Olympics Opening Ceremony A Hit Around Globe - by Jonathan Samuels

For some it was the end of a long night, for others a very early start, but for Olympic fans watching the opening ceremony on a big screen in a Sydney sports bar it was the next best thing to being in London.

An Australian TV commentator described the show as "brilliant but bonkers" and that pretty much summed up how the city's residents viewed it.

Shrouded in secrecy in the run-up to the Games, few knew what to expect from film director Danny Boyle's epic showpiece but around the world opinions have been largely positive.

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