I disagree. I agree that his voice in not what it used to be. I've been saying it for years. But the point is that it doesn't matter. He's Beatle Paul and millions of people will continue to attend his concerts because of who he is and what he has done. In that vein, he is a British National treasure and perhaps the most famous Englishman in the past 200 years. As such was given the honor close the ceremony.
I do believe that he was choked up at the very beginning. His voice really sounded terrible on the first several notes but improved after that.
Elton John? He's not even close when it comes to celebrity and status in the UK or the world. And if you think Paul's voice is gone, you haven't heard Sir Elton sing live lately. He literally has nothing left at all.

As much as I dislike lip syncing at live events, I agree that they should have considered it for Paul especially for an event of this magnatude. Classic song though.

Charles Darwin, Winston Churchill, the Duke of Wellington, Lord Nelson, Lawrence of Arabia, come to mind quicker than the Beatles for famous Englishmen. That's after the various Kings, Queens, Princes, too.

Funny, the most famous Englishman is probably fictional--- Harry Potter would probably be the first thing out of someone's mouth if you asked them to name something coming out of the UK.

One was show biz. This one is sincere, historical and memorable. By the way, it's not MADE In CHINA!

I'm with Dr. Winston on this one... I just finished watching, after reading some of the comments on here. I was expecting the worst, but was pleasantly surprised.

What saddened me the most was Mohammad Ali at the Olympic flag. Parkinson's is a horrible disease.

When I made the original post I was in the middle of the show, and just was kind of lost. It was obviously spectacular, but not being a Brit, and not seeing it in person, it lacked the wow factor for me. Here is how my favorite writer, Joe Posnanski saw it, and kind of sums it up for me.

But it was hard for me to really get into it. Emotionally, I mean. Again, yes, this is my limitation, but I just expected to walk away wowed. This is London — and I love London, the history … the music … the writers … the humor … the drama … I expected to be swept away by it all. I have been looking forward to these Games for a long time. But it didn’t quite do that for me. There were cool moments, of course, like when J.K. Rowling read from “Peter Pan,” and when the giant rings came together to form the Olympic symbol. But …

I found it a bit strange that they had him standing there and made a big fuss about the flag going by him. Don't get me wrong, I have a lot of respect and admiration for Muhammed Ali, but the rest of the program seemed to be all about England. He seemed out of place and unrelated to everything else.

Aha, that is what I saw from beginning to end!

I think that you might find that for people under the age of 75 the first thing they think of from England is The Beatles.

The Duke of Wellington? Lord Nelson? I would bet that if you asked 1,000 people who they are, 700 wouldn't know.

Hate to burst your bubble, but it wasn't the queen that jumped out of the helicopter...just a stunt double. I agree that the opening ceremonies were boring...I shut it off after a while.