SHEREHE ZA KUFUNGA MASHINDANO YA OLYMPICS ZILIVYOFANA JIJINI LONDON
British singer Annie Lennox performs 'Little Bird' aboard a giant wooden gallion during the Closing Ceremony
Mods: The Kaiser Chiefs perform The Who's Pinball Wizardon scooters during the Olympic Games Closing Ceremony
Comeback: Pop icon George Michael performed Freedom as well as his new single White Light
The reclusive singer took to the stage to perform for fans and athletes inside the Olympic Stadium
Imagine: A sculpture in the shape of late Beatles band member John Lennon is formed onstage during the Closing Ceremony
John
Lennon's face appears on the big screen as a choir of 100 people from
Liverpool, where Lennon was born, sing Imagine. The choir includes
members of the Liverpool Philharmonic Youth Choir and Liverpool Signing
choir
Flagbearers from participating nations parade during the closing ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games
United nations: Flagbearers take part in the athletes' march during the closing ceremony
Represnting
the world: Athletes from the 200 plus nations competing at London 2012
appear in the stadium, waving their nations' flags
Team GB: A British athlete dances with a Union flag as athletes from all over the world parade during the closing ceremony
Team GB: Sailing gold medal winner Ben Ainslie proudly carries the British flag into the Olympic Stadium
Athletes enter the Olympic stadium during the closing ceremony
Ray Davies sings 'Waterloo Sunset', during the Closing Ceremony
Artists arrange white boxes within the Olympic Stadium. The boxes represent the 303 events that took place during London 2012
The boxes form a pyramid in the centre of the stage
As the day drew to a close, The Kinks' frontman Ray Davies arrived in a black cab singing his 1960s hit Waterloo Sunset.
As
a funfair scene emerged, a shimmering river of 270 children from 10
schools in the six east London host boroughs weaved its way through the
melee to Sande's reprise of Read All About It.
As
many of the 10,000 athletes from the 204 nations involved in the Games
flooded into the stadium, filling the areas between the ramped stage,
they joined hands during Elbow's performance of Open Arms and One Day
Like This.Huge cheers greeted British sailor Ben Ainslie as he carried
the Union flag into the stadium.
'Wow. This is it... The end,' Ainslie tweeted.
'We should all be very proud to have held the greatest Olympics in modern times. Huge thanks to everyone involved.
Following
the flag-bearers, thousands of athletes walked through the spectators,
medals round their necks, high-fiving fans and waving to the cameras.
A British military marching band performs Blur song Parklife during the Closing Ceremony
Flying
the flag: The bright colours of the Union Jacks being waved and on the
set floor provided a sharp contrast to the white and black newspaper
print
Bang on: Stomp performs in front of the London skyline stage set
But
conscious of the night's tight timings, a series of stage hands clad
in black ran alongside the athletes, comically lifting their knees to
their chest to hurry them along.
As athletes gathered in the segments between the ramps to the stage, some perched on others' shoulders.
And
while the fans eagerly videoed and took photos of their sporting
heroes, the athletes could be seen returning the favour, clutching
their own cameras to capture the crowd on film.
Billions
of viewers were treated to another interpretation of the Union Flag as
the athletes, in their national colours, formed a mosh pit around the
stage.
White
boxes representing the 303 Olympic events formed a pyramid on to which
the winners, losers, blood, sweat and tears from London 2012 were
projected.
After
the traditional men's marathon victory ceremony, the 70,000 volunteer
Games Makers were honoured with a shower of petals before darkness and
silence descended.
The showcase of British music continued with the voice of Freddie Mercury singing Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody.
