The Independent reports today that Blur leader Damon Albarn is under serious consideration for the job of artistic director for the opening ceremony of the 2012 London Olympics, presumably based on the visual success of his Gorillaz cartoons and opera, Monkey: Journey to the West (both of which were collaborations with animator Jamie Hewlett). Apparently, preliminary talks between Albarn and the organizing committee have already taken place, though Stephen Daldry, helmer of The Reader and Broadway’s Billy Elliott, is also in the running (he’s allegedly the “preferred choice of much of the arts establishmentâ€). Obviously any director would have a difficult time matching the spectacle of Zhang Yimou’s awesome opening ceremony in Beijing last year — but who wouldn’t watch one featuring a bunch animated torch-wielding monkeys dancing to Britpop, with narration by the “Parklife†guy?
Albarn leads running to be artistic director of 2012 Olympics [Telegraph UK]