Sir Simon appeared at the London 2012 Olympic opening ceremony when he and the London Symphony Orchestra were upstaged by Mr Bean while playing Chariots of Fire.

BBC: Sir Simon Rattle

After his heroics in 2004, Gonzalez had the ultimate honor bestowed upon him prior to the start of the Beijing Games when he was asked to carry Chile's flag for the opening ceremony.

CNN: August 19, 2012 -- Updated 1510 GMT (2310 HKT)

Instead, it's better to just come out and say it: while watching the swimming event and cut-down highlights of the opening ceremony, there were moments when we could almost have believed we were looking not at a projected image, but rather through a window direct onto the Olympic Stadium or Aquatics Center itself.

ENGADGET: BBC shows off 33-megapixel Super Hi-Vision Olympic footage, we ask: why?