Lavish ceremony to kick off Euro 2012

Football’s quadrennial European Championship kicks off for 2012 on June 8th, and UEFA have published details of the ceremony that’s due to get events underway.

The opening match of the tournament is between Poland and Greece and, as Poland are co-hosting the Euro 2012 finals with Ukraine, the fixture is scheduled to take place at the National Stadium in Warsaw.

With 20 minutes left until kick-off, Hungarian classical pianist Adam Gyorgy will take to the field in order to play a rendition of Chopin’s Etude in A Minor (Op. 25 Nr. 11).

Over 800 volunteers from 63 countries will also step out on to the pitch to perform mass choreographies to accompany the music – blending the elegance of the classical composition with the grace of the beautiful game.

It’s a 12-minute show that leaves plenty of time for an on-schedule kick-off, but also aims to mark the occasion in style, while highlighting the overall values of the tournament.

These include unity, rivalry, and passion, a seemingly conflicting set of values that recognise the possibility of competing in a sporting championship, while remaining friendly off of the pitch.

Former Olympic producer Marco Balich has developed the UEFA Euro 2012 opening ceremony, having previously worked on both the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2006 Turin Winter Olympics.

Over 150 million viewers are expected to tune in to the opening match – and the preceding ceremony – on television sets around the world.

However, it’s co-hosts Ukraine who are likely to be higher on many England fans’ agendas, when the countries both play their first matches on June 11th.

Both are in Group D, meaning England’s result against France and Ukraine’s score against Sweden will provide the first insight into how their table will look moving towards the knockout stages of the Euro 2012 championship.