A red double-decker bus, three gold medal winning cyclists, footballer David Beckham and musicians Jimmy Page and Leona Lewis all featured in a spectacular show to mark the handover of the Olympic flag from Beijing to London.
'Whole lotta love'
24 Aug 2008
A red double-decker bus, three gold medal winning cyclists, footballer David Beckham and musicians Jimmy Page and Leona Lewis all featured in a spectacular show to mark the handover of the Olympic flag from Beijing to London.
With around 1.5 billion people watching worldwide, London presented the eight minute performance as part of the closing ceremony of the Beijing Games in the National Stadium.
The show was designed to be a ‘calling card’ for the next Host City and to invite to the rest of the world to come to London in four years’ time.
The stadium pulsated to a vibrant soundtrack which included an arrangement of traditional British tunes as well as rock.
East Londoner Leona Lewis sang to the Led Zeppelin classic ‘Whole Lotta Love’, accompanied by legendary guitarist Jimmy Page.
Dancers from Zoo Nation, CandoCo and the Royal Opera House joined the performance. Just before the performance London Mayor Boris Johnson was handed the flag by IOC President, Jacques Rogge, in front of a 91,000 spectators and thousands of athletes.
The Mayor will return to London with the flag next week and fly it outside City Hall.
It will also be displayed at a celebration in Beijing tonight for athletes, organisers, senior politicians including Prime Minister Gordon Brown, spectators and the media.
