Olympic Closing Ceremony 2012: London Promises to End Games with Wild Party

You want a party to close out the 2012 London Olympics? Oh, you'll get a party.

While Danny Boyle's opening ceremony was an interesting retrospective on British history and culture, Kim Gavin's finale promises to be a fun-filled bonanza. From the Daily Mail:

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The spectacle will be "the best after-show party that's ever been," according to artistic director Kim Gavin. He added that the bonanza will be the "disco after the wedding."

Mr. Gavin promised something "completely different" from Danny Boyle's opening ceremony.

"My approach was to say, 'let's not over think it,'" he told the Sunday Telegraph.  "Let's have a party, I don't want anyone to say 'I don't understand this.'"

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The three-hour ceremony will include 4,000 performers, including appearances by Queen, Jessie J, Madness, George Michael, One Direction, Pet Shop Boys, Darcey Bussell, Ray Davies of the Kinks, Julian Lloyd Webber, Tinie Tempah, Liam Gallagher, Russell Brand performing the Sex Pistols song "Always Vacant," Eric Idle performing "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life," The Who and even a reunion by the Spice Girls.

Other songs you can expect to hear include "Bohemian Rhapsody," "Imagine," "Wonderwall" and music from David Bowie, the Beatles, The Rolling Stones and Elton John.

There will be an impromptu fashion show at one point in the closing ceremony. The Daily Mail says proceedings will open with "black cabs, scooters, bicycles, dancing  lollipop ladies and umbrella-carrying commuters creating a London rush-hour" while Rio—host of the 2016 games—will be given eight minutes of the ceremony, which is expected to include "an explosion of samba, sequins and Latin cool."

I'm never one to get too excited about the opening or closing ceremonies, but this sounds like it will be a lot of a fun, a sort of giant British musical that just so happens to include some of my favorite music of all time.

London pretty much had me at Ray Davies, Queen and music from the David Bowie and the Beatles, after all.

Sure, there won't be a fun scene between James Bond and the Queen, nor do I expect to see Mr. Bean make a hilarious cameo in this one. But there also won't be an entire musical montage based around a cell phone and two young lovers, so that's always a plus.

In all, it seems like a fun send-off to a spectacular London Games.

I know I'll always remember the Games for the United States women's soccer team, the Fabulous Five led by Gabby Douglas and Aly Raisman, Usain Bolt's continued dominance, Michael Phelps' final Games, the emergence of Missy Franklin, the inspiration of Oscar Pistorius, the triumphs of Jessica Ennis and Mo Farrah and Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh-Jennings making it three golds in a row.

Hopefully, I'll remember the Games for the excellent closing ceremony as well. It will certainly be a tall task to top the excellent Olympics that preceded it.

But hey, they got the Spice Girls—you know it's gonna be a party now.

Hit me up on Twitter—my tweets are gold like the Team USA women.