To mark the end of one of Great Britain's proudest eras, the closing ceremony will showcase one grand party to say goodbye to the Games, before passing the torch to Rio for 2016.
From Usain Bolt's double-treble, an amazing medal haul for Great Britain and the likes of Mo Farah and Jessica Ennis becoming instant heroes, it has been a fortnight that will live long in the memory.
© Morry Gash/AP/Press Association Images
The event has been named a 'Symphony of British Music', which aims to celebrate the best of UK music, culture and fashion over the past decades. Muse, Spice Girls, Take That, The Who and George Michael are just some of the names expected to make an appearance during the evening.
So after our best-ever Olympic games of modern times, collect your flags just one more time, grab a cup of tea (or a beer) and celebrate what has been an epic summer for every single one of us.
00:16We hope you've enjoyed the last few hours, and of course, the whole Olympics adventure. Well done to all involved. Right, back to the football next weekend!
00:15And now for more Emeli Sandé, and more 'Imagine'. And more montage fun. Enjoy it, we won't have this again. Wow, that sounded a bit deep.
00:11Were you there? Were you watching at home? Let us know what you thought of the evening by dropping a comment below, as ever.
00:09It was always going to be tough to come anywhere close to topping Danny Boyle's opening ceremony, but I guess the closing show is never supposed to. I could moan for ages about the choice of artists and songs, but it was in general a decent spectacle.
00:08Well, all of a sudden, it is done. But we still have the Paralympics to come. I don't know about you, but the past two weeks or so have been great viewing, and have provided some brilliant sporting moments.
00:07Fireworks light up the sky, all the performers join the stage. Hazel Irvine carries on.
00:05A mini medley of Who classics, ended with 'My Generation' to close the whole night out.
00:01Only joking, it is of course, The Who, as promised. 'Baba O'Riley' fills the stadium. Now where's Gary Sinise?
00:00And now, ladies and gentlemen, Conway Twitty.
© David Davies/PA Wire/Press Association Images
23:59And just like that, the flame is extinguished. Seven years of incredible work, and two weeks of fantastic entertainment come to a close.
23:57Darcey Bussell is 43. Yowzers.
23:55Darcey Bussell making her extremely grand entrance.
23:53'Rule the World', an apt and perfect song to be used. Shame Robbie's not there. Great worldwide exposure for the guys. Jason needs to make more of an effort though!
23:51And, thankfully. I was wrong. Take That, and Gary Barlow, are here. Fantastic.
23:50It feels rather sad now that our Olympic journey is coming to a close. Ever since 2005, this was always in the future. It is now in our past all of a sudden.
23:46Alright, let's get The Who on.
23:42Sadly, I don't think Take That are going to appear, but that's quite understandable.
23:41Another chance to get a cup of tea.
23:39Seb Coe. Big well done to you, sir.
23:37It's Pele! Time for him to steal Becks's bit and kick a ball.
23:35Feels like one of those weird interval bits in the Eurovision Song Contest.
23:30Now for Brazil to show their stuff. Bet they don't have David Beckham kicking a ball or Leona Lewis on a bus though.
23:27He did it! Good luck, Rio (I now have Duran Duran in my head).
23:26Fully expecting him to fall over and set it on fire.
23:26Now, don't let us down, Boris. You can get the flag bit right this time.
23:24Here's a chance for Sir Tom! Gatecrash the Welsh choir!
23:20She's giving it a damn good go, I'll give her that. Would have preferred Tom Jones out of the Voice lineup.
© David Davies/PA Wire/Press Association Images
23:18Queen doing 'We Will Rock You'. With Jessie J. Really? I'm probably in the minority here. Really?
23:15Here he is! He had to be there. Brian bloody May. GUITAR.
23:15The best frontman ever. Still commanding crowds.
23:14Freddie Mercury. Fantastic.
23:11Muse are here. Matt Bellamy hamming it up as much as possible for 'Survival'.
23:08Eric Idle practising for the next series of Strictly. Did a better job than Cameron earlier.
© David Davies/PA Wire/Press Association Images
23:06MASSIVE yay! Eric Idle! This song was rumoured, glad it was true. 'Always Look on the Bright Side of Life'. So very British.
23:03'Mr Blue Sky'! One of my all-time favourite songs. Are ELO there? Nope.
23:02The best Beady Eye song ever written.
23:00Liam Gallagher (with Beady Eye). 'Wonderwall'. Would have loved Noel, but great to hear this classic. No Mike Flowers Pops in sight, sadly.
22:59Victoria Beckham holding on for dear life, but I really guiltily enjoyed that!
22:57And David Cameron trying his best, bless him.
22:57Boris Johnson dancing! Boris Johnson dancing! Boris Johnson dancing!
22:56Yowzers, all of them look amazing. Maybe this will spark off a new comeback that people will actually attend.
22:54Here we go! It's time.
22:51A rappy version of 'You Should Be Dancing' by Bee Gees. Fair enough.
22:49Taio Cruz joins the crowd of current stars. Fatboy Slim still pretending to DJ. He probably should have gone ages ago, but he's stuck on the octopus.
© Owen Humphreys/PA Wire/Press Association Images
22:46And now Tinie Tempah joins Jessie for 'Written in the Stars'.
22:46I feel like a grumpy old git, but I just think there should only be artists that have been around for at least five years. We're gonna look back at this in years to come. I just hope Jessie J and Ed Sheeran will have survived a second album. If this was made in 2008, Duffy would be on stage.
22:43Expect his Greatest Hits compilation to rise a bit after this, that's my prediction. And a big octopus, what else.
22:41Fatboy Slim! It's officially 1999!
22:40Maybe this is his 'I'm officially single' party. None of those women are safe.
22:40Russell Brand of all people! Singing 'Pure Imagination' from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, and now 'I Am the Walrus'!
22:37Ed Sheeran with Nick Mason of Pink Floyd singing 'Wish You Were Here'. Is it me, or is he punching above his weight here? Probably just me. And a tightrope walker, as is tradition.
22:36That can't be right. 'Little Bird' was not in the Dracula soundtrack as far as I'm aware, Hazel. Oh well.
22:33Now this is how you put on a show.
© Jae C. Hong/AP/Press Association Images
22:30It's Annie Lennox, on a pirate ship!
22:28Sophie Dahl, another one I know! (I think, tell me if I'm wrong).
22:26Here's the celebration of British fashion. I'm afraid the only ones I'm going to know by name are Kate Moss, Naomi Campbell and Lily Cole.
22:25Yay! A musical montage of classic David Bowie. No 'Laughing Gnome' or Labyrinth though.
22:24A hugely-needed gig for the Chiefs, here. I keep expecting Roger Daltrey to arrive and push Ricky off the mic.
22:23'Pinball Wizard'! Is it The Who? Elton John? No, it's the Kaiser Chiefs. Okay.
22:20I was still hoping that Wham! were going to reform for this, but no dice.
22:18This is about as big a venue possible to promote your latest single. Doesn't quite fit in the 'Symphony of British Music', but there you go.
22:16George Michael's in pretty good form here, I reckon. He recently said that he was very nervous about this gig.
© Owen Humphreys/PA Wire/Press Association Images
22:13Here's George! Quite a time to mark your latest comeback. Unless it's Robbie's version of course.
22:10A big cheer for John Lennon. Still powerful.
22:09And now John Lennon's 'Imagine' sung by a children's choir with sign language. Had to be in there somewhere.
22:08Queen's 'Bohemian Rhapsody'. Still awesome after all these years.
22:06The purple-coloured 'Games Makers' (sounds like a Gamesmaster spinoff) get some deserved appreciation.
22:06A lot of this feels very similar to the Cirque de Soleil show of The Beatles' Love. 'Here Comes the Sun' bellows out, and here's the brilliant Katherine Grainger.
22:02Just thought I'd mention that 'Emeli Sande' is trending on Twitter. Must be Emeli's brother.
22:01A medal ceremony for the men's marathon. I must admit I had no idea this was an Olympic tradition to do so in the closing ceremony. Well done, chaps.
21:55Looks like the 'Thriller' video mixed up with 'Another Brick in the Wall'.
21:54Doesn't look like it, shame. Great to hear though.
21:53Awesome song. 'Running Up that Hill'. Is Kate Bush actually there?
21:53Phew, that's all done. Well done, athletes!
21:51The 'Symphony of British Music'. The greatest five or six songs that we could think of, twice. Sorry for moaning, I'm still certain they pressed play on the wrong playlist.
21:49The French team showing their Step Up moves. We're getting treated to two more songs we've already heard again. Maybe they only paid the copyright for these songs. I'm going to predict 'Waterloo Sunset' will get a second go.
21:47I'm sure there are hundreds of thousands of other songs they could have played here. Surely someone pressed the wrong button. A different Madness song, at least?
21:45Apparently we just haven't had enough of 'Our House'. Good deal for Suggs.
21:43I'm also worried that Elbow have been told to keep singing the chorus until the procession is done.
21:42Annoyingly, I always hear the Children in Need Peter Kay cartoon all-star thing version of this song now. I keep looking up expecting to see Postman Pat giving it some.
21:40If you wanted a cup of tea, by the way, this is most likely the best time to do it.
© Owen Humphreys/PA Wire/Press Association Images
21:38This had to be played, really. First we had 'Open Arms', and now 'One Day Like This'. Must be an amazing atmosphere in there.
21:37Quite powerful, happy stuff. All of the athletes and flags fill the stadium, colours galore. And the Ethiopians form a conga! It really is party time.
21:36Made me giggle. One athlete almost smacks his head on the camera. Whoops.
21:34Elbow! Genuinely pleased to see them. Along with, of course, our amazing medal winners.
21:33Great to see every country walking in together, including Mr Ben Ainslie proudly lifting for Team GB.
21:31Here come the flags. Hopefully for not as long as it took last time.
21:30Wow. I wonder how John Inverdale is doing.
21:28As Matt Stone and Trey Parker once sang, 'We need a montage'. Moving.
© Anthony Devlin/PA Wire/Press Association Images
21:28Emeli Sandé is having quite a lot of well-earned exposure here. More of 'Read All About It'. Louis Walsh is probably saying: "You're like a little Aretha Franklin."
21:26Ronald McDonald's illegitimate children running around there. Celebrating the 'official restaurant' of the Games.
21:23Someone's robbing the Gherkin!
21:22Ray Davies of The Kinks, singing the lovely classic 'Waterloo Sunset'. Quite a gig for the legend.
21:21The brilliant 'A Day in the Life' by The Beatles is the backing to Britain's Got Talent winner Spelbound. Wonder where they'd been.
21:19Feels like an epic, big-budget Michael Bay version of TOTP2 so far.
21:18Well, apparently someone is still a fan of Stomp.
21:17Have to say, tis darn catchy.
© David Davies/PA Wire/Press Association Images
21:16The cynic in me starts moaning inside, but here are quite possibly the most popular pop band on the planet right now, One Direction! On a truck!
21:14It's all gone awesomely electro. The Pet Shop Boys are here! Great hats. Great 'West End Girls'. Lots of classic British vehicles driving along too.
21:13Well they can't be there as they're performing at Hyde Park right now, but a nice burst of Blur's 'Parklife', with a Queen's Guard band playing on.
21:11I thought that was Boris Johnson getting stuck in an awkward position again for a second.
© David Davies/PA Wire/Press Association Images
21:10To celebrate to proper British-style street parties, it can only be Madness with 'Our House'.
21:09Michael Caine! Trotter van!
21:08Harry looks a bit startled but he gets through it.
21:08It's of course Jacques Rogge. Time to stand up to our National Anthem that we've heard A LOT of in recent days.
21:07It's Prince Harry! And the Olympic committee bloke that I can never remember the name of.
© Tony Marshall/PA Wire/Press Association Images
21:07London traffic emerges, all covered in newspaper. The busy London rush hour gets busier and busier, as the music gets louder and louder. Winston tells them all to pack it in.
21:05A great massive model version of the London skyline, with Julian Lloyd Webber playing to Timothy Spall as Winston Churchill. "To be British, is to win the lottery of life."
21:03Stomp! members chiming the London Eye, with a lovely choir version of 'Because' by The Beatles. Ticks my personal boxes already!
© Owen Humphreys/PA Wire/Press Association Images
21:03Emeli Sandé is back, performing 'Read All About It'. Good to see her in the stadium again.
21:01Big Ben chimes, both in and outside the stadium. I was an idiot, it's clearly a model version of the London Eye, not a Ferris wheel. It's been a long day.
20:59There's a big Ferris wheel in the middle of the stadium, along with what looks like massive bike ramps. And here's the countdown. It feels like July 27 again!
20:57A reading of 15-year-old Fope Jegede's competition-winning poem 'The Champion's Story', providing one last look back at our Team GB triumphs. Here we go! Are you ready Spice fans?
20:50We've already had several moving and powerful montages of the games with the fantastic Eddie Butler's awesome narration. Ten minutes until the big event ...
Photo gallery - London 2012 Closing Ceremony:
Copyright: Tony Marshall/PA Wire/Press Association Images
