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LONDON – The opening ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games will jump, run and gyrate to beats provided by British electronic music maestros Underworld.
Underworld duo Rick Smith and Karl Hyde have been hired as music directors for the opening ceremony, working with Oscar-winning moviemaker Danny Boyle, the event’s artistic director.
STORY: Danny Boyle to helm 2012 Olympics ceremony?
The music pair will be responsible for all the music in the three-hour ceremony, scheduled for July 27, 2012.
Underworld and Boyle have enjoyed a long and diverse collaboration since Underworld’s track Born Slippy featured in Boyle’s Trainspotting.
Smith and Hyde worked with Boyle on music for several of his films including A Life Less Ordinary, The Beach and co-scored the 2007 sci-fi film Sunshine. In 2010 the duo joined Boyle to work on the National Theater production of Frankenstein.
Boyle said: “Appointing Underworld to direct the music in the Olympic Opening Ceremony is the final piece of the jigsaw for the team of leading British creatives who will deliver the ceremonies.”
Hyde said the ambition is to leave people with “a musical memory of the show rather than a purely visual one.”
He added: “It’s a great honor to be asked to do this and one we’re taking very seriously – it’s certainly not something we’ll get the chance to do again.”
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