AFTER nearly two years of preparations costing over $300 million and 750 hours of rehearsals, the curtains rise on the Biggest Show Singapore has ever staged - the Youth Olympic Games opening ceremony.

The 110-minute extravaganza on the Marina Bay floating platform will be led by young talent, who will display the "can do" spirit of youth, and show the world what it means to chase a dream, overcome odds and adversity, to come of age and blaze a trail. It is a show dedicated to the 3,600 athletes who will be competing in 26 events over the next 12 days.

We bring you live-blogs on the highlights of the extravaganza, featuring 7,000 performers, mostly under 18, with lights and lasers, fire and water effects, watched by 27,000 spectators in the stands and millions more on television sets in Singapore and around the world.

Let the show begin.

7.30pm
Every seat on the colour-coded stands is already filled with the lucky 27,000 spectators who have been able to get tickets to the opening ceremony. As they wait for the countdown to the show to begin, they are taking in the stunning view of the waterfront skyline, with high-rise office towers, top-class hotels and iconic landmarks such as the Singapore Flyer, the Esplanade and the newly-opened Marina Bays Sands, competing for their attention.

Taking centre stage is the 32-metre tall cauldron, which is built to resemble a lighthouse. Designed by Randy chan, the cauldron can withstand temperatures of up to 300 deg C.

Taking centre stage is the 32-metre tall cauldron. PHOTO: SPH-SYOGOC/KELVIN LIM

Twelve core containers form a ring on the stage, which resembles a reflective, black mirror, and can hold as many as 250 performers. The highest container is 24m tall, about the height of an eight-storey building.

On the stage are also six giant LED screens, the smallest measuring 10m by 5.5 m, which is about the size of 65 sets of 46 inch TV put together. Just off the main stage is a reflecting pool, which took eight hours - and 200 tonnes of water - to fill.

On the stage are six giant LED screens and a reflecting pool, which took eight hours to fill. PHOTO: SPH-SYOGOC/ALPHONSUS CHERN

As the crowds wait eagerly for a multi-sensory spectacle to unfold, youth hosts and audience leaders are showing them how to use the interactive kit each spectator has been given when the opening ceremony gets underway. The kit comes with a heart-shaped clapper, dove stick and a miniature Singapore flag.

The audience are being taught some dance moves, including a cascade movement called the "Marina Wave". A two-minute video, titled "Destination", zooms in on various places in Singapore, showing Singaporean youths dancing on the streets, and reaching the floating platform.

A flash mob emerges and takes over the stage and seating gallery. Decked in street clothes, the performers start dancing and lead the spectators to join in the dance movements they had picked up minutes earlier. YOG mascots Lyo and Merly appear and join in the fun and merriment.

President S.R Nathan and Mr Jacques Rogge, President of the International Olympic Committee, arrive, waving to the spectators. The crowd waves back Singapore flags and those of the other nations involved in the event.

8.11pm
The countdown begins.

A group of Singaporean children runs onto the stage and starts playing a game. They invite a group of visitors to join them. While playing, the children discover the sound of a universal heartbeat.

They beat their left chests and cue the audience to clap and to join in the heartbeat percussion. The screens show young drummers from across five continents beating various types of drums.

Chinese drummers and dhol players positioned around the Bay and amid the spectators, join in, performing in harmony with their counterparts across the world. The sounds of unity and brotherhood reverberate around the arena.

The rhythm of drumming leads to a 20-second countdown. On the dot of 20.10, spectacular bursts of fireworks shoot from the roofs of various buildings around Marina Bay into the night sky, signalling the start of the opening ceremony.

The fireworks are synchronised to the music being played, complemented by light, water and laser effects. Camera flashes from the rupturous audience add to the dazzling pyrotechnics display.

Malay performers begin the dance and cultural display.

8:14pm
This segment, titled Selamat Datang, welcomes all the YOG athletes to the Singapore inaugural games.

Chinese performers dance with lanterns to the music of Ke Ren Lai which means arrival of guests), Indian performers in traditional peacock costumes, move to the tune of Bum Bum Bole (an Indian childhood song), and Malay performers dance with tepak sireh (traditional brass container) and bunga mangga (traditional floral displays which are used to welcome special guests), to the beat from the kompangs.

Chinese lion dancers appear at the front of the stage as the lights beat in time to the music.

Blending tradition with modernity, they are followed by Eurasian and Peranakan performers - all homegrown artistes, including Dharni Ng, 23, who introduced beatboxing to Singapore in 2004 by busking on the streets, and is ranked 5th in the world in the Beatbox Convention championships.

The beat-boxer arrives on stage via a lift as the young dancers appear.

The group performs an umbrella dance, which breaks into street dance and hip-hop music, to the delight of the audience.

On the reflecting pool, 750 youths holding lighted tubes are forming five white Olympic rings, depicting a man-made Fountain of Youth. Meanwhile, the performers on stage form the world 'WELCOME'.

On the reflecting pool, 750 youths holding light tubes form the five white Olympic rings. PHOTO: SPH-SYOGOC/DESMOND WEE

Olympic ambassadors including Michael Phelps and Jared Leto from 30 Seconds to Mars send out "best wishes"; Jackie Chan tells everyone to just "Go for it!"

8.21pm
A marching band strikes up and marches across the stage, performing "Five Stars Arising" ... Eight Singapore Youth Award holders - Mr Koh Seng Leong (Sports & Adventure category, 2009), Dr Valerie Teo Hui Ying (Sports & Adventure category, 2007), Ms Lee Huei Min (Arts & Culture category, 2004), Ms Lina Chong Lin Lin (Community & Youth Services category, 2009), Ms Eunice Elizabeth Olsen (Community & Youth Services category, 2006), Mr Leonard Tan (Entrepreneurship category, 2010), Mr Clinton Ang (Entrepreneurship category, 2007) and Dr Tong Joo Chuan (Science & Technology category, 2009) - carry the Singapore flag across the stage.

8.24pm
A choir leads the audience to sing the Singapore national anthem, Majulah Singapura. The Singapore flag is raised. As the last note of the national anthem fades away, a fog starts to envelope the stage, bringing the audience back to Singapore's past.

8.29pm
The next segment chronicles the arrival of the earliest immigrants to Singapore. Explorers, missionaries, merchants and coolies who arrived with little more than hopes and dreams of a better life. Their stories of travel and establishment are told in festive songs and dances by energetic young Singaporeans of all races.

The performance opens against a backdrop of Singapore as a port city with containers arriving along with early settlers.

Dressed as early immigrants, dancers perform with their luggage. The luggage "pops-up" into buildings, like how Singapore’s early immigrants built the country, capturing their spirit of tenacity and enterprise.

Industrial percussionists next perform on stage and the Ring of Containers. They symbolise Singapore’s rapid industrialisation from a sleepy seaport to a thriving metropolis in one generation.

The big containers open to reveal a city that has been built. The performance climaxes as the Singapore skyline lights up before the audience, unveiling a "pop-up" city, and drawing cheers from the awed spectators.

The Singapore story unfolds through the music of the eras, from the 1940s to today. The screens play a video montage of Singapore from the past to the present.

More fireworks go off as the buildings around Marina Bay are lit up.

8.36pm
The lights dim and the city then goes to sleep.

All eyes now shift to a seven-metre storybook titled "Champion" on stage, which opens to show a boy in his bedroom. He aspires to become a champion boxer and shadowboxes in his dream.

A monster appears as an animation on the screens. Representing his inner fears and insecurities, it attacks him.

As YOGhurt - a nine-piece girl band in silver metalic space-like outfits - sings about the search for hero, the boy transforms into a "hero" and defeats the tiny monsters.

A giant 12-metre big Monster appears. The boy summons his silat warriors, then his kalari and wushu fighters but they are defeated by the giant.

The giant 12-metre big Monster represents our inner fears and struggles. PHOTO: SPH-SYOGOC/DESMOND WEE

In an all-out bid, the boy mounts an air strike as kites fly through the air above the stage, backed by the warriors, he finally overcomes the Monster with his slingshot.

This segment was created to depict inner fears and struggles, and unity in strength.

8.46pm
The 'Don't play with Fire' scene opens with a mother warning her little girl prancing on the stage with a flaming torch. A group of fire
performers moving across the reflecting pool and swinging their lit torches further drives home the message, followed by another display of pyrotechnics.

She's followed by a group of fire performers moving across the reflecting pool and swinging their lit torches.

For more on the Youth Olympic Games Opening Ceremony, go to the next blog: YOG opening ceremony, Part 2