Did you enjoy the london 2012 olympic opening ceremony?

I'll be honest, I had to watch it through my fingers at first because I was convinced it was going to make us look stupid. And for ten minutes, I worried that I may have been right. But then Jerusalem. It won't mean much worldwide but that's proper "lump in the throat" and "tear in the eye" stuff to the English. Sod the godawful boring dirge of the National Anthem, Jerusalem is our poem/song. And it has Olympic connotations too. Perfect! Although I can understand any grievance that the English went first and last and the other home countries got sandwiched between that.

The whole thing with the molten lava and then the rings coming together woke everything up. It looked brilliant and I still can't imagine how it was done from a technical viewpoint. I was really impressed. And they played The Jam, and Bowie, The Beatles, and Queen. And that house with the walls being projected on was very recognisable to me as a British house. And old Tim Berners-Lee was there clacking away, hamming it up for the world. And there was humour. And the Queen herself even got involved.

Nobody is going to mention it (and it's perhaps a small point) but the lighting was stunning. Certain individual elements were lit beyond what I've seen in theatre and that's on a small stage.

I think we actually pulled it off. It was modest and self-effacing and even dark and self-critical at times, everything I associate with this sceptred Isle, but it was inclusive as well. All of Britain was represented. I certainly was (although I expected to be, given that it was the vision of a man from my city). Whether it represented us in a positive light or not is one matter; what it did do is represent exactly what I think Britain is and didn't pander too much to what other countries think we are.

I really liked it. Much more than I expected to. Good old Danny Boyle. :)

I'm in love with the industrial revolution so that was a highlight for me. I was pissed about having the ceremony narrated by an Australian broadcaster but other than that I liked it.

You should be proud England.

I liked it a lot. It rose to the very difficult challenge of both representing Britain and being understood by everyone else. Which is more difficult than it would seem because national pride is hardly something that's usually a British thing. It had to be the right sort of theatrical, the right sort of celebration, but I thought it went really well. It could easily have been cheesy or boring, but it managed to be neither for most the time.

I think it failed in being entirely accessible to people all over the world. From what I can grasp of, for example, American media, a lot of people worldwide thought it was dull, uninspired, made no sense, didn't live up to Beijing etc. I think it was decidedly British without being patriotic or stereotypical, which are what it needed to avoid for us Brits to love it, which for the most part we did. I do think it had mixed success on an international level though, which is a little bit disappointing.

I thought the highlight was when the cauldron was lit, followed closely by the forging of the rings which was awesome in the truest sense of the word. It was genuinely amazing to see. The only real down point was that Paul McCartney's singing during "Hey Jude" was truly awful! xD

I loved the NHS bit, since no one mentioned. Also the Queen and 007. Yeah, and Mr. Bean.

Oh, and those birds in black light, on bicycles. That was very very nice!

Aw, it's endless, I keep editing! I even cried a lil' bit. When the young ones met the elders and went on to light the flame.

Fireworks!!! Works on me every time! :)

I loved it. I actually dvr'd it , so I got to watch it twice. Sheeeaaaa!

the nicest one i've seen

Its was okay i only really liked Mr.Bean and 007 those olympic rings were pretty cool too. But im sorry i know im going to get a lot of shit for this but Paul McCartney bores me to death i know he was a fucking Beatle but hes boring i would've prefered The Stones, Bowie, Elton John SOMEONE with flavor i mean c'mon "Hey Jude" really? I found the Arctic Monkeys cover way more entertaining

I watched it twice. Over here in the states the broadcast was presented by a network called NBC, and they felt the need to have commercial interruptions. The first time I watched it was live (as in on TV, it was actually delayed 3 hours so it would fit in their "primetime" spot), and extremely confusing. I felt it was jumpy, unfamiliar, and overall a poor display. I also didn't understand why the Queen had such an attitude.

The second time I was able to fast forward through the commercials and other crap NBC posted. Skipping that made all the difference in the world. It was quite a lovely display of the past, mixed with present, and made me proud to have visited London several years ago. I find the bit about "real" doctors and nurses during the nhs event to be far fetched though. Unless the UK has superb dancing-doctors. It was a nice commentary on how bad the USA healthcare system is. I was also not aware how much Marry Poppins had influenced the UK culture. I also felt bad for the kids holding the copper petals. "Here, hold this for a few hours."

MR BEAN!!!

It was ok. I liked some things better than others. Mr. Bean(sorry I forget his real name) and the Queen and James Bond were my favorite parts. I don't care for dancing that much though.