00:00 The Who officially end the London 2012 Olympic Games Closing Ceremony with a rousing performance of their track 'Baba O'Riley'. A shower of fireworks erupt over the British capital. Thank you Olympics. You have rocked our nation.
23:49 The Olympic cauldron holding the Olympic flame opens as the 2012 London games officially close. Take That sing their top 2 track, ‘Rule The World’ (which featured on the soundtrack of Matthew Vaughn directed film, Stardust) sounding triumphant in the Olympic stadium. Celebrated British ballerina Darcey Bussell then takes to the stage for a dramatic dance piece. The flame is extinguished, waiting to be reignited in four years for the next Olympic games.
23:25 The Olympic flag is passed over to Rio de Janeiro who will host the 2016 Olympic Games – making Brasil the first ever South American country to host the Olympics. Following this a carnival style performance is showcased by Brasilian performers giving a taste of what is to come in four years time. How much is a ticket to Rio?
23:15 Surviving members of Queen, Brian May and Roger Taylor are given a warm up intro by giant plasma screens of Freddie Mercury as they rock out in front of the Closing Ceremony crowd. The boys are then joined by Jessie J who takes on vocals for the track 'We Will Rock You'.
23:05 Eric Idle unites the Olympic Stadium unlike anyone else in the night with a rendition of the classic song, ‘Always Look on the Bright Side of Life’ from the Monty Python film, The Life of Brian. Muse then sing the official Olympic song, ‘Survival’.
22:54 The Spice Girls appear on stage for a medley of their greatest tracks (starting with their massive single Wannabe – the biggest selling single ever by an all female group - and marking the girls second reunion this summer following their announcement in June of the Viva Forever musical). The band arrived by personalised taxis (pink for ‘Baby’, leopard-print for ‘Scary’ and, of course, chic for ‘Posh’) for their performances. Following The Spice Girls, Beady Eye perform the classic Oasis song, ‘Wonderwall’.
22:45 Jessie J arrives within the Olympic stadium on a Rolls Royce singing her huge number one hit, ‘Price Tag’ – with the entire stadium singing along. Tinie Tempah – one of the UK’s finest dressed young men – joins the Brit Critics Choice winner as he performs his song ‘Written In The Stars’. Taio Cruz also performs, singing his track ‘Dynamite’. The three modern day music superstars then unite together to sing ‘You Should Be Dancing’ – originally by The Bee Gees.
22:40 Russell Brand unleashes his imagination on the stadium atop a psychedelic bus and sing’s ‘Pure Imagination’ from Willy Wonka and The Chocolate Factory. This leads seamlessly into dance genius Fatboy Slim performing ‘Right Here Right Now’ – with scenes of day-glow dressed dancers that are reminiscent of the Opening Ceremony rave scenes.
22:30 Musician Annie Lennox arrives majestically on stage on a galleon as she sings her track ‘Little Bird’. Following this is Ed Sheeran (another insanely popular new music act who’s debut album ‘+’ topped the charts in the UK – and around the globe) performing classic Pink Floyd track ‘Wish You Were Here’ with Nick Mason (of Pink Floyd).
22:22 Kaiser Chiefs arrive in the Olympic stadium riding motorcycles and sing a version of Pinball Wizard (originally by Elton John). Fashion history is made as a montage of David Bowie’s music is played climaxing in the song ‘Fashion’ leading to the arrival of Naomi Campbell, Kate Moss, Stella Tennant, Georgia May Jagger, Lily Cole, Jordan Dun and David Gandy. Fashion houses are celebrated from Burberry to Victoria Beckham – and worn by the models on stage.
22:05 After the Men’s Marathon medals are awarded, the Closing Ceremony moves to a new section. Music history is revisited with music by Queen and John Lennon played out across the stadium. George Michael then takes centre stage singing his classic track ‘Freedom’. The music legend also performs new single White Light (released today) – sure to add to the excess of 100 million music sales he already has.
21:30 Elbow perform as Team GB enter the Olympic stadium. The band perform ‘One Day Like This’ & ‘Open Arms’ which sounds suitably epic for the medal winning athletes.
21:22 The Kinks front man Ray Davies sings 'Waterloo Sunset' as the stage version of London turns to evening. Emeli Sande returns and closes out the segment of the closing ceremony. The 2012 Critics Choice Brit Winner chose to wear Alexander McQueen and Prada brogues during the ceremony. Flag bearers from the competing nations of the Olympics enter the stadium.
21:10 Following the National Anthem, the event moves to a street party with performances by Madness (singing 'Our House'), The Pet Shop Boys (the boys have shifted over 100 million records in their career as well as remixing the likes of Madonna, they sing their huge 1984 track 'West End Girls') followed by unstoppable boy band One Direction (the boys have sold over 12 million music sales in under one year).
21:00 The official Closing Ceremony begins. A set of early morning London and the accompanying rush hour (that we all know too well...) is played out. Emeli Sande performs a rendition of her and Professor Green's Number 1 single 'Read All About It' (she wears Alexander McQueen). Timothy Spall portrays Winston Churchill and recites Shakespeare as he overlooks the London morning.
20:30 With half an hour to go, it seems clear that certain individuals will be on the Closing Ceremony stage. Along with Victoria’s tweets, Geri Halliwell has tweeted ‘I wonder what it would feel like to party with 4 billion people? #spicegirls’ and musician George Michael has long let the cat out the bag with tweets earlier this week including ‘The OLYMPIC ALBUM is released, which will include my performance!’ and ‘have to get up at a reasonable time to get to the dress rehearsal’ – so he will definitely be there, then. George is said to be joined on stage by a host of great British supermodels including Naomi Campbell, Georgia May Jagger, and Kate Moss.
19:50 Excitement is building as the one-hour-until-closing-ceremony point approaches. The shadowy outline of Victoria Beckham has been tweeted ahead of the closing performance. Attendees within the arena already know the line-up of performers.
19:20 Over the last seventeen days of Olympic championships, 906 medals have been won in total. Before the official coverage of the closing ceremony begins, click to view the ELLE report of the Opening Ceremony. Click here to view a gallery of Team GB Gold medal winners, click here for a gallery of gold medal level dressers, click here to view the ELLE Olympic Dream Team, and - of course! - click here to view the ELLE gallery of Hot Olympic Men.
19:00 After the surprise of the Opening Ceremony (#SaveTheSurprise) there are just two hours remaining until the official Closing Ceremony celebrations. In what promises to be a celebration of sport and Britain’s incredible music history, rumours have been rife about who will take to the stage. The Kaiser Chiefs, Kate Bush, George Michael, The Pet Shop Boys, One Direction, Take That, and (the worst kept secret of all) The Spice Girls have all been linked to the upcoming show. Musical director of the event, David Arnold, has said ‘if the opening ceremony was the wedding, this will be the wedding reception.’ All will be revealed from 9pm (GMT).
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