Underworld Take on Tiesto @ the Olympics

Underworld have been announced as music Directors for the opening ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games, taking on the role that Tiesto filled in 2004 when he DJed at the games in Athens.

Underworld duo Rick Smith and Karl Hyde will be working with Trainspotting film director Danny Boyle for next July’s prestige event and will be responsible for all the music in the globally televised three-hour ceremony, Olympic organizers revealed.

‘We want to leave people with a musical memory of the show rather than a purely visual one,” Karl Hyde said in a statement.

“It's a great honour to be asked to do this and one we’re taking very seriously – it’s certainly not something we'll get the chance to do again,” he added.

Though Tiesto’s appearance DJing at the opening ceremony in Athens in 2004, cemented his superstar DJ status, China was taking no chances in 2008, avoiding hiring any international DJs and instead issuing a raft of laws for locals.

“Fearful of humiliation in the eyes of the world if all does not go to plan, the government has not only clamped down on dissidents but has also gone to great lengths to ensure that everyone behaves properly,” the Sunday Times reported at the time,

“As well as a ban on spitting, scratching your head (they’ve also banned) wearing sandals without socks,’ the Times added.

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