blue Monday'
Frankie Goes to Hollywood - 'Relax'
Soul II Soul - 'Back To Life'
Happy Mondays - 'Step On'
Eurythmics - 'Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)
The Verve - 'Bittersweet Symphony'
Prodigy - 'Firestarter'
Underworld - 'Born Slippy'
Jaan Kenbrovin, John William Kellette - 'I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles'
Blur - 'Song 2'
Dizzee Rascal - 'Bonkers'
Tigerstyle - 'Nacnha Onda Nei' (contains Michael Jackson - 'Billie Jean', Queen & David Bowie - 'Under Pressure' and Ilaiyaraaja - 'Naanthaan Ungappanda')
Arctic Monkeys - 'I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor'
Mark Ronson & Amy Winehouse - 'Valerie'
Radiohead - 'Creep'
Muse - 'Uprising'
Kano & Mikey J - 'Random Antics'
Tinie Tempah - 'Pass Out'
MIA - 'Paper Planes'
Coldplay - 'Viva La Vida'
The Chemical Brothers - 'Galvanize'
Franz Ferdinand - 'Take Me Out'
Kaiser Chiefs - 'I Predict a Riot'
Roll Deep - 'Shake a Leg'
Adele - 'Rolling in the Deep'
Oasis - 'The Hindu Times'
Oasis - 'Wonderwall'
Emeli Sande - 'Heaven'
William Monk/Henry Francis - 'Abide With Me'
Pink Floyd - 'Eclipse'
The Beatles - 'The End'
The Beatles - 'Hey Jude'
David Bowie - 'Heroes'
Eric Spear - Coronation Street Theme
Ron Grainer - Doctor Who Theme
John Philip Sousa - Monty Python Theme/'The Liberty Bell' 
David Bowie - 'Absolute Beginners'

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## minggoy

sure there's a lot of beautiful girl on olympics

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## Katy

What a show danny boyle put on last night. 

am rooting for team gb and team ireland!

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## Katy

What a show danny boyle put on last night. 

am rooting for team gb and team ireland!

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Glen1 (28-07-2012), tammyy2j (29-07-2012)

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## alan45

Brillian Show. Well done to everyone involved. Such a surprise to see HMQ getting involved,

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Glen1 (28-07-2012), tammyy2j (29-07-2012)

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## tammyy2j

Yes great opening show from Danny Boyle 

Ireland best chance at some medals is in the boxing

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## tammyy2j

Michael Phelps got another gold medal fair play to him

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## tammyy2j

Did Tom Daley not win any medal?

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## N.Fan

It just shows how disorganised they are,with the amount of empty seats.And now they're on about getting the army and teachers to fill them.What a shambles.
Can't wait till it finishes.

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## matrix57

I sure there's a lot of beautiful girl on olympics  :Smile: 
------
Friv

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## lizann

Gold medal for Ireland well done Katie Taylor superb boxer

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## Siobhan

Brilliant win

as they say now.. the Irish.. great at fighting and riding

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tammyy2j (10-08-2012)

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## tammyy2j

> Brilliant win
> 
> as they say now.. the Irish.. great at fighting and riding


You'll never beat the Irish well fighting Irish anyways  :Stick Out Tongue:  great win

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Siobhan (10-08-2012)

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## Siobhan

> Did Tom Daley not win any medal?


Why am I only seen this man now.. he is hot!! I think I need to go into the pool to cool down

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## lizann

> Did Tom Daley not win any medal?


He can have my heart as can Ryan Lochte I am going to take up swimming now  :Stick Out Tongue:

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## lizann

Another Irish boxer makes the final go JJ Nevin

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Siobhan (13-08-2012)

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## tammyy2j

Closing was a let down compared to the opening imo some amount of crap acts and there are suppose to be the best of British music

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## lizann

> Closing was a let down compared to the opening imo some amount of crap acts and there are suppose to be the best of British music


The sound was bad I didnt know what some were singing sorry miming and lip synching to  :Stick Out Tongue: 

Glad it is all over even though this year I watched quite a bit

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## lizann

> Closing was a let down compared to the opening imo some amount of crap acts and there are suppose to be the best of British music


The sound was bad I didnt know what some were singing sorry miming and lip synching to  :Stick Out Tongue: 

Glad it is all over even though this year I watched quite a bit

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## N.Fan

Totally glad it's finished,but now we've got to put up with the paralympics,when will it all end so they can hopefully get back to showing decent programmes that everyone can enjoy watching,not just people who are into watching sport that's what the sports channels are for.

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## Katy

I enjoyed the olympics more than i thought i would! really pleased with how all the medalists and it goes to show what hard work and dedication can acheive. Mo Farah in particular my heart was in my mouth! I think that it did London proud as well and everyone really got into the spirit of it. I thnk the acheivements of TeamIreland in the boxing ring as well was brilliant, for 4 out of 6 boxers is amazing so well done Katie!! and the boys. 

Paralympics next and ive two friends in the swimming so will be rooting for them.

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## Katy

I enjoyed the olympics more than i thought i would! really pleased with how all the medalists and it goes to show what hard work and dedication can acheive. Mo Farah in particular my heart was in my mouth! I think that it did London proud as well and everyone really got into the spirit of it. I thnk the acheivements of TeamIreland in the boxing ring as well was brilliant, for 4 out of 6 boxers is amazing so well done Katie!! and the boys. 

Paralympics next and ive two friends in the swimming so will be rooting for them.

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## sarah c

watched as much of both olympics and paralympics as i could, and being in london, I went to a few events - the whole city was on fire!!!! Everyone was so bouyed up by it all, that despite getting back to normal tv, there is a deflation around??

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