London Olympics opening ceremony still a secret

Details of the opening ceremony for London’s Olympic Games on Friday 27 July are still secret even though there have now been two rehearsals for a specially invited public.

Footage has been leaked to YouTube twice and removed twice and all Twitter users have now been asked to help keep the secret under wraps by reporting any further leaks.

About 10,000 volunteers, aged from 18 to 90, from all over the UK are taking part in the £27 million show designed by Danny Boyle, famous for the film Trainspotting and his Oscar winning Slum Dog Millionaire.

It is expected that several billion people worldwide will watch the opening and there will be an audience of over 60,000 in the stadium itself, some of whom have paid up to £2,012 for a seat. There will also be large screens showing the ceremony in numerous places around London, the most central being in Hype Park.

The name of the show is “Isles of Wonder” and the worldwide broadcast begins at 21.00 local time. There will be opening speeches, the parade of the athletes from 204 countries and the arrival of the Olympic torch and then Danny Boyle’s event begins. It's no great secret that the night-time event is going to be using plenty of light, harmony and surprises and that probably means fireworks too.