Six Months to London 2012 - "Enormous Amount to Do"; Ceremony Secrets

(ATR) With just six months to go until the opening ceremony, LOCOG’s chief executive warns there is still plenty of work to do for London to be ready to host the 2012 Olympics.

Paul Deighton was speaking to members of the media to mark the occasion alongside LOCOG chair Sebastian Coe, Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt and Minister of the Olympics Hugh Robertson.

After welcoming members of the international media to the Olympic Delivery Authority’s head office in London, Deighton outlined the main areas that need to be worked on in the next six months.

"We’re in great shape, but there’s still an enormous amount to do," he said. "There’s the training and mobilizing the massive amount of people. Testing, testing, testing; Putting in place materials and staff structures – the overlay.

"There’s a massive set of temporary things to put in place; Building up the public engagement to help them be a part of the greatest thing happening in this city, country and their lifetimes."

LOCOG also used the time to announce that the under 16s volunteer performer cast for the Olympic and Paralympic opening and closing ceremonies will be selected from schools in the six host boroughs in London.

Hunt added that he wanted London 2012 to be the "first ever true legacy Olympics" and spoke of a "tourism legacy" after the Games have finished.

"The legacy in Stratford is absolutely extraordinary. But we want there to be a tourism legacy as well. We hope to attract an extra 4.5 million tourists to the UK in the years after the Olympics."

Hunt admitted there were concerns about transport, even with the improvements taking place.

"The message about transport is we want people to come to London," he said.

"Yes, it’s going to busy, may take a few minutes longer to get around, but you would expect that. But we will do everything to make sure the transport is smooth.

"What we’re not saying is transport will be as easy to get around as weekend bank holiday – it is going to be busy. There are areas which we know will be extremely busy, and we’re putting in counter measures where we can."

Throughout the six years leading up to the Games, the original budget proposed in 2005 has almost tripled, but Robertson played down fears that the money would not be recouped by the whole event.

"As a result of the lottery changes, and ticket sales, the amount of money that sport will get extra in the next few years is [$785 million]. British sport has had a good year, so optimism is very high for London 2012," he said.

Robertson also dismissed reports that the budget had increased past the [$14.6 billion] mark due to security costs.

"The [$1.7 billion] in the security budget that is spent on counter terrorism is spent every year on counter terrorism – it’s just that this year it is focused on the Olympics."

"Standing on the Shoulders of Giants"

The opening ceremony for London 2012 will draw inspiration from Sydney 2000, according to artistic director Danny Boyle.

The Oscar-winning director told media at London’s 3 Mills Studios in East London that while Beijing had the spectacle, Sydney felt more like "the people’s Games" and that he is not scared to break new ground with his take this summer.

"You‘re standing on the shoulders of giants when you do this kind of job," Boyle said.

"You cannot live in the shadow of your predecessors. The scale of Beijing was breath-taking, the sheer beauty of Athens very inspiring, but Sydney is something that has inspired us because Sydney had the feel of the people’s Games.

"You build on elements of your predecessors. It’s inevitable everyone will compare us and that’s fine," he added.

Boyle went on to reveal just two elements of the secretive ceremony to the anticipating audience of reporters hanging off the "Slumdog Millionaire" director's every word.

The name of the ceremony is "Isles of Wonder" inspired by Shakespeare’s "The Tempest"– specifically a speech givenby Caliban.

"We wanted to convey the wonders of the country. Our starting point is the stadium which is ourfirst wonder," Boyle said.

"It’s not like the Birds' Nest. It’s got a thing inside – the porcelain bowl – and what they’ve done is designed it so it is just people, nothing inside but people. So you get this intimacy and that’s a key thing that inspired us."

The pre-show will begin at 20:12 p.m. GMT with the world’s audience joining in the broadcast at 21:00 p.m. Coe estimated that "1 billion people" would watch the opening ceremony and that London 2012 would draw a "combined audience over the games of 4 billion. That’s around [$3-8 billion] of airtime value."

The other reveal from Boyle was that he had commissioned a bell to be made that will be rung at the start of the Games, inscribed with the quote from "The Tempest".

"We want people to hear this bell for hundreds of years. One day, we’ll be gone and so will our children but these bells go on. We want that bell to ring out for many, many generations."

Creative director Stephen Daldry confirmed that there will be at least two full dress rehearsals in the stadium with a crowd before July 27th and that they will practice the lighting of the torch but accepted plans could never be full proof.

"A lot of time has been spent on lighting of the torch – it will be a surprise," he said.

"The idea of jeopardy is one the great feelings of the evening. Particularly in Vancouver, I thought they dealt with it brilliantly. The idea that it’s live, and you know that this could go wrong is one of the joys of watching it!"

"Heartbeat of the Games"

Deighton says that the Olympic Village will be the "heartbeat of the Games" this Summer.

After giving a tour around Olympic Park to members of the media, Deighton spoke proudly about the feedback he's already getting from former athletes and officials about the design of the 36 hectare Village.

"We designed the village for the Paralympic Games for its accessibility," he said.

"This means the transition we do from the Olympics to the Paralympics is minimal which is fantastic.

"I’m really confident this village will be one of the stars of our show. Every feedback we’ve had is that they are really happy with what the team has developed here."

Olympic Delivery Authority chairman John Armitt also spoke about how the ODA came through the tough economic period of 2008 to ensure it could offer accommodation to Londoners post-Games.

"We had to use public money – our contingency money to fund the construction of the village after the private sector couldn’t fund it due to the credit crunch in 2008," he said.

"However, we have now recovered the money spent by selling the village. After the Games, they will take them over from us after we have fitted the kitchens – as they do not currently have any."

Armitt estimated that the post-Games reconstruction work would take place over at least a year, and that throughout the year the ODA would release the apartments for people to move in.

Out of the Olympics, the Village will emerge as East Village, providing 1,439 private homes and 1,379 affordable homes in an area that will be one of the best connected in London.

The Mayor of Newham, the local borough, praised the village for the benefits bound for his region.

"There are 675 social properties, more than half of them are going to Newham – we want to make sure those go to people who deserve them," said Robin Wales.

"We want more, but it’s a fantastic step forward. We’re not here about putting people in houses; it’s about building a place where a community can flourish."

During the Games, the Village will house up to 16,000 athletes and team officials, and 6,200 athletes and team officials during the Paralympic Games – all from 200 countries around the world.

Written and reported in London by Christian Radnedge

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