Paralympics opening ceremony to be a 'scientific journey of discovery' led by Stephen Hawking - Polidicks

[url]http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-19411225[/url] [quote=BBC News]Final preparations have begun for the London Paralympics opening ceremony, heralding 11 days of competition for athletes with disabilities. Some 3,000 volunteers will take part in the event, which organisers have entitled Enlightenment. Professor Stephen Hawking and actor Sir Ian McKellen will narrate the show, which is due to begin at 20:30 BST. But there are doubts the Paralympic flame will arrive on time, as the torch relay is now more than two hours late. Meanwhile, Malawi have withdrawn from the games due to lack of funding. BBC political reporter Matthew Cole said organisers of the 24-hour long torch relay are "looking glum" about the delay to the torch relay. A back-up flame was earlier created at City Hall, to make certain the opening ceremony could start as planned. A spokesman for Games organisers Locog said: "Part of the flame has gone ahead to the stadium as a back-up contingency plan. "The relay is going to continue." The flame began its journey in Stoke Mandeville, the spiritual home of the Paralympic Games, on Tuesday night. It will be carried by 580 torchbearers in total, and after being carried past some of London's most famous landmarks, will be used to light a scaled-down version of the Olympic cauldron. UK Sport and the British Paralympic Association have set a minimum target of 103 medals this time from at least 12 sports, including swimming, athletics and rowing. Human possibility The opening ceremony - which will be broadcast on Channel 4 and BBC Radio 5 live - will signal the start of 11 days of competition by more than 4,000 athletes from 165 countries, including more than 300 athletes from ParalympicsGB. A capacity crowd of 80,000 people will watch the ceremony in Stratford, east London, which will be opened by the Queen and watched by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. The start of the show will feature a flypast by Aerobility, a British charity that trains disabled people to become pilots. Fifty specialist performers in the ceremony have taken part in an eight-week circus skills training programme in east London, and will take part in a high-wire act. The show's two artistic directors have said the main themes of the ceremony will be empowerment and the challenging of perceptions of human possibility. [B]Prof Hawking - a world-renowned physicist who has motor neurone disease - will join Sir Ian McKellen to narrate a scientific "journey of discovery", inspired in part by Prof Hawking's own book A Brief History of Time.[/B] The organisers have revealed that Prof Hawking will act as a guide to Miranda, a character from William Shakespeare's play The Tempest, through the show. Sir Ian will play Prospero, another character from the play. Co-artistic director Jenny Sealey said the audience will be taken on an "exquisite journey of discovery inspired by the wonder of science". She added: [B]"Both Hawking and McKellen in their narrative talk about what we all need to remember: don't just look down at your feet, look at the stars, be curious."[/B] Her fellow artistic director Bradley Hemmings said the team approached Prof Hawking towards the end of 2011. 'Prudent budget' "We worked very closely with Prof Hawking to develop a series of messages which are very much integrated into the storytelling of the ceremony. "We have spent time with him [Prof Hawking] in Cambridge and have been so incredibly gratified with him giving his time". Sealey would not revealed the cost of the event, but said it had been put together on a "prudent budget". About £27m was spent on Oscar-winning director Danny Boyle's spectacular Olympic opener, with the remaining £53m divided between the Paralympic opening event and the closing ceremonies for both Games. Lord Coe, chairman of Locog, said the ceremony will be a "great showcase of the skills and excellence of disabled artists". "The London 2012 Ceremonies are truly global events, with billions of people across the world watching the four shows. This is undoubtedly a fantastic opportunity to showcase talents to the world." Hopes are high that ParalympicsGB will emulate the success of TeamGB, but one of the UK's most decorated Paralympians has warned the competition for medals is likely to be tougher than ever. Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson, who has won 11 Paralympic gold medals, said overseas athletes will want to beat a British competitor on home soil. "Most countries are envious of the support and funding our athletes enjoy but ParalympicsGB have been preparing well and will give everything they can to win all the medals they can," she added. Britain finished second in the medals table at the 2008 Games in Beijing, winning 42 golds, 29 silvers and 31 bronzes. China were top with 211 medals, of which 89 were gold.[/quote] [url=http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/fixedtime.html?msg=Paralympics+opening+ceremony&iso=20120829T2030&p1=136][b]Opening ceremony in your time zone[/b][/url]

[video=youtube;y8AG5RPOCjA]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8AG5RPOCjA[/video] I hope his speech is as good as this. :D

Can we see hawking in a fast as fuck wheel chair? I want to see him jump hurtles in it or something :v:

Hawking and Gandalf Holy shit my dreams (and slash fictions) have come true

[url]http://www.youtube.com/user/ParalympicSportTV/featured?v=7SOMVD_wrmE[/url] it starts in 13 minutes [editline]29th August 2012[/editline] and he is first so if you end up not liking it you can bail

Oh god it's not the same on Channel 4, everything's all sponsored and shit I hope the coverage is as good as BBC

and its live on youtube no commentary its the direct stream from the PBA i lied there is commentary

Nope, blocked in the UK

and he is done [IMG]https://dl.dropbox.com/u/3664177/London%20Olypics%20Thread/ohno.PNG[/IMG] [editline]29th August 2012[/editline] he was speaking for like 30 seconds

Isn't talking becoming increasingly harder for him?

Knight the guy already!

Big-ass model of the Higgs boson (made out of umbrellas for some reason) just rolled into the stadium, fuck yeah

Can't help at laugh at all the folk in wheelchairs bringing the Apple and shit in to the stadium, looks almost as if they've been forced to do so. [editline]29th August 2012[/editline] "we need something to turn this giant apple... how about a guy in a wheelchair?"

Oh... ok so it's the parade already

Blocked in my country noooo Not end of the world, At least if it gets uploaded later on

oh man i forgot all about the cyborg Olympics