Opening: the best ever?

In my humble opinion, the one to beat was Barcelona with the amazing artistically innovative acts, the unique lighting of the flame and great performances (the anticipation of the Caballe-Mercury duet did not realize itself given Mercury's death, but that song is still in our mind). Was this enough to beat it?

The acts were quite amazing and more accessible than in previous Olympics: the visuals were great, the messages clear and the pace quite good. The lighting of the Flame by Li Ning was also beautiful albeit a bit too long (and I still missed the unforgettable Deng Yaping in the last part of the torch bearing... how was she forgotten?). The performances were disappointing... no Mercury-Caballe here. I know it's not fair since we are comparing what happened with what was supposed to happen (a sort of virtual memory) but anyway...

All and all, not sure it beat Barcelona - or that it didn't for that matter - but Zhang Yimou prepared and amazing show that was quite enjoyable and did not seem too long at a bit more than 4 hours. My hat off.