Dazzling show for closing ceremony

Thu, 08/21/2008 10:21 AM  |  Sports

After such a spectacular opening ceremony at the Beijing Olympic Games, sports fans can expect to be dazzled again with another glittering display at the closing ceremony planned for Sunday.

"The closing ceremony will present to the world a grand party," a local newspaper Beijing News quoted an unidentified official of the Beijing Olympic Organizing Committee as saying.

Unlike the repeatedly rehearsed opening, the final celebration will not be rehearsed, except for small rehearsals held at training sites away from the stadium, the newspaper said.

The men's marathon is the last event, ending at the stadium around noon, eight hours ahead of the beginning of the end -- the closing ceremony.

During the ceremony, eight minutes will be allotted for the Olympic handover to representatives from London where the 2012 Games will be held.

The content of the closing ceremony remains a secret, but a newspaper leaked that the electronic "scroll" depicting China's history and the miniature globe which rose from the ground carrying the two Olympic theme-song singers, will not be used again.

Instead, a kung fu display featuring 350 practitioners from a local martial arts school will be part of the show in addition to 60 erhu (Chinese violin) players from Jiangsu province, it added.

Zhang Yimou, chief director of the opening and closing ceremonies, said earlier the climax of the show would come as the Olympic flame is extinguished.

"We are dedicated to creating a happy atmosphere at the closing ceremony. The message is to say goodbye with the promise to meet again in four years," he said.

Local newswire Xinhua also quoted International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge as saying in Hong Kong he would avoid the cliche "best ever Games" when speaking at the Olympic closing ceremony.

According to Rogge, in line with an Olympic tradition he and his predecessors have always described the Games at the closing ceremony as "the best ever Games".

"It made my task more and more difficult. I promised never again to say 'best ever Games.' I believe my vocabulary is rich enough to give a ringing endorsement," he said. "What you have achieved is outstanding."

The organizers have made contingency plans for any emergency that might occur during the ceremony with the possibility of rain the most serious threat. --JP/Damar Harsanto, from Beijing

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