[9] David Arnold said "It's going to be beautiful, cheeky, cheesy, camp, silly and thrilling",[11] and added that "we could have done this 15 times over, and not had the same show, and it would still have been full of amazing British music".

Hirst had been approached in November 2011 and agreed to do the design; he called his artwork Beautiful Union Jack Celebratory Patriotic Olympic Explosion in an Electric Storm Painting.

The Spice Girls were said to be reluctant to appear, feeling that the event was being staged at minimal cost, before their manager Simon Fuller persuaded them to perform.

Newspaper cutouts on both the set and road vehicles sought to show a "day in the life of London", with words from British literary figures such as William Shakespeare, J. R. R. Tolkien and Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy.

The Urban Voices Collective (the choir for the ceremony) sang The Beatles' "Because", which merged into cellist Julian Lloyd Webber (sitting upon the Royal Albert Hall) playing Elgar's Salut d'Amour, accompanied by Stomp performing on household items such as pots, pans and dustbins while suspended on the sculptures of the landmarks.

At the same time, former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill (Timothy Spall) appeared at the top of Big Ben and reprised Caliban's "Be not afeard" speech from The Tempest, first read by Victorian icon Isambard Kingdom Brunel (Kenneth Branagh) in the opening ceremony.

After Churchill finished his speech, people dressed in newspaper print began to fill the arena, ranging from office workers to school children.

This section started off with footage of Michael Caine in The Italian Job counting down from five, whereupon the Reliant Regal from Only Fools and Horses exploded with Del Boy and Rodney jumping out dressed as Batman and Robin.

The centre of the arena was then cleared to reveal Britain's Got Talent 2010 winners Spelbound, who performed gymnastics to The Beatles "A Day in the Life", were inspired by the idea of a commuter on the way to work, by forming a bed and a London Bus.

Ray Davies of The Kinks arrived in a black cab and played "Waterloo Sunset", as Spelbound continued and local school children formed the Thames.

As the last athletes streamed into the stadium and the flags were moved by volunteers closer to the Olympic flame, a reprise of some of the songs from the opening section was played.

16 dhol drummers opened this segment as the performers entered carrying 303 white boxes to symbolise every event in the Olympic Games.

The drumming merged into the newly recorded version of Kate Bush's "Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God)", as performers arranged the boxes to form a pyramid while video highlights from the previous 16 days of competition were shown on the screens.

Rogge and Lamine Diack, president of the International Association of Athletics Federations, awarded the medals before the Ugandan national anthem was played.

[20][21] The models concluded the section by turning the struts of the Union Flag into a catwalk as they proceeded to the centre, walking to Bowie's 1980 single "Fashion".

Near the end of the song a performer appeared on a tightrope above the stadium, walked along it, and shook hands with a mannequin, which then burst into flames (referencing the cover of Floyd's 1975 album Wish You Were Here).

Three convertible Rolls-Royce Phantom Drophead Coupés then arrived; the roof of the first was taken down to reveal Jessie J who sang her hit "Price Tag", as the cars did a lap of the stadium.

Near the end of this song a human cannonball "died" and out rolled Eric Idle, who sang "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life", accompanied variously by nuns on roller-skates (likely a reference to Monty Python and the Holy Grail), Morris dancers (Blackheath Morris and Rag Morris),[22][23] Roman soldiers (a reference to Monty Python's Life of Brian, in which the song was first performed),[24] Punjabi bhangra musicians dancers (VP Bhangra),[22] and bagpipes (Reading Scottish Pipe Band, led by Pipe Major Ron Paterson) before a human cannonball was fired across the arena.

Displayed was a vocal improvisation taken from Queen's 1986 Wembley Stadium concert, before his bandmate Brian May performed part of the "Brighton Rock" guitar solo.

May was then joined by Roger Taylor to re-form Queen, as Jessie J, who wore a long yellow jacket in homage to Mercury, accompanied the pair for "We Will Rock You."

Rio then provided an eight-minute segment to introduce the city and the country to the world, created by a team headed by the International Emmy Kids Awards winner Cao Hamburger and director Daniela Thomas entitled "Abraço" (which means hug or embrace).

The segment continued with a Carnival-eqsue Samba parade as various artists performed, including hit singer Marisa Monte (dressed as Brazilian-African sea goddess Yemanja representing the Brazilian religious syncretism) and the singers BNegão and Seu Jorge, who paid tribute to Chico Science and Jorge Mautner, representing the Manguebeat moviment from Pernambuco state.

[27][28] The arms holding the copper petals that formed the Olympic cauldron were part-lowered, and fireworks set off behind; when the smoke had cleared, a phoenix was seen above the flames.

The closing act of the ceremony was The Who, who performed a medley of the songs "Baba O'Riley", "See Me, Feel Me" and "My Generation" as a montage of images of Games volunteers and Londoners appeared on the big screen.

Images, including catwalk models in high-end fashions, drifting clouds over London, and flicking paint onto rooftop canvases, had been shot for the effects.

[16][32] The Daily Telegraph commented during the ceremony that, although fun, it lacked "top drawer" performers, and that Annie Lennox was "utterly underwhelming."

[33] Tom Sutcliffe writing for The Independent said that it was "slick, impressive, often visually startling" and "eccentric, bewildering – and shameless good fun".

He added that "where Danny Boyle's opening show had been a statement of intent and national values, this was an hour-long advert for British stadium rock-show design.

Billington praised Boyle, Devlin and Daldry, who had done a "tremendous job in lending what might have been orthodox Olympic rituals a blast of theatrical vitality.

However he called Russell Brand "tuneless", and during George Michael's performance he thought that "if there had been remote controls here in the stadium, people might have been reaching for them."