Last night was the start of our rehearsals.
Confidentiality is a key message that was drummed in over and over and over again.
There were I guess some four hundred of us gathered last night of all shapes and sizes. Clearly it wasn't a beauty parade. But the enthusiasm was infectious.
I now have my Olympics ID card, and an Oyster Card reserved just for Olympic participants. We all felt pretty special.
Danny Boyle was there, of course, and he's a charming, delightful man. Whether he'll manage to maintain that demeanour as the opening day approaches, will be interesting to see.
The choreographer is the man that choreographed War Horse....Toby Sedgewick. We were asked who had seen it. Everyone's hands went up. Then we were asked who'd seen it on the stage, and only a few of us left our hands in the air.
After an introduction...we should remember that we are the true embodiment of the Olympic spirit because we volunteered and have given up a lot to participate, unlike the athletes who will make shed loads of money (I'm only quoting here)...where we were shown the stadium and how it will look on opening night, we were taken through our section of the evening's entertainment. Like a terrorist cell we were given only the information we needed, so we don't have a grand view of the entire ceremony...just our part.
It's been meticulously planned, and I can say that if it goes according to plan it will be a night to remember. Nothing like the Beijing ceremony, but spectacular, engaging and something for participants and viewers to be proud of.
So that's the first four hours of a total rehearsal time of 140 hours over the next two months done. It would have been literary dynamite if it had been 127 Hours, but you can't have everything. I'm looking forward to the next 136, and desperately hoping I can live up to it.
