News
ITALY – Filmmaster offers an unforgettable introduction to the world of football at UEFA EURO 2012
The opening ceremony of UEFA EURO 2012 was held at the National Stadium in Warsaw on 8th
June. The performance started 20 minutes before kick-off of the tournament’s opening match
between Poland and Greece and offered an unforgettable curtain-raiser to three weeks of a
celebration of national team football in Poland and Ukraine.
The concept for the UEFA EURO 2012 opening ceremony has been developed by Marco Balich (image),
Olympic Producer and President of events and ceremonies company Filmmaster Events. Marco
Balich has amongst other created the opening and closing ceremonies of the Turin Olympics in
2006 and is also known in Ukraine, having produced the opening ceremony of the Donbass Arena
in Donetsk in 2009.
The 12-minute show combined heritage and innovation, to bring sport and culture together and
mark the start of a historical event, the first UEFA European Football Championship to be staged in
central and east Europe. It also promoted the participating nations together with key UEFA EURO
values: unity, rivalry and passion.
Renowned Hungarian classical pianist Adam Gyorgy, who recently celebrated his 30th birthday with
a sold out concert at New York City’s Carnegie Hall, performed a Chopin ‘‘Étude’ in a minor
(Op.25 Nr.11) as part of the ceremony, to bring the pure classical tradition of Chopin into a sport
environment. Adam Gyorgy is no stranger to football, being a major fan himself, and practising
football as his daily routine. He was previously a member of the Hungarian national futsal team.
The opening ceremony included mass choreographies involving more than 800 volunteer
performers, coming from as many as 63 countries around the world.
More than 150 million live viewers watched the opening match and its ceremony.