The closing ceremony of the London 2012 Summer Olympics, also known as A Symphony of British Music, was held on 12 August 2012 in the Olympic Stadium, London. The chief guest was Prince Harry representing Queen Elizabeth II. The closing ceremony was created by Kim Gavin, Es Devlin, Stephen Daldry, David Arnold and Mark Fisher. The worldwide broadcast began at 21:00 BST (UTC+1) and finished on 13 August 2012 at 00:11, lasting three hours and eleven minutes.
The stadium had been turned into a giant representation of the Union Flag, designed by Damien Hirst. Around 4,100 people partook in the ceremony; which reportedly cost £20 million. The 2012 Summer Olympics were officially closed by Jacques Rogge, who called London's games "happy and glorious." The ceremony included a handover to the next host city for the 2016 Summer Olympics, Rio de Janeiro and saw the Olympic flame extinguished and the Olympic flag lowered. The main part of the evening featured a one-hour symphony of British Music as a number of British Pop acts appeared. Tributes to John Lennon and Freddie Mercury and the fashion industry were included in the section. Rio marked the handover with an eight-minute section known as "Embrace" created by Cao Hamburger and Daniela Thomas, featuring Pelé. Sebastian Coe gave a speech, and the volunteers of London 2012 were thanked.
An average of 23.2 million viewers in the United Kingdom watched the event, with an estimated 750 million worldwide. Critics were generally positive. There was also a concert in Hyde Park to close the Olympics, featuring Blur, New Order, and The Specials.
Production The creative director and choreographer was Kim Gavin, with Es Devlin responsible for design and David Arnold as musical director. When Arnold was announced in his role he said that doing the closing ceremony was an honour and a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, while Gavin stated that he was really excited and honoured to be involved. Devlin said that she was delighted to be part of the "greatest show on earth". Hugh Robertson, Minister for Sport and the Olympics, stated that he was delighted to have a high-quality team working on the ceremony, while Boris Johnson stated that "we have the best of British creating the spectacular bookends of our Games". Stephen Daldry was the executive producer and Mark Fisher was in charge of production design. The ceremony cost £20 million, with the artists paid just £1 for contractual purposes. Around 4,100 performers took part, comprising 3,500 adult volunteers, 380 schoolchildren from the six original host boroughs, and 250 professionals. There had been around 15 rehearsals for the volunteers at the Three Mills Studio and at a full-scale site in Dagenham, East London.
Gavin said that "the show we are putting on is very shiny, it's very colourful. We don't want to bang on about our culture. We just want to have fun". Es Devlin added that it "has to make sense in Bognor and Bogotá." She said that the creators had happily indulged in the chance to "visually draw on everything" that British imagination can offer. David Arnold said "It's going to be beautiful, cheeky, cheesy, camp, silly and thrilling", and added that "we could have done this 15 times over, and not had the same show, and it would still have been full of amazing British music". He thought that it should be the "greatest after party" and was "really a celebration of Britishness in terms of [all] the arts". Arnold himself had devoted two years working on the ceremony and had turned down all other work including Skyfall, but said that it was the "most fun" he had "ever had in music". In the handover section Rio aimed to express "multicultural embrace." Daniela Thomas stated that Rio "want to show you how sophisticated we mix things, what we do with the things you believe we are, how we mix with pop culture."
The representation of the Union Flag used as an arena centrepiece was designed by Damien Hirst to celebrate the "anarchy and diversity of British pop art, and by extension the energy and multiplicity of contemporary British culture". Hirst had been approached in November 2011 and agreed to do the design; he called his artwork Beautiful Union Jack Celebratory Patriotic Olympic Explosion in an Electric Storm Painting. 176 photographs made up one centimetre of the stadium artwork with graphic designers having spent three months creating super-high-resolution images before printing.
Some performers had declined to perform, including The Rolling Stones, David Bowie, Sex Pistols, Kate Bush and The Libertines. According to industry insiders The Who apparently refused twice, and only agreed once they had announced a US tour. The Spice Girls were said to be reluctant to appear, feeling that the event was being staged at minimal cost, before their manager Simon Fuller persuaded them to perform. Noel Gallagher turned down the chance to perform after first being asked to play acoustically and then to mime to "Wonderwall".
The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh were not scheduled to attend as there is no formal role for the Head of State during the ceremony. The royal family was represented by Prince Harry, the Princess Royal and the Duchess of Cambridge.
Performance synopsis
Rush Hour (21:00–21:09 BST)
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.
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.
God Save the Queen At the same time, former British Prime Minister 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 Victorian icon Isambard Kingdom Brunel (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 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.
Street Party (21:09–21:20) 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.
Waterloo Sunset (21:20–21:30) 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.
Parade of Athletes (21:30–21:53)
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.
Here Comes the Sun (21:53–22:07) 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 Symphony of British Music (22:07–23:21)