Damon Albarn in running for 2012 Olympics role

Blur frontman and all-round media polymath Damon Albarn is reportedly in the running to be artistic director for the opening ceremony the 2012 Olympics. The Independent claims he has already been sounded out about taking on the role.

The singer, whose band enjoyed a triumphant return to the stage this summer, grew up in Leytonstone near the site of the Games and has exactly the sort of cutting-edge image the organisers seem intent on cultivating.

When not leaping around on stage with his band, Albarn has turned his hand to several other enterprises. He has enjoyed a long-standing collaboration with artist Jamie Hewlett and the pair helped create the animated virtual pop-group Gorillaz and produced the highly successful stage production Monkey: Journey to the West. Significantly, the pair were also behind the animation and music that accompanied the BBC coverage of the Beijing Games last year.

Stephen Daldry, the Oscar-nominated film director responsible for the film and stage versions of Billy Elliot, is also said to be in the frame and is thought to be the popular choice within the arts establishment. However, there is likely to be room for more than one person in the role because the London Organising Committee (LOCOG) needs to commission four opening and closing ceremonies for the Olympic and Paralympic games.

Whoever gets the nod is unlikely to have at their disposal the same resources as those behind the spectacle at the Beijing Games, which featured thousands of performers – plus Jimmy Page, Leona Lewis, David Beckham, Boris Johnson and a London bus in the closing ceremony.

"I doubt we will have 20,000 people doing things in unison in our opening ceremony. That's just fine. That's the beauty of contrast,” said LOCOG chief executive Paul Deighton. ·