it was an old bloke belting out the tune to Top Of The Pops with that lovely Leona.

She won X Factor y'know...

I was more amused by the many references to the fab four's favourite zebra crossing. In 4 years time do NOT attempt to drive down Abbey Road. It will be permanently clogged up with bloody tourists, er, ambassadors of our overseas guests.

Have you ever met the Queen?

that Leona, isn't she? Mind you, any passion on my part was dampened by that sweaty Michael Foot lookalike playing the guitar next to her

At this moment they were expecting Tessa Jowell (I think) and Colin Moynihan but have also got Beckham, Boris, Coe and Brown, and all to a soundtrack of London Calling.

It's utterly bonkers.

I note that they "kept it real" by including brollies, graffiti and people throwing newspapers on the ground.

I was entertained by Boris Johnson's embarrassed flag waving. His former classmates must be baffled how he got from there to here, stumbling into world events like a posh Forrest Gump.

I was wondering what happened to the guy who organised the London Millennium celebrations (remember The River Of Fire - a bunch of Ikea tea lights floating haphazardly down the Thames?) . He was obviously called out of retirement for the Beijing handover gig. I had to explain what was going on to my dad, and he's British. I can't imagine what the watching world made of it.

That's what it was. Excrutiating. I can only imagine that Zhang Yimou was sitting somewhere in the stands, disbelievingly peeking out between his fingers, aghast at how the British had reduced his visual spectacular to clumsily choreographed cornball crud in eight short minutes. A bus that turns into a hedge? WTF?

And I wish Boris would learn to take his hands out of his f***ing pockets.

I think it was a fair representation of the nation. Celebrity footballer - check. TV talent show winner - check. Wacky politician - check. Reference to the Beatles - check. All soundtracked to nostalgic rock from 30 odd years ago that someone foreign might recognise. Of course the little girl should have been mugged by knife wielding hoodies as she stepped off the bus, but I suppose they have to hold something back for 2012.

Jimmy Page looked quite oriental - kind of in keeping. Do you think he's planning on touring with Leona if Percy won't co-operate? She'd be better than David Coverdale.

if the inside of the bus was covered in vomit and chip papers, just like a real London bus?

And why didn't Boris button his suit up?

know a pensioner with a guitar and young women with some impressive pipes seemed to have more character and vivacity than 10 thousands students hanging off a climbing frame and Beckham seems a more switched on sensible chap by the the day.
Aren't we being niave to think the avant garde is going to get anywere near something like the Olympics, it strikes me they could have RT himself playing playing obscure caravan bsides and some people round here would dismiss it.

I stood and watched a compilation of GB's gold medals in trafalgar square yesterday and it took ages I was almost tempted to watch it again once it finished.....

nobody other than the poor sods in the UK saw the post-handover party in the Mall.

I saw the beginning....for those who (luckily for them) missed it, have a guess what the first two songs played were?

Only 'We will rock you' followed by 'We are the Champions' sung by the cast of the Queen musical. Tell me - is it possible to come up with a more predictable, hackneyed, worn out pile of dog poo than that?

Re 2012...I now have a very bad feeling....

looked like he might be Beckham's slightly confused Gran.

Somewhere, Willie Dixon and Muddy Waters are smiling. That pleases me.

The original guitar hero, reduced to foisting on an expectant world such a cheap, tawdry, tasteless, puerile, vacuous and perhaps even career-destroying. . . .

Ponytail.

Only caught a couple of mins on the telly, earlier in the day, of J Page and Leona Lewis talking about the track they were going to play, without mentioning which one it would be - which set me wondering ... "Trampled Underfoot", "Kashmir"?

Well, was fun speculating for a few hours (more fun than watching what they actually did).