9:59 AM: Adam van Koeverden wraps up these Games with some inspiring words. The 2008 Olympics are over. But the memories from Beijing live on. These Olympics have been so personal to me because of my Chinese blood. It's been a pleasure to live blog in the last 16 days. Had so much fun, the kind of fun that comes around only every 4 years. Hopefully, I will be in London in 2012, enjoying the Olympic experience up, close and personal. Four years to go...
9:54 AM: The Greek, Chinese and British flags are still flapping as the Games of the XXIX Olympiad has officially concluded. The fireworks are still relentlessly going off. The athletes reluctantly exit through the tunnel. This is it. It is over in an incredible way!
9:51 AM: Party! Party! Party! The Canadian athletes have joined in the dancing celebration...though they have no idea what's being sung. More fireworks!! More fireworks!! They're going off with the beat of the music-clever!!
9:49 AM: And of course, gotta have Jackie Chan at such an important ceremony!! He looks happier than usual in his blue Beijing volunteer shirt. Singing along Jackie is Ren XianQi, Chinese pop star who I do recognize.
9:45 AM: Glowing acrobats are lifted into the air as another pop song is performed by Chinese stars. Is it just me or do they need to crank up the mike a little bit?
9:40 AM: Placido Domingo, the famous tenor and Song ZuYing, a Chinese soprano pair up to sing "Jasmine Flower". Look at that fancy-schmancy dress Song is wearing. It's sparkly--sure costs alot of money.
9:36 AM: And now for some traditional Chinese music...
9:32 AM: "Beijing, Beijing, I Love You" is performed by 6 Chinese pop stars, none of which I recognize. Goes to show that pop culture in China is changing rapidly. Sorrounding the singers is a bunch of yellow-shirted ladies playing (or pretending to play at least) the Erhu, an ancient Chinese instrument. The two make a good contrast.
9:30 AM: More fireworks!!! Superb!!!
9:27 AM: Acrobats climb a tower in centre stage. Gotta love those suits they're wearing-the silver back and the red on the front. Makes for a fantastic visual presentation. From afar, they look like red ants.
9:23 AM: The Beijing theme song "You and Me" is sung one last time at these Games and there goes flame. A flame that the Chinese waited so long to see.
9:21 AM: Highlights from 16 days past are played on the top ring of the Bird's Nest. This part of the ceremony is titled "Memories" and rightly so, these Games won't ever be forgotten for the history of these Games. The flame is about to be distinguished.
9:17 AM: A roar from the crowd means David Beckham is here!!! He takes the football and bends it into the sea of athletes. Who I assume to be a young volunteer dives for it...he'll have a story to tell his grandchildren!
9:13 AM: Can you say Transformers?! The double decker bus magically opens up and Leona Lewis appears from within. Jimmy Page (from Led Zepplin) is playing the guitar.
9:10 AM: Here comes the familiar Londonian double-decker bus. A small girl emerges from the big red bus and receives a symbolic football from another girl.
9:07 AM: The five-ringed flag now rests firmly in the hands of London! Get the party started at Buckingham!!
9:04 AM: As the handover ceremony is getting underway, Boris Johnson, mayor of London and the mayor of Beijing, Guo JingLong trot out to centre stage. Boris Johnson looks awfully like David Miller with his milky white hair.
9:02 AM: Now tell me why Jacques Rogge doesn't know how to sing the Olympic Anthem? It's like George Bush not knowing the words of the Star Spangled Banner. Ooo...fireworks in the shape of the Olympic rings go off above the Bird's Nest. Beautiful!!
9:00 AM: The good ol' Union Jack is raised and God Save the Queen is sung by what I presume to be a British choir. Team GB looked oh so good in Beijing. Gotta love the Brits-I'm looking forward to the London Games!!
8:57 AM: Does Jacque Rogge ever smile? I think I'll stick to Barack Obama when it comes to public speaking?
8:52 AM: Impressive!! There were 38 world records and 85 Olympic records broken at these Games-Liu Qi tells us. But the camera framing is still off-centred like it was at the Opening Ceremony.
8:49 AM: Here come Liu Qi (head of BOCOG) and Jacques Rogge-hope these speeches are better written than the Opening Ceremonies.
8:44 AM: Yao Ming is a popular man-even with all the great athletes on the floor-look at all the fellow sportsmen taking his pictures. Look at all the excited volunteers posing with Yao.
8:37 AM: Joauad Gharib, silver medallist in the men's marathon almost stumbles off the podium. Blame it on the sore legs-2 hours of running, 26 miles-how can you not be sore?
8:34 AM: Chairman Yao's here!!! He's all smiles-in the middle of an ecstatic mob. What's the flag of Angola doing near Yao?!
8:26 AM: The Canadian faces appear on camera!!! Do you recognize any of them? And is that Adam van Koeverden in that stocking hat?
8:23 AM: To the accompaniment of Chinese music, the athletes "march" into the Stadium. I don't know if you can call this marching-more like a scrum of people nonchalantly straddling in.
8:21 AM: The 204 flags have formed a circle in the middle of the field. Zhang Ning carried in the flag for China.
8:17 AM: Here come the flags!!! Now, this is in no order right...wait what? Okay, they're in the same order as the Opening Ceremony-the number of strokes it takes to write the first word of the nation in Chinese. Makes sense?
8:14 AM: Don't those acrobats on the "spring legs" remind you of kangaroos? Should've had this at the Sydney Games...
8:10 AM: Hey, what the hell...power outage...talk about bad timing!! Who or what on Earth caused this?!
8:07 AM: The colourful fireworks burst into the air!! How many firecrackers are in store for us tonight?
8:05 AM: Two huge drums, and I mean HUGE, appear in mid-air with a person hung to the side banging with force.
8:04 AM: Are those bike helmets that the drummers are wearing??
8:02 AM: The Chinese flag go up the flagpole once more to the tune of the great national anthem we heard 51 times in the past 16 days. President Hu is singing the words with boister.
8:00 AM: Fireworks in the shape of numbers countdown to the beginning of the Closing Ceremony explode in the air. What a way to start.
7:44 AM: If you haven't heard, the Redeem Team, USA men's basketball prevailed over Spain to win the Gold Medal that eluded them 4 years ago. Spain played a fantastic game, losing by only 11 points (that's good considering what they were up against). So now the Raptors have 3 Olympic medallists.
7:40 AM: The closing ceremony of these Beijing Games will begin in 20 minutes...should be a spectacle once again. It's only fitting to have began these Games with a spectacle, the Games itself were historical and spectacular and now, it has to end in a spectacular manner as well!!
-D
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