Olympics' closing ceremony is, fittingly, grand

By Elliott Almond Mercury News

BEIJING — Five thousand years of antiquity gave way to Led Zeppelin and pop culture darling David Beckham on Sunday night as the historic Beijing Games came to an explosive, festive ending after 16 days that gave the world's most populous country a showcase stage.

As China said zai jian to its throng of guests, it handed the baton to London, which contributed pop music, a soccer star and a double-decker bus to the closing ceremony of the XXIX Olympiad in the iconic Bird's Nest stadium.

Olympus is moving operations from the home of the Great Wall to the land of beer and bangers. It will make a pit stop in our part of the world, with the Winter Olympics in Vancouver in 2010. "Vancouver will put on a different type of Games," Mayor Sam Sullivan said. "We will wow the world as well."

But almost anyone associated with the Beijing Games has been saying for days it will be all but impossible to replicate the effort by the Chinese.

"You are unlikely to see a Games of this stature again," said Sebastian Coe, chief of the London 2012 Organizing Committee.

Olympics' closing ceremony is, fittingly, grand....