2012 Summer Olympics closing ceremony

Landmarks in the stadium.

The ceremony began after a filmed countdown showing numbers from around London on such locations as road signs, 10 Downing Street and the Palace of Westminster clock tower, with a camera panning up the River Thames over Tower Bridge before turning left towards the stadium. The audience then completed a 10-second countdown to the start of the ceremony, to the chimes of Big Ben. The arena had been transformed into a huge representation of the Union Flag in black and white, with ramps and famous London landmarks such as the London Eye, Big Ben, Battersea Power Station and the Gherkin. Newspaper cutouts on both the set and road vehicles sought to show a "day in the life of London", with words from British literary figures such as William Shakespeare, J. R. R. Tolkien and Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy.[19]

Emeli Sandé appeared on a truck and sang a verse and the chorus of "Read All About It, Pt. III". The Urban Voices Collective (the choir for the ceremony) sang The Beatles' "Because", which merged into cellist Julian Lloyd Webber (sitting upon the Royal Albert Hall) playing Elgar's Salut d'amour, accompanied by Stomp performing on household items such as pots, pans and dustbins while suspended on the sculptures of the landmarks.

At the same time, Winston Churchill (Timothy Spall) appeared at the top of Big Ben and reprised Caliban's "Be not afeard" speech from The Tempest, first read by Kenneth Branagh in the opening ceremony. More paper-covered motor vehicles entered. After Churchill finished his speech, people dressed in newspaper print began to fill the arena, ranging from office workers to school children. The beat of the music got faster and noisier, symbolising the London rush hour. As the noise reached a crescendo, Churchill cried out for all to stop, bringing this section to an end.

Prince Henry of Wales (Prince Harry), representing the Queen, arrived with the President of the International Olympic Committee Jacques Rogge. The London Symphony Orchestra and the Urban Voice Choir performed the national anthem of the United Kingdom whilst the Union flag was raised by the armed forces and the performers waved mini Union flags in the stadium. Once the flag was raised Hirst's artwork was revealed as the grey clouds were removed.

This section started off with footage of Michael Caine in The Italian Job counting down from five, whereupon the Reliant Regal from Only Fools and Horses exploded with Del Boy and Rodney jumping out dressed as Batman and Robin. Caine's words, "You were only supposed to blow the bloody doors off!", echoed around the stadium. All the lorries had the newspaper removed and a colourful street party erupted, while Madness performed "Our House". This was followed by the Massed Bands of the Household Division marching whilst playing Blur's "Parklife". Entering on rickshaws, the Pet Shop Boys performed their hit "West End Girls", and then One Direction performed "What Makes You Beautiful" from the back of a lorry. Next there was another performance by Stomp.

The centre of the arena was then cleared to reveal Britain's Got Talent 2010 winners Spelbound, who performed gymnastics to The Beatles "A Day in the Life", were inspired by the idea of a commuter on the way to work, by forming a bed and a London Bus. Ray Davies of The Kinks arrived in a black cab and played "Waterloo Sunset", as Spelbound continued and local school children formed the Thames. The section closed with Sandé reprising "Read All About It (Pt. III)" as a montage of athletes crying in victory or defeat was shown on the screens.

Olympic athletes assembled in the shape of the Union Flag

Greece led the Entrance of the Flags, as all 204 flags filed in to the strains of "Parade of the Athletes" (composed by Arnold) and marched up the central cross of the union flag, with Great Britain bringing up the rear. Meanwhile, volunteer marshals wearing blue suits and blue bowler hats with light bulbs on top marched into the stadium. The athletes then walked in from the several entrances, with some filtering down through the lower stands. At the same time Elbow performed "Open Arms" and "One Day Like This". The volunteer marshals helped to usher the athletes into pens between the ramps of the arena. As the last athletes streamed into the stadium and the flags were moved by volunteers closer to the Olympic flame, a reprise of some of the songs from the opening section was played.

16 dhol drummers opened this segment as the performers entered carrying 303 white boxes to symbolise every event in the Olympic Games. The drumming merged into the newly recorded version of Kate Bush's "Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God)", as performers arranged the boxes to form a pyramid while video highlights from the previous 16 days of competition were shown on the screens.

This was followed by the victory ceremony for the Men's Marathon, by tradition the final medal ceremony of the Games. Rogge and Lamine Diack, president of the International Association of Athletics Federations, awarded the medals before the Ugandan national anthem was played.

Six athletes including Katherine Grainger and Katie Taylor presented flowers to six volunteers in a symbolic recognition of the 70,000 volunteers' contribution to the Games. This part of the ceremony was accompanied by The Beatles' "Here Comes the Sun".

A sculpture of the face of John Lennon at the closing ceremony.

The section commenced with Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" being played and a graphic equaliser being shown on the pixel screen. John Lennon then appeared on the big screens and was joined by Liverpool Philharmonic Youth Choir and the Liverpool Signing Choir in singing "Imagine" as a bust of Lennon's face was created. Balloons were released at the end of this and George Michael followed singing "Freedom! '90" and "White Light" (one of his last public concert appearances). A group of mods on scooters followed invading the arena; one of them carried Ricky Wilson to the stage where his band the Kaiser Chiefs proceeded to cover The Who's "Pinball Wizard"; during the song the scooters continued to circle the arena. Several extracts of David Bowie songs followed, accompanied by images of Bowie; this continued until eight billboards, escorted by gold clad dancers and drummers, with artwork of models on arrived in the stadium representing the British fashion industry. The artwork was dropped to reveal the models standing behind: Naomi Campbell (wearing Alexander McQueen),[20][21] Lily Cole (wearing Erdem),[21] Karen Elson (wearing Burberry),[21] Lily Donaldson (wearing Vivienne Westwood),[20][21] Jourdan Dunn (wearing Jonathan Saunders),[20][21] David Gandy (wearing Paul Smith),[21] Georgia May Jagger (wearing Victoria Beckham),[20][21] Kate Moss (wearing Alexander McQueen)[20][21] and Stella Tennant (wearing Christopher Kane).[20][21] The models concluded the section by turning the struts of the Union Flag into a catwalk as they proceeded to the centre, walking to Bowie's 1980 single "Fashion".

A wooden boat was then carried in; on board was Annie Lennox who proceeded to sing "Little Bird". Ed Sheeran followed and was joined by Richard Jones of The Feeling, Nick Mason of Pink Floyd and Mike Rutherford of Genesis and Mike + The Mechanics, to cover Pink Floyd's "Wish You Were Here". Near the end of the song a performer appeared on a tightrope above the stadium, walked along it, and shook hands with a mannequin, which then burst into flames (referencing the cover of Floyd's 1975 album Wish You Were Here). A psychedelic bus then enters with Russell Brand sitting on top singing "Pure Imagination" from "Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory" then segues into "I Am the Walrus"; before introducing Fatboy Slim, who played "Right Here Right Now" and "The Rockafeller Skank"; as the bus slowly transformed into a large inflatable Octopus. Three convertible Rolls-Royce Phantom Drophead Coupés then arrived; the roof of the first was taken down to reveal Jessie J who sang her hit "Price Tag", as the cars did a lap of the stadium. Jessie J provided guest vocals as the next car had its roof removed, to show Tinie Tempah who sang "Written in the Stars". The third car carried Taio Cruz who sang "Dynamite". All three then left the cars to combine to cover the Bee Gees' "You Should Be Dancing".

Cabs carrying the Spice Girls.

A number of black cabs entered the stadium, five of which lit up with LED lights, each decorated with the Spice Girls' individual trademark emblems, (Posh: sparkling black, Sporty: go-faster stripes, Scary: leopard print, Baby: pink and Ginger: The Union Flag). The Spice Girls emerged from the cabs and performed "Wannabe" and "Spice Up Your Life". Halfway through their performance, they ascended onto the roofs of the cabs and proceeded to race around the stadium whilst singing and dancing from the roofs. Beady Eye followed by performing Oasis's "Wonderwall". "Mr. Blue Sky" by Electric Light Orchestra was played, introduced by Matt Berry, as a tribute to aviation was performed. Near the end of this song a human cannonball "died" and out rolled Eric Idle, who sang "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life", accompanied variously by nuns on roller-skates (likely a reference to Monty Python and the Holy Grail), Morris dancers (Blackheath Morris and Rag Morris),[22] Roman soldiers (a reference to Monty Python's Life of Brian, in which the song was first performed),[23] Punjabi bhangra musicians dancers (VP Bhangra),[22] and bagpipes (Reading Scottish Pipe Band, led by Pipe Major Ron Paterson) before a human cannonball was fired across the arena.[23] Muse then appeared and proceeded to sing the official song of London 2012, "Survival".[24] In the darkness four trucks with screens on them entered and went to the centre of the stadium. Freddie Mercury then appeared on these and other screens around the stadium. Displayed was a vocal improvisation taken from Queen's 1986 Wembley Stadium concert, before his bandmate Brian May performed part of the "Brighton Rock" guitar solo. May was then joined by Roger Taylor to re-form Queen, as Jessie J, who wore a long yellow jacket in homage to Mercury, accompanied the pair for "We Will Rock You." More fireworks ended this section.

The section began with the Greek national anthem being played and raising of the flag; followed by the Olympic anthem and the lowering of the flag. The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, then handed the Olympic flag to Jacques Rogge, who in turn passed it to Eduardo Paes, the Mayor of Rio de Janeiro.[23] This was followed by the Brazilian national anthem and raising of the flag. The Olympic flag was raised again in Sochi, Russia, on 7 February 2014 at the opening ceremony of the 2014 Winter Olympics.

The end of Rio's segment.

Rio then provided an eight-minute segment to introduce the city and the country to the world, created by the by a team headed by the International Emmy Kids Awards winner Cao Hamburger and the director Daniela Thomas entitled "Abraço" (which translated into English means hug or embrace).[24] The showcase presented the brazilian culture with main sights, as well the annual Rio Carnival and some local traditions as the city relationship with the sea. and began with the street cleaner Renato Sorriso dancing samba joined by sailor Robert Scheidt. The segment continued with a Carnival-eqsue Samba parade as various artists performed, including hit singer Marisa Monte (dressed as African water goddess Yemanja representing the brazilian religious syncretism), and the singers BNegão and Seu Jorge who paid tribute to Chico Science and Jorge Mautner, representing the Manguebeat moviment from Pernambuco state.The modernist composer Heitor Villa-Lobos also received a tribute. Another appearance was also that of the top model Alessandra Ambrósio that was representing the tradition and international recognition of fashion from Brazil. It concluded with an appearance by Pelé, who was wearing a Brazilian football shirt with his name and the number 10 on the back and a 3D inflated model of Rio's logo. This segment ended with another special feature of the city, a big firework display in green and yellow colors (the national colours of the country) remember the party that takes place in the city during New Year's Eve.

Opening of the Olympic cauldron.

Sebastian Coe and Jacques Rogge then appeared on a stage that was in the form of an arrow pointing towards Rio.[19] Coe thanked all of the people who had helped make the Olympics happen. He said that the volunteers, who received another huge cheer, had the right to say "I made London, 2012". Coe thanked the country for getting behind the Games, and recalled his words from the Opening Ceremony "these will be a games for everyone", concluding "these were a games by everyone." He went on to thank the athletes and say that "the spirit of these Olympics will inspire a generation", before concluding that "when our time came, Britain, we did it right!".[25]

Rogge thanked Coe and his London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games team, saying that they had done a "superb job". He said "we are indebted to so many tonight", thanking the "wonderful volunteers, the much needed heroes of these Games", as well as the British public and the athletes. Rogge said that the athletes had earned the right to be called 'Olympians' due to the fair play and graciousness that they had shown, and he looked forward to the Paralympic Games. Rogge concluded by calling the Games "happy and glorious", before proceeding to close the competition and calling upon the youth of the world to assemble in Rio in 2016, ending with "Thank you, London!".[26][27]

The arms holding the copper petals that formed the Olympic cauldron were part-lowered, and fireworks set off behind; when the smoke had cleared, a phoenix was seen above the flames. Take That then performed "Rule the World". Darcey Bussell followed flying down from the top of the stadium in a guise of a phoenix and was joined by four male principal dancers from The Royal Ballet, Gary Avis, Jonathan Cope, Nehemiah Kish and Ed Watson and over 200 ballerinas,[24][28] who proceeded to perform a dance called 'the spirit of the flame', after which the Olympic Flame was extinguished.

The closing act of the ceremony was The Who, who performed a medley of the songs "Baba O'Riley", "See Me, Feel Me" and "My Generation" as a montage of images of Games volunteers and Londoners appeared on the big screen. All star performers also appeared on the stage behind the band, while participants in the ceremony also marched through the centre stage towards The Who. The set concluded to massive fireworks set off in the stadium and around the Olympic Park.