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 was 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 workmen's clothing climbed out of the hole where the fourth arm would have 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, to great fanfare from the audience.

A mass of white-clad high school students with snowboards 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. After the countdown and fireworks, the anthem cast created the words Strong and Free followed by circle surrounding the cauldron to welcome the official party.

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 known as the anthem cast.

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 Royal Canadian Mounted Police honour guard raised the Greek national 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 and Greetings from Sochi

The Olympic flag was handed off by Gregor Robertson, the mayor of Vancouver, to Jacques Rogge, the President of the IOC. It was then handed off to the mayor of Sochi, Anatoliy Pakhomov, whose city will host the 2014 Winter Olympics. During that time, the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra played an excerpt from the Olympic Fanfare and Theme by John Williams. The Russian national anthem was then sung by the Moscow State Chamber Choir. A demonstration was then staged by the Russians to showcase the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.

Games declared closed

The games were formally closed by International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge calling them "excellent and very friendly." This again departed from former IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch's tradition of declaring each games "best ever" (Samaranch called the games in Atlanta "exceptional") a continued Rogge's tradition of assigning each games their own identity in his comments. He called efforts in Salt Lake City "flawless," Athens "unforgettable, dream Games," Torino "magnificent" and Beijing "exceptional." John Furlong, chair of VANOC, also spoke.

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 overly polite and apologetic.

The theme of satirizing Canadian clichės continued with Michael Bublé dressed as a Mountie performing "The Maple Leaf Forever" first straight, followed by four scantily clad singer/dancers dressed as Mounties stripping his Mountie uniform to reveal a tuxedo leading to a whimsical Vegas-style arrangement of the song as a procession of giant Mounties, dancing Mounties, hockey players, giant table hockey players wearing gold medals (as Canada won both the men's and women's tournaments), a child dressed as a puck for said game, followed by voyageurs in canoes, what NBC announcer Bob Costas described as "the always enjoyable giant inflatable beavers", bare-midriff dancing and ceiling hung maple leafs, and last but not least, several giant inflatable flying moose. 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".

Bublé sang the alternate lyrics to "The Maple Leaf Forever", penned in 1997, rather than the traditional lyrics which are now considered controversial because of its strongly British perspective.

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 ceremony, mayors Robertson and Pakhomov, and members of the International Olympic Committee, the following notable people were in attendance:

• Michaëlle Jean, Governor General of Canada
• Chief Leonard Andrew of the Lil'wat Nation
• Chief Ernie Campbell of the Musqueam Indian Band,
• Chief Bill Williams of the Squamish Nation
• Chief Justin George of the Tsleil-Waututh First Nation
• Stephen Harper, Prime Minister of Canada
• Gordon Campbell, Premier of British Columbia
• Janet Napolitano, U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security
• Kathleen Sebelius, U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services

Traditionally, a senior government representative 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 their 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 7:00 pm EST. NBC ended Olympic coverage at 10:30 pm EST and resumed at 11:35 pm EST.

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

In Norway, NRK broadcast the ceremony live.

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

In Brazil, Sportv broadcast the ceremonies live, as Rede Record and Record News broadcast it entirely, with one and half hour of delay.

NBC coverage interruption

At approximately 10:30 EST, NBC cut away from its broadcast of the Closing Ceremony and aired early preview of the new comedy/reality program The Marriage Ref. NBC went back to its Olympics coverage, on a tape delayed basis, about an hour later, at 11:35 EST. This spawned outbursts from upset viewers, especially on Twitter.

See also

• 2006 Winter Olympics closing ceremony