The event began at 8:10 pm with a massive river side display of fireworks and lights.
Indoor ceremony
Leader entrances
Chinese president Hu Jintao enters Expo Culture center with many world leaders. Twenty foreign heads of state or government attended the opening ceremony:
In addition, speakers of legislative bodies, deputy heads, and ministers of over 20 other countries also attended the opening ceremony. Just a few hours before the opening ceremony, the Maltese President, George Abela suffered from an accident, which left his second Lumbar vertebrae slightly damaged. He was taken to the Ruijin Hospital in Shanghai, and therefore couldn't attend the ceremony. Chinese President Hu Jintao paid him a visit at the hospital the following day. Hong Kong and MacauSpecial administrative region chief exec Donald Tsang and Fernando Chui both attended with a group of delegates.
Presentations
The song "Harmonious Gathering" was performed by Hong Kong's Jackie Chan and PRC's Song Zuying. The PRC flag was raised, and the March of the Volunteers was played. Then the international bureau exposition flag was raised, and the expo song was played. This was followed by the raising of the Shanghai Expo flag and the playing of the Shanghai Expo song. Then the flag-bearers of 246 participating countries and international organizations paraded out. Wang Qishan, Vice Premier of the People's Republic of China and BIE president Jean-Pierre Lafon both gave a speech. Hu Jintao then opened up the expo performances with an official statement.
Performances
The first song was sung by PRC's Mao Amin, Lau Yuan-yuan and Taiwan's Wakin Chau. They were also accompanied by dancers. An orchestra featuring PRCpianistLang Lang played "Jasmine Flower", "The Blue Danube", "New Shanghai concerto", and "Yangtze river song". The theme song "Better city, Better life" was followed and sung by United States's Jonathan Buck and Siedah Garrett. An instrumental performance of "Brave Bugle" is performed by a New Zealand troupe. Japan's Shinji Tanimura then perform the song "star". Afterwards the song "A type of love" was performed by the South Africa's Soweto Gospel Choir. Italy's Andrea Bocelli then followed up with a performance of "Nessun dorma". The expo theme song was performed by PRC's Huang Ying, Liao Chang, Tan Jing and Sun Nan. Two Tibetan orphans who survived the earlier 2010 Yushu earthquake joins the stage.
Outdoor performances
Fireworks
The 30-minute outdoor ceremony took place along a 3.4-km stretch of the Huangpu River in central Shanghai. It set numerous world records, such as the biggest LED screen, the largest searchlight installation and one of the largest pyrotechnic displays ever created. The outdoor portion was produced by David Atkins enterprise.
Part 1
First music piece was "China welcomes you" accompanied by Spring Festival Overture. First music of that piece was "Civilization", followed by "Better City, Better Life", followed by "Urban Rhapsody". In this part was included the track "The Dragon" composed by Vangelis in his conceptual album China
Third piece was "World celebrate together" accompanied by the piece, "Oh, destiny goddess", Ode to Joy, "Night of fire festival", "Good beijing news to mountain village", White jasmine.
Concerts
In a separate concert Song Zuying performed with Taiwan's Jay Chou in a celebration of the opening ceremony.
