Jan 14 2008 08 Opening

RELIEF is probably my overriding emotion this morning. I was just so pleased that the two events to open Capital of Culture went off so well, and delighted that the Echo Arena looked so fantastic and coped so admirably.
Friday's sea of humanity backed up everything I believe about the public's take on 08 - they are willing it to succeed and the cynics are in a small minority.
Inside the Empire theatre I spoke to top brass from the council, the police and Merseytravel and each of them gave me a wildly differing crowd estimate.
I'm settling on 50,000 - what do you reckon?
Lynne not well enough to go Friday so Harry cam with me, He ended the night deep in conversation with Paul McGann - 'I' from Withnail and I - one of Harry's all-time top films.
He failed in his quest to get a photo with Heidi from the Sugababes and had to watch me get a kiss on both cheeks from Atomic Kitten's Liz McLarnon...
The magnificent Claire Sweeney (my absolute favourite) looked sensational as usual.
Ringo asked for Friday and Saturday Echos to take home so I arranged for them to be dropped off at his hotel.
Ringo's song? Crap or catchy????
Saturday at the Arena and I was knocked out by how wonderful it looked. We have put a lot into the naming rights deal and this was a superb start for us.
Lynne made a huge effort and came along to our box - Arena is super-wheelchair-friendly which helped a lot and she enjoyed the show and the company. People were so kind and thoughtful towards her.
I thought The Farm brought the whole thing kicking and screaming to life with their timeless anthem All Together Now.
Ricky Tomlinson joined us as our guest - he looks fantastic after his bypass operation and we compared chest scars with an enthusiasm sadly not reciprocated by our fellow guests.
Ended up crying on shoulder of Everton legend Peter Reid about sad state of my beloved Newcastle United - a blight on a great weekend.

Your views on Friday, Saturday???