2012 Summer Paralympics closing ceremony
Date | 20:30, 9 September 2012 (+01:00) |
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Location | London, United Kingdom |
Coordinates | 51°32′19″N 0°01′00″W / 51.53861°N 0.01667°W |
Also known as | Festival of the Flame |
Filmed by | Olympic Broadcasting Services (OBS)[1] |
Part of a series on |
2012 Summer Paralympics |
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The
.In a formal handover ceremony, the Paralympic flag was passed from
Production
Kim Gavin, who also directed the closing ceremony of the Summer Olympics just a few weeks prior, would serve as the director for the ceremony. The ceremony's overlying theme was the gathering of people in celebration, honouring the many seasonal festivals that have been held throughout Great Britain's history.[3] Coldplay's lead singer Chris Martin was enthusiastic about his band's prominent role in the closing ceremony, and promised that their act would "close London 2012 in style."[3] Both Gavin and executive producer Stephen Daldry contended that the closing ceremony would not just simply be a Coldplay concert, promising "fantastic visuals and amazing stunts" throughout.[3][4]
Performance synopsis
Pre-show
In order for all the athletes to enjoy the show in its entirety, all athletes entered the stadium together before the start of the ceremony to take their seats. A group of silver-coloured "dreamers" then took to the field on a set of pedal powered vehicles that doubled up as musical instruments. Some of the dreamers kept falling asleep, but they eventually managed to inflate three crescent moons which were lifted from the ground and suspended, forming the Agitos.[8] None of the pre-show was broadcast on television. The Dreamers remained on the field, asleep until the official start of the Closing Ceremony.
Windstorm
The closing ceremony opened with a film called "The Book of Fire" by director Mike Christie showing "eccentric travellers" from around the city making their way to the Olympic Stadium in steampunk-inspired vehicles prepared by the performance art group Mutoid Waste Company.[4] At the end of the film, a group of Wind Gremlins drove into the stadium on custom-built motorbikes with huge fans on the front. The wind awakened the Dreamers from their sleep, and they struggled to fend off the Gremlins' attack while keeping the Agitos in place. In the end the Dreamers were unable to hold on, and the Agitos float away with one of the Dreamers still clinging on to them. At that point, performers carrying flares entered the field of play to the rescue of the Dreamers.
Raising of the Flag
A horse-like vehicle entered and was followed by the Human Endeavour machine pulled by a team from Help for Heroes. When the team reached the sundial stage a flagpole was erected with the combined effort of the men from the team.
The Heart of Many Nations
After climbing the steps to the top of the sundial stage in the centre, the Reader, played by Lance Corporal Rory MacKenzie, addressed the stadium with a speech introducing the theme of the ceremony's cultural presentation, "Festival of the Flame". His speech was followed by the entrance of the flags of participating nations. At the end of the procession, the flagbearers were in formation in the shape of a heart, and pyrotechnics outlined their shape on the field.
Truck Invasion
The Reader then read a text taken from a
Spirit of the Games
This section began with the awarding of the
Festival of the Flame
The Festival of the Flame kicked off properly as a live concert by Coldplay followed. Coldplay performed from the sundial stage, and performances were broadly categorised into the four seasons, beginning with Autumn and finishing with Summer.
Autumn
Coldplay began the set with "
Winter
The short Winter segment was soundtracked by Coldplay's "42". 6 warrior skaters holding flaming torches skated around the Snow Queen (played by Viktoria Modesta) on the South Stage, frozen in her cage. Slowly the skaters melted the "ice" and removed the bars on her cage, releasing the Queen. The Snow Queen was inspired by the White Queens from C. S. Lewis' popular series The Chronicles of Narnia.[14] Green lights then filled the stadium, replacing the chilly blue of Winter and signalling the impending arrival of Spring. Coldplay performed "God Put a Smile upon Your Face" with guest drummer Mat Fraser, who was born with phocomelia of both arms.[7]
Spring
Spring opened with a performance of "Clocks" featuring a laser show and poi jugglers from Feeding the Fish performing with their unique Pixel-Poi light batons which projected images whilst spinning through the air. The stadium lit up with Xylobands, special LED wristbands given to all athletes in the field of play which lit up in time to the music. These were the same type of wristbands given to audience members of Coldplay's Mylo Xyloto Tour. During the next song "Charlie Brown", 120 children carrying 600 car hub caps ran towards the Fish truck in the field of play and hung the caps, painted to represent fish scales, on the fish skeleton.[15] Rihanna arrived on the Ship truck to perform "Princess of China", her collaboration with Coldplay.
Summer
Coldplay frontman
Alô Rio
The Paralympic flag was formally lowered by three members of the Ministry of Defence, while the British Paraorchestra performed the Paralympic anthem.[5] The flag was then passed from the hands of the Mayor of London Boris Johnson to that of IPC president Philip Craven, who in turn formally handed the flag to Eduardo Paes, mayor of Rio de Janeiro, the next host city in 2016.
Joy
The handover was followed by a cultural presentation by Rio entitled "Joy". Set to music performed by
The presentation ended with fireworks.The Final Flame
The presentation was followed by speeches from
Craven hailed the Games as simply amazing. Continuing Craven noted that the Beijing Closing Ceremony theme was a Letter to the Future which was received with open arms by Coe and his team committed to delivering a successful games in London; stating that the team were determined to satisfy the British public's insatiable appetite for elite sport. Craven continuing stated that the Olympic Delivery Authority and LOCOG have helped inspired a generation; adding that this were not just London's Games, but thanks to LOCOG's Charles Alan's group, they were the Games of the United Kingdom and noted that the country had a feel good factor like never before. Craven stated that there were numerous of examples of teams working together and noted that those with irrepressible smiles and a fountain of knowledge is whom the biggest cheer should be reserved for, stating "has already happened and will happen again", the thousands of Games Makers. Craven went on to hail the International and national technical officials, classifiers and particularly the armed forces and emergency services who had stepped into the breach. Paralympians were noted by Craven for giving to the world many feats that people thought impossible, causing the media to be wax lyrical, and leading many spectators to create what Boris Johnson described as a wall of noise. Craven stated that the Games had truly come home and had found a path for the future. Craven congratulated London for staging what were "unique and without doubt, in my mind and those of the athletes, the greatest Paralympic Games ever." Craven concluded by linking Stephen Hawking's words about changing perceptions across multiple dimensions from the opening ceremony to George Glenn, a five-year-old, who was asked a question by his mother, Emma, when reading a book called Treasure. Emma asked who that man was on the first page, who was dressed as a pirate. George's reply was "well he only has one leg – so he must be an athlete." Craven stated that kids just get it now we all do thanks to the amazing performance witnessed here. Craven closed the 2012 Paralympic Games and stated that these Paralympic Games will live for an eternity and called on all Paralympic athletes around the world to meet again in four years in Rio. Craven ended with a big, big thank you for the people of London and the United Kingdom.[7]
Following Sir Philip's speech,
Finale
This was then followed by a performance by Coldplay of "The Scientist" set to a video montage of highlights from the Games. Coldplay closed the ceremony with a performance of "Every Teardrop Is a Waterfall", while fountains on the stages sprayed and performers danced in the "rain". The final song was followed by a fireworks display over the Olympic Stadium and the Thames River, accompanied by an orchestral and choral arrangement of Coldplay's Politik, during which Tower Bridge was raised. The display ended with the Union Flag being projected on the Palace of Westminster, which faded to black, revealing a message reading "Thank you London, Thank you UK."[2][7] Stadium announcers Trish Bertram and Marc Edwards closed the ceremony with a farewell message – To athletes of the world to the people of London and the United Kingdom, the volunteers and the staff of the London 2012 Organising Committee, thank you for an unforgettable summer, thank you for inspiring a generation. Good night and goodbye.
Reception
An estimated number of 7.7 million people watched the closing ceremony on Channel 4.[17][18]
Bernadette McNulty of
The Guardian's Alexis Petridis noted that portions of the closing ceremony had a noticeably darker feel than the other ceremonies of the Olympics and Paralympics in London, but complimented it for having "[a] whiff of the kind of thing you see at 3am in the outlying fields at Glastonbury", unlike the Olympics' closing ceremony, which had "a whiff of a bad night at the Brits." Although he considered some of Coldplay's slower, anthem-like songs to be in conflict with his belief that the Paralympics were not about "pity" (which he associated the songs with through their use on reality TV shows), Petridis praised Coldplay's more upbeat performances, such as their performance of "Strawberry Swing" alongside the Paraorchestra, and concluded that the performance of "Run This Town" was "weirdly appropriate" when viewed in the context of the Games.[20]
See also
References
- ^ "London 2012 Paralympic Games to be broadcast to largest ever global audience". 2012 Summer Olympics and Paralympics official website. 27 August 2012. Archived from the original on 29 August 2012. Retrieved 30 August 2012.
- ^ a b Gibson, Owen (9 September 2012). "Paralympics closing ceremony review: an emotional and fiery finale". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 12 September 2012.
- ^ a b c d "Paralympic Games: Closing ceremony led by Coldplay". BBC News. 10 September 2012. Retrieved 10 September 2012.
- ^ a b Gibson, Owen (8 September 2012). "Paralympics closing ceremony will be 'festival of flame' and Coldplay". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 8 September 2012.
- ^ a b Brown, Maggie (1 September 2012). "Coldplay join the paraorchestra of disabled musicians for closing ceremony". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 11 September 2012.
- ^ Bowater, Donna (28 August 2012). "One-handed pianist Nicholas McCarthy graduates from Royal College of Music". The Telegraph. London. Retrieved 10 September 2012.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Batty, David (9 September 2012). "London 2012 Paralympics closing ceremony – as it happened". The Guardian. Retrieved 10 September 2012.
- ^ Batty, David (9 September 2012). "Closing Ceremony - As it happened - Live". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 13 September 2012.
- ^ "London 2012 Paralympic Games Closing Ceremony Media Guide" (PDF) (Press release). London 2012. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 September 2012. Retrieved 20 December 2018.
- ^ "British Druid Order website, 9 September 2012. BDO Druidry Goes Global in the Paralympics Closing Ceremony". Archived from the original on 19 January 2017. Retrieved 12 September 2012.
- ^ "Paralímpicos. Teresa perales, reelegida en el consejo de deportistas del comité paralímpico internacional – Juegos paralímpicos – Noticias, última hora, vídeos y fotos de Juegos paralímpicos en lainformacion.com" (in Spanish). Spain: lainformacion.com. 8 September 2012. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 13 January 2013.
- ^ a b "Paralympics Closing Ceremony Tumblr: Autumn". Ceremonies Explorer. Retrieved 16 September 2012.
- ^ "Paralympic Closing Ceremony Tumblr: Performers". Ceremonies Explorer. Retrieved 16 September 2012.
- ^ "Paralympics Closing Ceremony Tumblr: Winter". Ceremonies Explorer. Retrieved 16 September 2012.
- ^ "Paralympics Closing Ceremony: Spring". Ceremonies Explorer. Retrieved 16 September 2012.
- ^ "Rio 2016 recebe a Bandeira Paralímpica no Encerramento dos Jogos Paralímpicos de Londres". Rio 2016 Official Website. Archived from the original on 5 December 2012. Retrieved 12 September 2012.
- ^ "Seven million watch Paralympics closing ceremony". The Daily Telegraph. London. 10 September 2012. Retrieved 10 September 2012.
- ^ "Paralympic closing ceremony watched by 7.7m". BBC News. 10 September 2012. Retrieved 10 September 2012.
- ^ McNulty, Bernadette (9 September 2012). "Paralympic Closing Ceremony 2012: Coldplay and Rihanna, review". The Telegraph. London. Retrieved 11 September 2012.
- ^ Petridis, Alexis (10 September 2012). "Paralympics 2012 closing ceremony – music review". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 13 September 2012.