As London brought the curtain down on a glorious Olympic Games on Sunday, here are some of the highlights of the spectacular pageant:
A DASH OF SPICE
The Spice Girls are back. They’re slightly less sporty and some of them are a little bit more posh. But their reunion has set British tongues wagging for weeks with rumours all over the tabloids. Many of the athletes and much of the audience will have grown up with the sound of the platform-wearing quintet. The biggest cheer of the night, and by far. Even Posh has put away her pout.
“HOTCHPOTCH”
The Spice Girls. Eric Idle. Annie Lennox. Winston Churchill. Taxicabs and people in newspaper-themed raincoats. Sunday night was a hotchpotch (that’s hodgepodge to you Americans) of British music and skits, although organisers have called it a mashup. It was British variety at its best. Make no mistake.
FASHION SPICE
Spice Girl (Posh) Victoria Beckham got double billing in London’s closing ceremony. Not only did she perform with her girl band, but one of her designs appeared in the British fashion icon segment. Billboards were driven around the Olympic track featuring photographs of nine British supermodels wearing bespoke creations by British designers. Beckham’s work was being shown along with creations by Alexander McQueen, Erdem, Vivienne Westwood, Christopher Kane and Burberry.
A BIG THANK YOU
It’s not often that an Olympic ceremony goes out of its way to honour ordinary people — but London’s volunteers were a good place to start.
London whipped up a army of volunteers — 10,000 in all — for these Olympics, put them in goofy purple-and-pink shirts and gave them 10-hour shifts that could begin before dawn or end after midnight. No worries. They have been the heart of these games — so cheerful, so helpful, so full of joy.
A handful of them — old, young, men, women — were brought up on the stage on Sunday in a sweet tribute. Bravo, guys, bravo.
GEORGE MICHAEL
Just like Paul McCartney, George Michael keeps coming back. We seem to be able to forgive all of his indiscretions. Also: Someone has to continue to rock that all-leather look.
IMAGINE
They put John Lennon up on the big screen, remastered and straight from Yoko Ono’s archives, singing about how we should “Imagine all the people living life in peace.” Blue light bathed Olympic Stadium, and it was picture-perfect stagecraft for an organisation that wants people to believe, above all else, that the games are about the world coming together and putting aside differences.
Nearly 32 years after Lennon was murdered, this song somehow avoids being cliche and hackneyed. And to have thousands of athletes in the middle of a stadium as human examples, and tens of thousands of spectators swaying to words sung by a long-dead and optimistic pop star, you sort of can’t help but believe.
BROOM CREW
During the London riots about this time last year, crews of average citizens came to sweep up. And there they are again, a tribute to the people who loved their city and decided to clean it up after the trouble makers smashed windows and stole things.
“FINDING OUR VOICES”
Emeli Sande sang a lyric that could apply to Britain right now, after these Olympics: “We’re finally finding our voices.”
BIG BUILDUP
The flash bulbs went crazy as a hot young band — One Direction — took to the stage. The crowd also got a lot louder and the rhythm faster.
WATERLOO SUNSET
Ray Davies, looking older but his voice as strong as ever, sang his most beautiful composition, Waterloo Sunset. So many people learned what they knew about Britain from not only the Beatles and the Stones, but Davies’ Kinks, who — led by his lyrics — took a history lesson about Britain’s working and middle classes without ever knowing it.
SIR WINSTON?
Here’s something you don’t see every day: An actor playing Sir Winston Chruchill popping out of Big Ben to get things going.
A PRINCE WATCHES
Prince Harry gets a prime spot. He has certainly been very visible during the games, making appearances at a lot of events. But really so many see him as a party boy, so it seems only fitting that he presides over this massive party.
