London 2012...

 By Gordon Rayner, Chief Reporter

Stephen Daldry, the director of the London 2012 closing ceremony, has promised that Sunday night’s show will be the “best party ever”.

Volunteers who are taking part in the extravaganza claim it will be even better than Danny Boyle’s universally lauded opening ceremony.

The centrepiece of the three-hour spectacular will be A Symphony of British Music, in which the London Symphony Orchestra will be joined by some of the biggest pop acts from the past 50 years.

Photographs of rehearsals taking place at the Ford car plant in Dagenham, east London, show the Spice Girls, who are reuniting for the event, singing and dancing on top of a fleet of black cabs which are covered in fairy lights.

David Jason and Nicholas Lyndhurst will reprise their roles of Del Boy and Rodney Trotter, with their Reliant Robin van reportedly being blown up in a sequence in which they pretend to be Batman and Robin.

Eric Idle, who has also been seen rehearsing, will sing the Monty Python classic Always Look on the Bright Side of Life.

Daldry, the director of Billy Elliot, said: “Everyone is calling it the biggest closing ceremony they have ever seen. I’m really hoping that people will gather at the live sites and in their homes and pubs and have the time of their life.

“It’s a proper show. It’s got all the bizarre, surreal, funny, camp and moving elements you could want from a really good piece of Sunday night entertainment.

"There are dancing girls and sets from different eras and brass bands and Coldstream Guards and all this amazing headline talent. Get the beers in and celebrate. Goodness, there’s a lot to celebrate.”

Although the organisers have tried to keep the identities of the acts a secret, George Michael, Muse and Ed Sheeran have confirmed they will be there, while Brian May, Annie Lennox, the Pet Shop Boys, Tinie Tempah, Jessie J and Kate Bush have been seen at rehearsals.

The Who, Take That, Elton John, The Kinks, Adele, Kaiser Chiefs and Madness are also rumoured to be performing

The ceremony will include the formal handover of the Olympic Flag to the organisers of the Rio 2016 Games, which will feature an eight-minute show by the Brazilians featuring carnival dancers and rappers.

The model Alessandra Ambrosio will appear, together with the dancing street sweeper Renato Sorriso, who became an internet sensation.

Last-minute tickets for the closing ceremony could go on sale just hours before it starts, as organisers said they would know how many seats were available only once the elaborate sets are in place.
Telegraph