TheOlympic opening ceremony in Beijing began with a series of fireworks across the city. NPR's Howard Berkes describes the ceremony, which took place in the stadium known as the Bird's Nest, to Subscribe to @olympics: Relive full the Closing Ceremony from the Summer Olympic Games 2008 in beautiful Beijing, China. The cere Theopening ceremony of the 2012 Summer Olympics took place on the evening of Friday 27 July 2012 in the Olympic Stadium, London, during which the Games were formally opened by Queen Elizabeth II.As mandated by the Olympic Charter, the proceedings combined the ceremonial opening of this international sporting event (including 10 Los Angeles, 1984. There was lots to love about the first summer Opening Ceremony to be staged in the States—Etta James singing “When the Saints Go Marching In”; seeing the US Army Band LosAngeles, 1984. Much like some of the movies Hollywood produces, the opening ceremony for the 1984 Summer Olympic Games in Los Angeles could be described as grand and perhaps at times, a bit over the top. Some of the most memorable moments were when 84 pianists played ‘Rhapsody in Blue,’ and John Williams’ ‘Olympic ZhangYimou listens to questions at a news conference after the opening ceremony of the Summer Olympic Games in Beijing on Aug 9, 2008. Zhang, who directed that ceremony, will also be the chief Itbegan at 20:00 China Standard Time ( UTC+08:00) on Friday, 8 August 2008, as the number 8 is considered to be auspicious. The number 8 is associated with prosperity and DougMills/The New York Times. TOKYO — An Olympic opening ceremony with all the usual pomp and tradition played out Friday night in Tokyo in front of a nearly empty stadium. Athletes paraded in .

2008 summer olympics opening ceremony