2010 Winter Olympics closing ceremony

The Closing Ceremony of the 2010 Winter Olympics took place on February 28, 2010 beginning at 5:30 pm PST (01:30 UTC, March 1) at BC Place Stadium in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

Program

The production's director David Atkins previously directed the Sydney 2000 Olympic and the 2006 Doha Asian Games ceremonies. The choreographer for the finale is Jean Grand-Maître, artistic director of the Alberta Ballet.

Joannie Rochette was chosen to be the Canadian flag bearer.

Pre-Ceremony activities

A joke was made about the hydraulic system failure in the opening ceremony. A mime in a plaid shirt climbed out of the hole where the fourth arm would've risen, plugged in an extension cord, and pretended to pull the fourth pillar out. Catriona Le May Doan, who had been left out of the lighting of the cauldron in the opening ceremony because of the failure, was there to light it.

A mass of white-clad snowboarders came out and surrounded the cauldron while the band Inward Eye gave a performance, with a string ensemble behind them. This took place during the countdown, which was followed by the release of fireworks in BC Place.

Chief Leonard Andrew of the Lil'wat, Chief Ernie Campbell of the Musqueam, Chief Bill Williams of the Squamish, and Chief Justin George of the Tsleil-Waututh were welcomed. Stephen Harper, Canadian Prime Minister and IOC president Jacques Rogge were then introduced.

National Anthem

A bilingual rendition of the Canadian national anthem O Canada was then sung by a group of performers.

Entrance of the Flagbearers and the Parade of the Athletes

The flagbearers for the participating nations then entered the stadium at the same time, making a ring around the Olympic Cauldron. Following tradition, the athletes entered the stadium in no particular order to parade around the Olympic Cauldron at the centre of the stadium, before filing out to take their reserved front row seats.

Musical portion

Three musicians, Eva Avila, Nikki Yanofsky, and Derek Miller, each on an elevated, lighted column that rose out of the stadium floor, sang the song "Let's Have a Party" in English and French.

Recognitions

Four new members of the IOC were announced, and the volunteers who made the games possible were recognized.

Greek national anthem

A RCMP honour guard raised the Greek flag while the Greek national anthem was then sung by Canadian opera singer Ariana Chris.

Olympic Hymn

Canadian opera singer Ben Heppner then sang the Olympic Hymn, mixing English and French, while an RCMP honour guard lowered the Olympic flag. The flag will next be raised at the upcoming Summer Olympic games in London; opening ceremony there is scheduled for July 27, 2012.

Handover of the Olympic Flag (Oslo Ceremony)

The Olympic flag was handed off by Gregor Robertson, the mayor of Vancouver, to Jacques Rogge, the President of the IOC. The Russian national anthem was then played by the Moscow State Chamber Choir. It was then handed off to the mayor of Sochi, Anatoliy Pakhomov, whose city will host the 2014 Winter Olympics.

Greetings from Sochi

A demonstration was staged by the Russians to showcase the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.

Games declared closed

Jacques Rogge and John Furlong, the chair of VANOC, gave speeches and Rogge declared the games officially closed.

Neil Young sang "Long May You Run" while the Olympic Flame was extinguished in the cauldron.

Cultural section

William Shatner, Michael J. Fox and Catherine O'Hara came onto the stadium floor and delivered comedic monologues playing on stereotypes of Canadians. O'Hara's section involved the tendency of Canadians to be sorry.

The theme of satirizing Canadian clichės continued with Michael Bublé dressed as a Mountie performing Maple Leaf Forever in a whimsical Vegas-style arrangement as a procession of giant Mounties, dancing Mounties, giant hockey players, a child dressed as a puck for a super-sized table hockey game, giant inflatable beavers, bare-midriff dancing and ceiling hung maple leafs, several giant inflatable flying moose, and voyageurs in canoes. It is important to note that this demonstrates how Canadians are able to make fun of their own stereotypes. Maple Leaf Forever was arranged in a medley with other pieces. Hockey Night in Canada's former but still iconic signature tune, The Hockey Theme, was played during the giant-sized hockey match. The entrance of the voyageurs was accompanied by the traditional French-Canadian song Envoyons d'l'avant nos gens, while the cultural section ended with Bublé singing the last line of O Canada.

Concert section

• Nickelback opened the concert section with "Burn It to the Ground".
• Avril Lavigne performed "My Happy Ending" and "Girlfriend" afterwards.
• Alanis Morissette performed "Wunderkind".
• Simple Plan performed "Your Love Is a Lie"
• Hedley performed "Cha-Ching"
• Marie-Mai performed "Emmène-moi"
• k-os performed "Eye Know Something"

Notable attendees

Aside from celebrities participating in the ceremonies and members of the International Olympic Committee, the following notable people were in attendance:

• Michaëlle Jean, Governor General of Canada
• Stephen Harper, Prime Minister of Canada
• Chief Leonard Andrew of the Lil'wat First Nation
• Chief Ernie Campbell of the Musqeam First Nation,
• Chief Bill Williams of the Squamish First Nation
• Chief Justin George of the Tsleil-Waututh First Nation
• Gordon Campbell, Premier of British Columbia
• Janet Napolitano, US Secretary of Homeland Security
• Kathleen Sebelius, US Secretary of Health and Human Services
• Gregor Robertson, Mayor of Vancouver
• Anatoly Pakhomov, Mayor of Sochi, Russia

Traditionally, the head of state of the country hosting the next Winter Olympics is also present during the Closing Ceremony, but neither Russian president Dmitry Medvedev nor prime minister Vladimir Putin attended, reportedly due to domestic discontent over the nation's performance in Vancouver.

Television broadcast

Further information: List of 2010 Winter Olympics broadcasters

In the United States, NBC broadcast the Closing Ceremony with coverage starting at 7:00pm EST. NBC ended Olympic coverage at 10:30 p.m. EST and will resume after 11:35PM EST.

In Canada, CTV, OMNI TV, Rogers Sportsnet and TSN Réseaux des Sports Canal V broadcast the ceremonies live.

In Norway, NRK broadcast the ceremonies live.

In the UK and Ireland, the BBC and British Eurosport broadcast the Closing Ceremony. In Australia coverage was carried on Nine Network.

NBC Coverage Controversy

At approximately 10:30 EST, NBC cut away from its broadcast of the Closing Ceremony and aired a preview of its show The Marriage Ref. NBC went back to its Olympics coverage about an hour later, at 11:35 EST.

See also

• 2006 Winter Olympics closing ceremony