The ceremony, a kaleidoscope of music, movement and colour, was watched by 60,000 proud and ecstatic locals, plus billions of television viewers around the Commonwealth. The Jawahar Lal Nehru Stadium transformed into a magical display of dance, song and, above all, unfettered enthusiasm. A vibrant celebration of 5000 years of Indian culture – with just a hint of Bollywood – was showcased in a performance involving more than 7,000 artists.
Traditional Nagada drummers beat out the countdown before the impressive aerostat, the world’s biggest helium balloon, rose in the centre of the stadium. A Namaste dance – meaning `welcome’ in Hindi – where dancers formed the shape of two palms pressed together in a common Indian greeting, was also a crowd favourite.
From the first appearance of the giant aerostat to the final bars of composer AR Rahman’s Oscar-winning Jai Ho, this was a foot-tapping, hand-clapping, jaw-dropping performance.
A massive illuminating ‘Yoga Man’ rose from a field of 3,000 people performing Yoga in harmony. Three sand sculptors producing a storyboard of Mahatma Gandhi’s message of peace caused hairs to stand on the backs of necks.
Then there was the crazy, mad, wonderful cacophony of sounds and sights that was the Train of India, a magic scene of Celebrations and then the pyrotechnic grand finale. More 8,800 pyrotechnic effects designed and installed by Howard & Sons launched from 88 positions around the stadium roof.
Everything that foreigners imagine when they think of India was on display across the giant stadium floor: people on trains, riding bikes, going about the myriad of everyday tasks that make this one of the most exciting, confounding and intoxicating nations on earth.
The closing ceremony will be held on Thursday 14th October.
The worlds media comments on the opening ceremony:
BBC- “I loved the fireworks, and the kids splashing colours and painting hennaed hands, and a few other things in last evening’s opening ceremony of the Delhi Commonwealth Games. With its dazzling lights, incessant – and jarring – drumming and a spectacular blimp hanging overhead in the hot Delhi sky, the show appeared to be a colourful mix of a Bollywood potboiler, a Delhi wedding, a U2 concert, and Close Encounters of the Third Kind . A show which, by all accounts, was liked by most, despite the vapid speeches and the interminably long length.”
The Washington Post called it an “epic opening ceremony”
Sydney Morning Herald says: “Delhi’s dazzling Commonwealth Games opening ceremony has won international praise and boosted the city’s mood.”
The Guardian cooed that “the ceremony was – like the entire effort India has made for the games – monumental in its scale and expense”.
The Telegraph wondered: “No collapsing scenery or malfunctioning sound system. No fluffed lines, botched choreography or missed cues and not a single stray dog in sight. The preparations for the XIXth Commonwealth Games may have been an unmitigated disaster but India certainly knows how to put on a show.”
