In case you didn't know, the London 2012 Olympics are ending on Sunday, August 12th. As usual, they will prepare a four hour Closing Ceremony spectacular. After two weeks, we witnessed the end results of months and years of training by these athletes. The sacrifices were many and whether they won or lost the experience will last forever. The Closing Ceremonies begin at 4 p.m. ET/9p.m. GMT.
Unlike the Opening Ceremony where everybody in the western hemisphere had to see the event on tape delay, this time, people will be able to catch the streaming action online provided by nbcolympics.com.
For those who rather wait for the performance on television, TV coverage will begin at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT. This will also be on tape delay, but at least NBC will not have to hear from people complaining that they will not have the opportunity to watch the event as it was going on. The time of ending is undertermined, NBC has the Closing Ceremony slot until 10:58 p.m. ET, so that is approximately four hours.
Many had to wait hours afterwards to witness the beautiful ceremony that had already taken place. By that time, word on the internet had spread and there were no surprises.
Regardless, the British creative producers did a great job as they went through England's history beginning with the pastoral era and working its way to the Industrial Revolution and World War II eras.
This time, more people will be able to relate to the theme brought to life by the creative mind of music director David Arnold.
Arnold has worked in numerous films, including five James Bonds films, Independence Day, Shaft and The Chronicles of Narnia.
The title of the presentation will be "A Symphony of British Music."
On Sunday, though a specific list was not developed, music director David Arnold said it would be "slightly anarchic, slightly mischievous, funny, heart-warming, emotional, inspiring, and uniquely British" production, much like the Opening Ceremony.
The Associated Press released a list of the possible artist performing that night. They include, just to name a few, Pet Shop Boys, Fatboy Slim, The Who, George Michael, Muse, Ed Sheeran, The Spice Girls, Queen, Paul McCartney, Jessie J, Kaiser Chiefs.
Muse is said to be performing their hit "Survival."
Paul McCartney closed out the Opening Ceremony on the 27th with "Hey Jude." Expect more classics to hit the stage in the Closing Ceremony.
Queen is rumored to be performing and is no surprise since Arnold is a huge fan of the band.
Also rumored to hit the stage: Elton John, Paul Weller, Ray Davies and the Kinks, Adele, Madness, One Direction, and Take That.
Arnold mentioned there being at least 30 musical numbers, so surprises are expected.
After the ceremonies, there will allegedly be many parties going on around the city of London. There will be a closing-night concert in London's Hyde Park with Blur, New Order, and The Specials, which is not as exciting as a yacht party rumored to be taking place, but something is something.
London had over 40 million people watching the Opening Ceremonies and that's not counting the 80,000 that jammed the stadium to view the spectacle live, which is part of the reason why NBC reconsidered showing the ceremonies live.
The last part of the night will be extinguishing the torch, but afterwards, you can expect a lot of fire and jubilee as there will be plenty of pyrotechnics lighting up the arena.
The following Olympics are set to take place in Rio de Janeiro. The mayor of the city, Eduardo Paes will receive the Olympic flag from London mayor Boris Johnson, symbolizing the passing of the Olympic tradition to Brazil as they host the Games in 2016.
So remember, 4 p.m. live online stream, 7 p.m. ET and West Coast viewers will have to also wait for 7 p.m. PT on NBC.
