Boyle has drawn from William Shakespeare, British pop culture, literature and music, and other sources of inspiration that will speak not just to Anglophiles but to people across the globe. One segment involves actor Daniel Craig's James Bond, and former Beatle Paul McCartney will lead a sing-along. A fireworks display had the crowd 'oohing' and 'ahhing' as Sir Paul McCartney sang out "Hey Jude." Everyone in the crowd joined in singing with him.
Queen Elizabeth declared the Games open after playing a cameo role in a dizzying ceremony designed to highlight the grandeur and eccentricities of the nation that invented modern sport.`Whether it is sport, art, literature, history, contribution to world events, there are so many things to celebrate about our country that packing all that in to these hours must be a pretty tough task. But I am confident they have done a good job.' And British Prime Minister David Cameron said `I would have thought the difficulty is how you cram in all that is great about our country,'.
Medalists will be guaranteed recognition and perhaps fame and fortune for the luckier ones, especially the more than 300 who win gold. A hundredth of a second here, a centimeter there, in the pool or in the shooting gallery could make an athlete a household name. Their gold medals will be largest of any summer games and, at 400 grams, the heaviest, too.
