British pop star Leona Lewis and Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page performed the Led Zeppelin classic “Whole Lotta Love” at the Closing Ceremony for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games at the National Stadium on August 24, 2008 in Beijing, China.
With another dramatic fireworks display Sunday evening at the National Stadium here, the Beijing Olympics came to a dazzling close, ending two weeks of spectacular athletic performances during an Olympic competition that was surprisingly free of protests or the disruptions that some, including Beijing, had anticipated.
In addition to fireworks, there were acrobats clinging to a large “memory tower” at the center of the stadium, also known as the Bird’s Nest, precision drummers, bicyclists and performers representing 56 ethnic groups singing, “Please Stay, Guests From Afar.”
And unlike in the opening ceremony, with its orderly parade of countries and their athletes, the closing ceremony brought flag bearers congregating in the middle, and athletes filing in somewhat haphazardly and many dressed less formally.
In the handover ceremony for the 2012 London Games, a red double-decker bus entered the stadium just after 9 p.m., followed by three cyclists. The bus then opened into a stage with Jimmy Page, the Led Zeppelin guitarist, performing “Whole Lotta Love” with the British singer Leona Lewis, and David Beckham, the soccer star, taking a soccer ball from a young Chinese girl, handing the games off to London.
Source: Olympics Close With a Bang and a Double-Decker Bus
Click here to watch NBC Video: Leona Lewis and Jimmy Page Perform at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games Closing Ceremony
Photo credit: Stu Forster/Getty Images AsiaPac
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