Spice Girls, Blur, One Direction: The closing ceremonies celebrate British pop

Mon, 13 Aug 2012 11:50:00 +0000

The opening ceremonies of any Olympics are a combination of grandiose hospitality and swaggering nationalism. The closing ceremonies are their reflected image. They're a big-budget adios to a world full of guests and one final chance to show everybody that, no matter how many medals it may have won or lost, the host country kicks the most righteous butt on the planet.

And so, in much the same way the opening ceremonies of the London Olympics will be remembered for Danny Boyle's unmistakably British salute to that green and pleasant land – complete with a parachuting James Bond and Queen Elizabeth – Kim Gavin's closing extravaganza was a spectacle that could only have been made in England. Beijing might have been huge on pomp, and we're sure Rio will bring its party spirit, but the U.K. really owns it in the pop stars, supermodels and quirky eccentrics department. The closing ceremonies summed up the British spirit exquisitely -- a mad mix of decorum and silliness. And after a night of royalty and Pet Shop Boys, Kate Moss and a giant octopus, and Russell Brand as the walrus, when we close our eyes and think of the empire, these are the moments we'll most remember.

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Spice Girls, Blur, One Direction: The closing ceremonies celebrate British pop