I know that the Opening Ceremony of the Beijing Olympics has a 12-hour delay before being shown in the US, so there won't be a lot of replies before that time... but they showed it live here in Iceland, and it was freaking amazing! Politics and scandal aside, it was truly a spectacular sight.
First of all, the "Bird's Nest" (National Stadium) is a beautiful piece of architecture. Watching the world's best fireworks spouting off around it at regular intervals has been fun, as well as watching the 15,000 participants with their dancing, drumming, singing, and all the rest.
I was also impressed with the people "flying" around the stadium, levitated by almost-invisible harnesses and cables... the final lifting up of the torchbearer (the one who would light the torch itself) was just awesome, as he "ran" around the upper edge of the stadium, in the air.
The press keeps saying that the TV audience would be 4 billion for this ceremony. That's well over half of the world's population... it doesn't seem realistic. How many of you plan to watch it, or saw it live already (in other countries)? I look forward to hearing what you all think, once it broadcasts in the US later tonight.
