Olympic organiser Locog has announced children from the six host boroughs will form part of the cast for the celebrations this summer.
Until now Locog's official plans for the £80m events have been kept under wraps, with
More than 1,650 children from 18 primary and seven secondary schools have already auditioned to become part of the London Ceremonies Mass Movement Team.
Over the coming weeks this will be whittled down to 900 lucky finalists who will perform in front of 80,000 people in the Olympic Stadium and a worldwide TV audience of more than a billion people at the Opening Ceremony on 27 July.
The announcement comes on the day Locog picked up the keys to the Olympic Village from the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA). Thes construction of the complex, which will house up to 16,000 athletes and officials from around the world over the summer, is now complete.
Work will now commence on fitting-out the interior of the 2,818 new apartments with a whopping 11,000 sofas, 9,000 wardrobes and 64,000 bed sheets.
Four times Olympic gold medallist Matthew Pinsent was on-hand to help start Locog’s ‘bedding in process’ this morning, lifting in the first of more than 16,000 beds to be installed in the village in the coming months.
A 5,000-capacity 24-hour dining facility, state-of-the art athlete gym, welcome centre, and Olympic Village Plaza with shops, a café, bank, beauty and grooming salon, internet lounge and entertainment centre are also planned for the site.
"Athletes are at the heart of the London 2012 Games and our plans for the Olympic Village will provide them with a home-from-home as they prepare for one of the biggest sporting moments of their lives," said Locog chair Seb Coe.
After the Games, the ODA will return to the village to transform it into a new residential complex for Londoners known as East Village.
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