Feeling sad about the end of the Games? Eric Idle leads 80,000 crowd in rendition of Always Look on the Bright Side of Life
- Prince Harry represents Royal Family alongside Kate Middleton
- Scale model of London takes centrestage, wrapped entirely in newspaper
- Athletes appear through the crowd into the stadium and fill giant Damien Hirst interpretation of the Union Flag
- Performers include Emeli Sande, Madness, Pet Shop Boys, Ray Davies, One Direction, George Michael, Jessie J and Annie Lennox
- Kaiser Chiefs and Ed Sheeran lead tributes to British greats The Who, David Bowie and Pink Floyd
- Stadium turns into huge catwalk with appearances from supermodels Naomi Campbell & Kate Moss
- Black London cabs perform 'taxi ballet' before the Spice Girls emerge and perform medley of hits
- Olympic Flag is handed over to 2016 hosts Rio de Janeiro
By IAN GARLAND
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The actor led the 80,000-strong crowd through a singalong rendition of Always Look on the Bright Side of Life, while a bizarre troupe of dancers performed around him.
They included jigging Morris Dancers, a choir of rugby players and skating nuns and when the song finished, a human cannonball was launched across the stadium.
He was followed by a performance by pop icons Queen, including vocals from Jessie J and from beyond the grave, by the band's late singer Freddie Mercury.
Comedy legend: Monty Python star Eric Idle appears at the Closing Ceremony to lead the audience through a singalong of his hit Always Look On The Bright Side of Life
Finale: A heartstopping array of colours zigzag through the night sky above the Olympic Park as fireworks conclude the London 2012 Olympic Games
Alight: Fireworks explode into the London night sky as the Olympic closing ceremony comes to a spectacular end
Inside the stadium, audience members and athletes look on as the Olympic Park is illuminated by a breathtaking display
Fireworks explode into the stadium as Take That spark the beginning of the end of an incredible night
It's over: Fireworks light up the Olympic Village in Stratford, east London as London 2012 draws to an emotional close
Proud: Locog chairman Lord Coe, right, delivers a speech as IOC President Jacques Rogge watches during the Closing Ceremony
Take That: After much speculation over whether they would perform or not after Gary Barlow's tragic loss of his stillborn daughter, Take That - minus Robbie Williams whose wife is due to give birth - took to the stage with hit single Rule The World
As the flames in the Olympic cauldron get weaker, the phoenix flies higher over the crowd in the stadium below
Phoenix from the flames: As the Olympic flame died, it was replaced by a Phoenix which rose above the stadium
Brian May of Queen performs together with Jessie J during the Closing Ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games
From beyond the grave: The late Freddie Mercury, on a giant screen, leads Queen out onstage for their performance at the closing ceremony
The best of Britain's past and present music scene partied with volunteers, athletes and the world as London 2012 came to a breathtaking close tonight.
The Spice Girls, Madness, Queen, Take That and Annie Lennox took to the stage in a symphony of British music.
Aimed at celebrating one of Britain's strongest cultural exports over the last 50 years, the musical extravaganza marked the end of the country's most successful Games in more than a century.
Evoking images of the past from Winston Churchill and Edward Elgar, through the psychedelic 60s to the highs and lows of the Games, the closing ceremony culminated with a glimpse of the carnival that awaits in Rio in four years' time.
A galaxy of stars including the Pet Shop Boys, Kaiser Chiefs, George Michael, Tinie Tempah and Jessie J, along with faces such as Kate Moss, Russell Brand, Julian Lloyd Webber, Naomi Campbell and Darcey Bussell built up to the show's climax and The Who.
Muse's guitar player Matthew Bellamy joins a starstudded list of performers at the Olympic Closing Ceremony
Indie icon: Liam Gallagher and his band Beady eye followed The Spice Girls with a performance of Oasis number one hit Wonderwall
Spice up the stage: The Spice Girls reformed to perform a spectacular set on the top of black London taxis at the closing ceremony
Traditionally, the closing ceremony is a chance to celebrate what the athletes have achieved, with Lord Coe describing the night as a time to "party, party, party."
Entering the Olympic Stadium, the audience was treated to a vision of working London wrapped in newspaper as they were taken to the heart of the capital's busy rush hour.
As well as typically rainy weather forecasts and stocks and shares, the reams of print celebrated British literary greats from the earliest surviving Anglo-Saxon poetry to current poet laureate Carol Ann Duffy, with extracts from Shakespeare and Milton along the way.
A series of ramps - covering the track where Mo Farah and Jessica Ennis made history - formed a black and white Union Jack, the first of many versions of the flag to feature in the extravaganza.
Unwrapped on a newspaper rubbish truck, singer Emeli Sande, who performed in the opening ceremony, delighted the crowds with hit song Read All About It.
Percussion group Stomp emerged to swing from the scaffolding, playing models of the capital's landmarks including Big Ben and the London Eye as if they were instruments.
Wannabe: Spice Girls' Victoria Beckham performs during the closing ceremony of the 2012 London Olympic Games
Supermodel: As the stadium is turned into a giant catwalk, London-born model Kate Moss appears wearing a gold Alexander McQueen dress
Shimmering: Naomi Campbell, draped in gold, takes over, strutting in a dazzling gold McQueen dress with a long train
Within moments, The Beatles' hit Because, performed by London gospel choir Urban Voices Collective, merged into Edward Elgar's Salut d'Amour by cellist Julian Lloyd Webber on top of the Royal Albert Hall. As the morning traffic jam came to life, newspaper-clad vehicles from black cabs and vintage cars to folding bikes revved their engines and honked their horns as newspaper-dressed businessmen and women portrayed a busy Monday morning on Waterloo Bridge.
Winston Churchill, played by King's Speech actor Timothy Spall, stood atop Big Ben reciting the same lines from Shakespeare's The Tempest which helped open the Games 16 days ago: "Be not afeard: the isle is full of noises."
As the deafening noise grew to a crescendo, Churchill brought the worldwide audience's focus to the royal box as a fanfare announced the arrival of Prince Harry and International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge.
As Union flags were waved from car windows, the packed stadium was led in the British National Anthem by the London Symphony Orchestra and the Urban Voices Collective.
Comedy star Russell Brand performs his sketch during the Olympic Games closing ceremony
Mods: The Kaiser Chiefs perform The Who's Pinball Wizardon scooters during the Olympic Games Closing Ceremony 
Greatest show: Athletes form a pathway to the Olympic cauldron in spectacular scenes from the closing ceremony
Flagbearers from participating nations parade during the closing ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games
After the armed services raised the flag, printed grey clouds on the stadium floor were pulled back to reveal an artistic explosion of red, white, and blue created by Damien Hirst.
As Michael Caine's classic 1969 film The Italian Job was shown on the screens, the yellow Robin Reliant of Only Fools and Horses fame made an explosive entry, with Batman and Robin staggering from the wreckage in reference to one of the classic British comedy's most famous episodes.
Madness joined the stage with the infectious beat of Our House as the cast ripped newspaper from the cars, revealing bright vehicles with multi-coloured balloons floating from their boots.
Echoing the song's original video, saxophonist Lee Thompson was lifted to play solo high above the track.
A total of 160 guards from the Massed Bands of the Household Division marched behind Madness before playing Blur's Parklife.
The Pet Shop Boys, riding on rickshaws, performed West End Girls, followed by X Factor phenomenon One Direction with their hit What Makes You Beautiful.
In another nod to the Queen's Diamond Jubilee, 10 large trucks burst open to reveal street parties representing all walks of London life.
Some 30 gymnasts from Britain's Got Talent troupe Spelbound contorted themselves to illustrate the lyrics of The Beatles' A Day in The Life.
As the day drew to a close, The Kinks' frontman Ray Davies arrived in a black cab singing his 1960s hit Waterloo Sunset.
As a funfair scene emerged, a shimmering river of 270 children from 10 schools in the six east London host boroughs weaved its way through the melee to Sande's reprise of Read All About It.
As many of the 10,000 athletes from the 204 nations involved in the Games flooded into the stadium, filling the areas between the ramped stage, they joined hands during Elbow's performance of Open Arms and One Day Like This.
United nations: Flagbearers take part in the athletes' march during the closing ceremony
Represnting the world: Athletes from the 200 plus nations competing at London 2012 appear in the stadium, waving their nations' flags
Team GB: A British athlete dances with a Union flag as athletes from all over the world parade during the closing ceremony
Team GB: Sailing gold medal winner Ben Ainslie proudly carries the British flag into the Olympic Stadium
Athletes enter the Olympic stadium during the closing ceremony
Huge cheers greeted British sailor Ben Ainslie as he carried the Union flag into the stadium.
'Wow. This is it... The end,' Ainslie tweeted.
'We should all be very proud to have held the greatest Olympics in modern times. Huge thanks to everyone involved.
Following the flag-bearers, thousands of athletes walked through the spectators, medals round their necks, high-fiving fans and waving to the cameras.
But conscious of the night's tight timings, a series of stage hands clad in black ran alongside the athletes, comically lifting their knees to their chest to hurry them along.
As athletes gathered in the segments between the ramps to the stage, some perched on others' shoulders.
Beginning of the end: Following on from Kenneth Brannagh's turn in the Opening Ceremony, actor Timothy Spall - in character as Winston Churchill - also read lines from Shakespeare's The Tempest to start the evening
Read all about it: A London street scene was played out - with the whole set wrapped in newspaper
Royal laughs: Prince Harry and Kate Middleton share a joke during the Olympic Games Closing Ceremony
Only Fools and Horses: Del Boy and Rodney, dressed as Batman and Robin, appear in the stadium
And while the fans eagerly videoed and took photos of their sporting heroes, the athletes could be seen returning the favour, clutching their own cameras to capture the crowd on film.
Billions of viewers were treated to another interpretation of the Union Flag as the athletes, in their national colours, formed a mosh pit around the stage.
White boxes representing the 303 Olympic events formed a pyramid on to which the winners, losers, blood, sweat and tears from London 2012 were projected.
After the traditional men's marathon victory ceremony, the 70,000 volunteer Games Makers were honoured with a shower of petals before darkness and silence descended.
The showcase of British music continued with the voice of Freddie Mercury singing Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody.
From the darkness along the ramps, a sculpture of John Lennon's face was formed as Imagine was sung by choirs from his birthplace, Liverpool.
George Michael came in singing his 1990s anthem Freedom '90 before segueing into his latest record White Light.
Spotlights then picked out the Kaiser Chiefs playing The Who's Pinball Wizard after a dark blue light descended on the stadium.
As inflatable silver pinballs bounced around the athletes, Kaiser Chief Ricky Wilson joined 50 Mods on scooters for the performance.
A sequence of sound waves were sent around the stadium on more than 70,000 pixel screens next to each seat before floating up to form images of David Bowie on the screens.
Back on song: Emeli Sande, who sang Abide With Me during the Opening Ceremony, performs on the newspaper-covered stage
Masters of the House: Madness ¿ led by frontman Suggs ¿ perform Our House during a street party scene
Boy band One Direction perform during the Olympic Closing Ceremony
A compilation in homage to Bowie culminated in Fashion before stunning billboard images of nine British supermodels preceded their entrance.
As the drapes were pulled off, Kate Moss and Naomi Campbell, wearing Alexander McQueen, strutted along shimmering catwalks forming the Union Jack.
With the Olympic cauldron shrouded in smoke, Annie Lennox emerged on the figurehead of a ghost galleon to perform Little Bird.
As the ship faded back into the smoke, two men in 1970s business suits walked a tightrope high above the field of play before shaking hands and bursting into flames, recreating the album cover of Pink Floyd's Wish You Were Here.
Ed Sheeran was joined by original Floyd drummer Nick Mason, The Feeling's Richard Jones and Genesis founder Mike Rutherford for the hit.
Neil Tennant, singer of the Pet Shop Boys, performs during the Closing Ceremony
Ray Davies sings 'Waterloo Sunset', during the Closing Ceremony
As segments of daily British life were shown to the crowds, comedian Russell Brand arrived on a psychedelic tour bus performing Pure Imagination from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory and The Beatles' I Am The Walrus with string quartet Bond.
The bus transformed into a fluorescent 50m octopus as Fatboy Slim rose from its head, spinning his decks as dancers performed to his hits Right Here, Right Now and The Rockafeller Skank.
From limousines circling the track, Jessie J, Tinie Tempah and Taio Cruz emerged singing their respective hits Price Tag, Written in the Stars and Dynamite before joining together for the Bee Gees' disco tune You Should Be Dancing.
After a balletic performance of 10 taxis, five came to life illuminated in baby pink, sporty stripes, posh dynamite, the Union Flag and a scary animal print.
Closing: As the sun sets in London, the Olympic Stadium prepares for the London 2012 closing ceremony
80,000 people in the Olympic Stadium counted down to the beginning of the opening ceremony, to the chimes of a replica of Big Ben
Dream team: British and Northern Irish athletes head to Olympic Stadium to play their part in the Closing ceremony this evening
Scaled-down London! Landmarks of the capital make up the set for the Closing Ceremony
It was, of course, the much-anticipated reunion of the Spice Girls - reformed for one night only to perform Spice Up Your Life and Wannabe from the roofs of the cabs.
Former Oasis star Liam Gallagher continued the run of British classics with his band Beady Eye for the 1990s hit WonderWall.
As Electric Light Orchestra's Mr Blue Sky filled the stadium, home-made flying machines made several attempts to get off the ground as a would-be rocket man played by Monty Python comedian Eric Idle collapsed under the stage, only to return to lead the crowds in a new version of Always Look On The Bright Side of Life.
CLOSING CEREMONY BY NUMBERS
2 cannons used during the closing ceremony.
4 tipper trucks used in one section of the extravaganza.
6 flying machines featured in the show.
20 large inflatable silver pinballs were released among the athletes.
At least 40 members of gymnastics troupe Spelbound.
40 hours three people spent lining up the images to the irregular shape of the seating bowls.
50 scooters pimped up by the cast themselves.
50, the diameter in metres of the octopus when fully extended.
101 fragments used to create the face of John Lennon.
108 vehicles in the first scene - 10 black cabs, 10 wedding cars, 10 vintage cars, 10 sports cars, 10 modern cars, 10 cars with trailers, 10 trucks, 10 mopeds, four white vans, eight bikes, eight folding bikes, and eight skateboards.
270 children formed the River Thames from 10 schools.
3,500 in the cast of the London 2012 closing ceremony.
5,600 square metres - the specially commissioned floor covering created by Damien Hirst.
10,000 lights used to transform the newsprint city into a luminous fun fair in the fairground scene.
70,799 small panels mounted between the seats to create the audience pixel screen, each one with nine LED pixels.
Joined by a surreal collection of jigging Morris Dancers, a choir of rugby players and skating nuns, a human cannonball was launched across the stadium.
Muse, known for their fascination with outer space, took to the stage next with their London 2012 Olympic song Survival.
Four tipper trucks, driven to centre stage, exploded in a fury of pyrotechnics as their raised tailgates became screens showing footage of Freddie Mercury performing live in 1986 at Wembley Stadium.
With "deyo, deyo" ringing out across the stadium, Queen's Roger Taylor emerged while bandmate Brian May made his way through the crowd performing the guitar solo from Brighton Rock before joining Jessie J for the classic anthem We Will Rock You.
As an arrow pointed to Rio de Janeiro, the host city for 2016, the Greek flag was raised in honour of the origins of the Games.
After the Olympic Flag was lowered by members of the armed forces, the Olympic Anthem rang out sung by the London Welsh Male Voice Choir and the London Welsh Rugby Club Choir.
The capital's mayor Boris Johnson had the honour of passing the flag to Mr Rogge, who in turn presented it to Rio Mayor Eduardo Paes, each waving the traditional four times.
Celebrating the first time a South American country hosts the Games, a mix of cultures, music and dance marked the handover.
From a solitary street cleaner practising Samba steps, a carnival parade invaded the stage as Brazilian pop singer Marisa Monte entered with a giant gown representing water goddess Yemanja, who is celebrated on New Year's Eve on Copacabana Beach.
Actor-singer Seu Jorge joined an acrobatic group of Capoeira fighters and dancing couples, including model Alessandra Ambrosio, as the whole cast reunited in front of Rio's skyline.
London 2012 chair Sebastian Coe then joined IOC president Jacques Rogge on stage, and addressed the crowd.
The Locog boss said: ‘We lit the flame and we lit up the world. Once again we have shown ourselves worthy. For that I want to say thank you.’
‘Thank you to the people of this country. At our closing ceremony we can say these are a Games by everyone.’
During a round of appreciation he offered his gratitude to the Olympic volunteers who gave their time ‘energy and goodwill, and ‘to the IOC who have been with us every step of the way.’
After thanking the athletes and before introducing IOC President Jacques Rogge, he added: ‘When our time came Britain we did it right – thank you.’
Rogge added: 'These were happy and glorious Games. The legacy of the Games of the XXX Olympiad will become clear in many ways.
'Concrete improvements in infrastructure will benefit the host nation for years to come.
'The human legacy will reach every region of the world.
'Many young people will be inspired to take up a sport or to pursue their dreams.'
Rogge said the 17 days of the Olympics had been "unforgettable" and he paid tribute to London 2012 chairman Sebastian Coe.
'The organising committee, well supported by the public authorities, did a superb job," he said.
'We will never forget the smiles, the kindness and the support of the wonderful volunteers, the much-needed heroes of these Games.
'You, the spectators and the public, provided the soundtrack for these Games.
'Your enthusiastic cheers energised the competitors and brought a festive spirit to every Olympic venue.
'You have shown the world the best of British hospitality.'
Dead on midnight the flame that reached all corners of the UK over 70 days was extinguished.
As the dying flame flickered in the Olympic cauldron, a new flame emerged in the form of a phoenix suspended above the audience.
After much speculation over whether they would perform or not after Gary Barlow's tragic loss of his stillborn daughter, Take That - minus Robbie Williams whose wife is due to give birth - took to the stage with hit single Rule The World.
As they left the stage, the flaming figure of prima ballerina Darcey Bussell descended on the stadium from its roof, joining more than 200 ballerinas dancing to David Arnold's Spirit of the Flame.
After performing a mesmerising dance representing the fire in the torch, they moved towards the cauldron, bowing down below it.
As the stadium became a sea of red, white and blue for the grand finale, The Who burst into Baba O'Riley and See Me, Feel Me as a montage of faces, including volunteers, fans, security guards, youngsters and troops flashed across the screens.
Building to its climax, the faces multiplied, expressing a sense of unity in the UK and beyond.
Bussell then led the Brazilian performers in a procession around the stadium.
Rock superstars The Who ended the night with a performance of Baba Reilly and a medley of their other hits, as a fireworks lit up the London sky.
And the Games were over.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2187413/London-2012-Closing-Ceremony-Feeling-sad-end-Games-Eric-Idle-leads-80-000-crowd-rendition-Always-Look-Bright-Side-Life.html#ixzz23NZrlF6v