What a brilliant show the Brits put on! The London Olympics 2012 closing ceremony managed to be well executed, nostalgic and entertaining all at once. Earlier we told you what to expect, and it all came true- except for Adele. Here is a recap of the best show on Earth this evening.
Starting off with ‘ A day in London’ retrospective we were greeted with a papier mache of London’s main attractions, along with cars and people dressed in old newsprint. Next came musical performances by Madness, Pet Shop Boys and One Direction who sang atop of moving vehicles and went around the carousel accompanied by acrobats of all ages and sizes.
Then came the flag bearers and we were thrilled to see the smiling and courageous captain of the Canadian women’s soccer team, Christine Sinclair walk proudly among the nations. Soon all the teams, walked into and around the arena.
But the main event was just about to start, the musical retrospective of all British music through the ages. First we were treated to Imagine with a John Lennon on the big screen. Then came leather clad George Michael- he is definitely older and grayer- but the big smile is still there. Next came the motorcyclists with Kaiser Chiefs singing.
In a nod to British fashion came the British supermodels- Naomi Campbell, Kate Moss, Stella Tennant, Georgia May Jagger and others appeared behind their big posters wearing gold gowns by Stella McCartney, Vivienne Westwood, Burberry, Chistopher Kane and other iconic British fashion brands.
Annie Lennox was next, clad in a fantasy pirate costume, riding atop of a Noah arc type boat accompanied by masked costumed 17th century dancers. Why did you expect something less flamboyant?
Not to be outdone, topper hat clad Russel Brand did a great job with a version of the Beatles’ I am a Walrus’ complete with a magic school bus and lots of carnival attired dancers. Next, Fatboy Slim emerged from a Lady Gagaish Plastic Cocoon which turned out to be a giant plastic octopus lit up by hundreds of lights. Oh early British punk…how we loved you!
Then came Jessie J and rapper Tinie Tempah who brought the soundtrack into the present day. Taio Cruz rocked the club with ‘ Dynamite’. Then all three performed ‘ You should be dancing’ with a rap twist.
For the much anticipated -one night only event- the Spice Girls were reunited on stage. They emerged from 5 decorated taxis to tremendous cheering from the crowd to sing ‘ Tell me what you want, what you really really want ‘ and going into a medley of their songs. The girls looked fantastic and even the ever non smiling Victoria Beckham looked like she was really enjoying herself . Their act was followed by Beady Eye with ‘Feels the way I do’.
One of the funniest moments in the show went to Eric Idle of Monty Python fame who came out next with ” Always look on the bright side of life’ complete with rollerblading ‘nuns’ flashing their union jack knickers and Indian dancers. Muse followed. Queen was represented by Freddy Mercury’s image singing on multiple screens followed by Beethoven haired Brian May playing a live guitar rendition of ’We will rock you’. He was joined on stage by Jessie J who sang the song to tens of thousands of people clapping the beat in unison. Powerful!
The Olympic Closing Ceremony was followed by the singing of the Olympic Anthem, presentation of the Brazilian delegation for Rio 2016 upcoming games,closing remarks from the officials and the extinguishing of the Olympic flame. After a brilliant display of fireworks we saw a performance from ‘Take That’ surrounded by dancing ‘fire birds’.
Last but most certainly not least, immediately following the extinguished flame- The Who sang a medley of their songs and after being joined on stage by all the other performers- closed the show. They still all sound good. The Brits have done it- fantastic Olympics and a brilliant closing ceremony.
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This closing ceremony was really well-done; I loved seeing the Spice Girls reunited and I appreciated the celebration of the history of British music and fashion. I thought it was creative how they tied the older music with today’s music. I like to skip commercials when I watch TV so I upgraded to the Hopper recently, thanks to the suggestion of a Dish coworker. With shows recorded during prime time I am able to skip all commercials on major networks with the push of a button, using the Auto Hop feature. This saves me so much time!
I loved it, cool to see the Spice girls together.