London 2012 Closing Ceremony

New Delhi: With the view to bid farewell to the London 2012 Olympics, Google is going to come up with the London 2012 closing ceremony doodle, which is apparently the last Google doodle this Olympics, on Sunday. It is the seventeenth doodle by Google during the London 2012 Olympic Games.

The doodle features a spate of athletes from different Olympic sports celebrating the last day of the world's biggest sporting extravaganza. With athletes triumphantly holding up the letters of "Google," the doodle looks cheerful.

The 150-minute closing ceremony will include video highlight reels of the July 27-August 12 Games, and in between the music will be the men's marathon medal ceremony, athletes' parade, speeches and a presentation by the next hosts Rio de Janeiro.

The Olympic Flame, in the form of a giant flower made up of 204 copper "petals" representing the nations taking part, will be extinguished to symbolise the end of London 2012.

Pop will take the podium when London bids farewell to the Olympics on Sunday, with a closing ceremony starring the Spice Girls, Annie Lennox, One Direction and a peculiarly British sense of humour.

Undeterred by criticism that the opening ceremony two weeks ago was too British for the rest of the world to fully comprehend, organisers are looking for local inspiration once again as they attempt to deliver a fitting send-off.

The prying eyes of the media and artists unable to contain their excitement have dashed all hopes of keeping the cast a secret, in a show titled "A Symphony of British Music".

Virtually confirming their participation after months of speculation, 90s chart-toppers the Spice Girls are reuniting for a nostalgic blast of "Girl Power", performing at the main Olympic Stadium from on top of London's distinctive black taxis.

They, along with Jessie J, Tinie Tempah, Queen guitarist Brian May, Annie Lennox and George Michael, have all been photographed rehearsing at the Ford car plant in East London's Dagenham, while Muse and Ed Sheeran revealed they will sing.

Still not confirmed but widely rumoured to be joining them are Madness, The Who and Liam Gallagher's band Beady Eye, while the reclusive "Running Up That Hill" singer Kate Bush could perform on video.

Monty Python comic Eric Idle was also spotted, and, bearing in mind music director David Arnold's promise to get the audience involved, a mass singalong of "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" could be a decent bet.

Once again the set is expected to comprise a central stage surrounded by a road around which vehicles can travel, and a cast of around 4,000 volunteers will dance and skip to the beat of music through the ages.

Famous London landmarks like Tower Bridge, the London Eye, parliament's "Big Ben" Clock Tower and St Paul's Cathedral have been reconstructed to complement the action.

"If the opening ceremony was the wedding, then we're the wedding reception," Arnold said in a newspaper interview, suggesting that the two ceremonies would complement each other.

London's organizing committee says 3,25,000 spectators visited Olympic venues on Friday, and 1,44,000 of those walked through the gates of Olympic Park. Some 7.7 million spectators have visited Olympic venues over the course of the games.

However, on Sunday spectator numbers will decline. Olympic Park will host only three events on the final day: water polo, modern pentathlon and handball. The rest of the park will be in transition mode as Olympic Stadium is transformed into a giant stage for the closing ceremony Sunday night.