Danny Boyle certainly kept his word!
London and Boyle put on quite a show as the Olympic Games was declared officially open by the Queen, after a dazzling, breathtaking, extremely funny and entertaining opening ceremony.
The immense secret on who will light the ceremonial flame also came as quite a surprise as seven young athletes were given the massive honor.
Boyle was given the creative director reins, and the Slumdog Millionaire director did not disappoint. Filled with James Bond, Mr Bean, Lord Voldemort, the iconic music of the Rolling Stones, Sex Pistols, and Beatles legend Paul McCartney closing the show, the opening ceremony showcased the new Britain, a tag that the entire nation has been struggling with for quite some time now.
While the likes of Mohammad Ali, David Beckham and Steven Redgrave got the ball rolling by carrying the flame into the stadium - Beckham accompanying the flame on a speedboat - the show-stealer was the Queen, who made a spectacular helicopter-simulated arrival onto the stadium with 007 Bond - James -- Bond, played by Daniel Craig.
There were enough bits for people with an affinity to the funny as well, with Rowan Atkinson as Mr Bean cracking up the entire 80,000 people packed into the stadium, with a skit with the orchestra playing the iconic Chariots of Fire theme.
For the Harry Potter fans, of course there was a bit of magic in the air, the audience no doubt happy to go with a wonderful souvenir, having been handed a wand in every seat.
It's Britain after all, and no showcase can be complete without one of the greates writers of all-time, if not the greatest ever - William Shakespeare. Sir Kenneth Branagh did a reading of Shakespeare's Tempest. "Hello, I am Kenneth Branagh. And they handed me this book to hold as a prop while I was up here.
"It is almost definitely the kind of book you would read on the shitter.
"It's too big to be a regular book that you would just read in the living room or something.
"Maybe an Onion anthology. Could even be a guide to how to identify leaves.
"I don't know, something light and easy-to-read. That's important when you're crapping.
"Bye, guys. Have as many Olympics as you can."
The day will never be forgotten by seven youngsters - Callum Airlee, Jordan Duckett, Desiree Henry, Katie Kirk, Cameron MacRitchie, James Edwards, Aidan Reynolds, Adelle Tracey -- who were given the incredible honor of lighting the ceremonial flame, with each lighting a single tiny flame on the ground, igniting 205 petals, one for each competing nation.
In a speech, watched by an estimated 1 billion people, Games chief Jacques Rogge said: The Olympic Games are coming home tonight, while the Queen declared the Games open, saying: "I declare open the Games of London, celebrating the 30th Olympiad of the modern era."
McCartney closed the show with the famous song Hey Jude, as the entire world looked forward to what promises to be one of the greatest Olympic Games in history.
