Olympics creator behind opening ceremony

Doha: They won't say how much it costs, but Doha wants the world to know that the Asian Games opening ceremony on Friday will be the best in the world.

Lasting three hours and 20 minutes and produced and directed by the man responsible for the spectacular Sydney Olympics opening ceremony, Doha Asian Games Organising Committee (DAGOC) say they have produced the most technologically advanced ceremony yet.

Artistic director David Atkins said the event was two years in the planning and will be the most multi-cultural and multi-national opening ceremony ever.

"I don't believe you could have done this ceremony in Sydney because of the level of commitment that was required from DAGOC," he admitted.

"We have been very ambitious and have very, very grand aspirations. There are four ground-breaking key elements to the ceremony that have never been seen before." Media were banned from the final rehearsals last night under a cloak of secrecy. It was announced yesterday that the 500 Qatari riyal tickets to the 40,000-seater Khalifa stadium were sold out.

International Olympic Committee President Dr Jacques Rogge will be a guest of honour.

And Doha, which has made no secret of its desire to host the 2016 Olympics, will be hoping he is paying attention to exactly what a small, yet ambitious Gulf nation can achieve.

But Sharif Hashisho, DAGOC's director of ceremonies and cultural affairs, insisted that they were taking things one step at a time. "It's too early to be talking about the Olympics," he said.