Olympics come to rocking end with pop party

LONDON (AP):

With a little British pomp and a lot of British pop, London brought the curtain down on a glorious Olympic Games on Sunday, in a spectacular, technicolor pageant of landmarks, light shows and lots of fun.

The Closing Ceremony offered a sensory blast including rock 'n' roll rickshaws, dustbin percussionists, an exploding yellow car and a marching band in red tunics and bearskin hats.

There was a show-stopping reunion of the Spice Girls and a comedy sequence featuring Monty Python's Eric Idle performing Always Look on the Bright Side of Life accompanied by Roman centurions, Scottish bagpipers and a human cannonball.

It was all delivered in a psychedelic mash-up that had 80,000 fans at the Olympic Stadium stomping, cheering and singing along. Organisers estimated 300 million or more were watching around the world.

Festive and fast-moving, they opened with pop bands Madness, Pet Shop Boys and One Direction, not to mention a shout-out to Winston Churchill and a tribute to the Union Jack - the floor of the Olympic Stadium arranged to resemble the British flag.

Monochrome recreations of London landmarks were covered in newsprint, from Big Ben's clock tower and Tower Bridge to the London Eye Ferris wheel and the chubby high-rise known as the Gherkin.

Street percussion group Stomp built the noise into a frenzy, and dancers brandished brooms, in a nod to the spontaneous popular movement to clean up London after riots shook neighbourhoods not far from the Olympic Stadium, just a year ago.

Rocked the house

Liam Gallagher performed Wonderwall, a 1990s hit by his former band, Oasis, Muse rocked the house with the hard-edged Olympic anthem Survival, and Queen guitarist Brian May was joined by singer Jessie J for a crowd-pleasing We Will Rock You.

And there still was more to come.

The Who was expected to take the stage at the end of the three-hour paean to British pop, and to the country's triumphant turn hosting the Games. The headline performers were each paid a pound, a little more than $1.50.

Prince William's wife, Kate, and Prince Harry took seats next to Jacques Rogge, the president of the International Olympic Committee. They sang along to God Save the Queen.

But perhaps the best seats in the house were for the 10,800 athletes, who marched in as one, rather than with their nations, symbolising the harmony and friendship inspired by the Games.

As the crowd cheered their heroes and flashbulbs rippled through the stadium, the Olympians cheered back, some carrying national flags, others snapping photographs with smartphones and cameras.

They held hands, embraced and carried each other on their shoulders, finally forming a human mosh pit on the field.

Britons, who had fretted for weeks that the games would become a fiasco, were buoyed by their biggest medal haul since 1908 - 29 golds and 65 medals in all.

The United States edged China in both the gold-medal and total-medal standings, eclipsing its best performance at an Olympics on foreign soil after the Dream Team narrowly held off Spain in basketball for the country's 46th gold.

"It's been an incredible fortnight," said Coe, an Olympic champion in his own right.

While the Games may have lacked some of the drama and grandeur of the Beijing Olympics in 2008, there were many unforgettable moments.

Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt became an Olympic legend by repeating as champion in both the 100-and 200-metre sprints. Michael Phelps ended his long career as the most decorated Olympian in history.

British distance runner Mo Farah became a national treasure by sweeping the 5,000- and 10,000-metre races, and favourite daughter Jessica Ennis became a global phenomenon with her victory in the heptathlon.

Female athletes took centre stage in a way they never had before. American gymnast Gabby Douglas soared to gold, the US soccer team made a dramatic march to the championship. Packed houses turned out to watch the new event of women's boxing. And women competed for Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Brunei, for the first time.

And then there was Oscar Pistorius, the double-amputee from South Africa, running on carbon-fibre blades, who didn't win a medal but nonetheless left a champion. And sprinter Manteo Mitchell, who completed his leg of the 4x400 relay semi-final on a broken leg, allowing his team to qualify and win silver.

"It was a dream for a sports-lover like me," Rogge said of the two weeks of competition.