London Closing Ceremony 2012: What the Papers Are Saying

It is always a sad time when the Olympics come to a close. After two weeks of discovering new athletes and following new sports, it is difficult to say goodbye to what is the greatest athletic competition in the world.

Luckily for us, there is a tradition installed that serves to make us feel better and look forward to the next Olympic Games in four years. That tradition, of course, is the Summer Olympics closing ceremony.

In an interview with The Telegraph, the music director of the closing ceremony, David Arnold, best described the atmosphere of the celebration:

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"To me, this should be the greatest after-party in the world. If the Opening Ceremony was the wedding, then we’re the wedding reception. We’re the one where everyone gets out of their cars at the village hall, goes 'Wasn’t that lovely, everyone looked great, let’s put on Blame It On the Boogie and have a laugh. It needs to be something where everyone, including the athletes, is going to be able to let off steam."

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Beyond explaining what feeling the ceremony will attempt to convey, the article also speculated on who would be performing in what has been named "A Symphony of British Music": 

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"I would expect the performances to include Ray Davies of the Kinks singing Waterloo Sunset (surely London’s most beloved alternative anthem), Paul McCartney pulling out another gem from the Beatles canon, the Spice Girls reminding us about when they were just Wannabes, Adele turning on the tears for Someone Like You, Liam Gallagher’s Beady Eye, singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran doing Wish You Were Here with members of Pink Floyd and a galaxy of other stars, including Take That, the Who, Muse, George Michael, Queen, Paul Weller, One Direction, Elton John, the Rolling Stones and perhaps even the reclusive Kate Bush."

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While all of this does seem to promise a stunning show, it will be proceeded with the actual ceremony that has the purpose of symbolically handing over of the Olympics to the next host city, Rio De Janeiro.

According to Yahoo! Sports, this will start with the flag bearers entering the stadium in single file, followed by the remainder of the athletes entering as a group. At that point, a handover ceremony including the Olympic flag will take place before the extinguishing of the Olympic flame.

That is when the return of the Spice Girls will boost our fading morale, and provide a hell of a party.