Shakhtar’s Spectacular New Stadium Opens With Beyonce. And Aliens.

They partied like it was 2099 in Donetsk on Saturday, opening up one of the new jewels of European Stadiums. Donbass Arena, the structure Shakhtar has been hyping for eons now (which at this point is looking justified), finally had its ribbon cut with an over the top futuristic ceremony on Ukrainian holiday “Miners’ Day”, which meshed nicely with the theme of the party. And it was all entirely realistic, too, with aliens descending from the ceiling before playing a friendly game of football with freestylers in Shakhtar uniforms before Beyonce took stage in one of those football-appropriate catsuit things. And the UEFA Cup trophy descended from the sky by a woman using a football parachute. Just your run of the mill stadium opening.

It wasn’t all about the glitz and glamour, though: Donbass Arena’s opening was big for stadiums across Europe, as it’s the first to be built under the strict guidelines of UEFA’s Elite stadium code. So they followed each and every one of those ridiculous details about the angles of the lights, the number of press box seats and the color of the urinal cakes (Michel Platini specifically requested fuchsia). And this means it’s up for hosting some pretty big tournaments, the first of which could be the final at Euros 2012 with the final venue still up for grabs.

So don’t think for a second this wasn’t a little demonstration for the decision-makers over in UEFA – these Ukrainian cats can throw a party.

The ceremony looks as though so much happened it might still be going on, but a few clips and compilations have arisen and it looked all the part of a “Elite” stadium christening.

Footballers v Aliens:

Beyonce in catsuit:

Opening Ceremony compilation (the ceremony stuff starts 2:20 in):

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Category: World Football

Tags: aliens, Beyonce, Donbass Arena, Euro 2012, Polkraine, Shakhtar Donetsk, Ukraine, World Football

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