China promises dazzling closing ceremony, rains feared
18/8/2008 18:12
With less than one week left of the Olympics, Chinese are preparing to
dazzle the world again with a glittering closing ceremony on Aug. 24.
Unlike
the opening ceremony which was repeatedly rehearsed, the closing ceremony would
not feature any full dress on-site rehearsals, according to today's Beijing
News.
The National Stadium, better known as the Bird's Nest, where the
closing ceremony would be held, would also host the end of the men's marathon on
the closing day, it said.
The tight schedule left only eight hours for
organizers to reorganize the stadium for the closing ceremony, scheduled to
start at 8 p.m, the paper said. The organizers would also allow time for the
London 2012 team to rehearse an eight-minute dance show for the handover
ceremony.
Small-scale rehearsals were being held in training sites outside
the Bird's Nest, the organizers said without giving further details.
Though
the content of the closing ceremony remained a secret, the paper said the
electronic "scroll", which unfurled China's history in the opening ceremony with
Chinese script and pictures, and the miniature globe carrying the two Olympic
theme song singers that rose from the underground would not be deployed at the
closing ceremony.
Another kungfu display, featuring 350 practitioners from a
local martial art school, would be part of the show, in addition to 60 erhu, or
Chinese violin, players from eastern province of Jiangsu.
Zhang Yimou, chief
director of both the opening and closing ceremonies, said earlier this month
that the climax of the close would come as the Olympic flame was extinguished in
the main cauldron.
"We are dedicated to creating a happy atmosphere at the
closing ceremony. The message is to say goodbye, and to promise to meet again in
four years," he said.
The Beijing News reported the organizers had made
contingency plans for emergencies that might occur during the ceremony, saying
rain still posed the biggest threat.
"Organizers may have to cut or readjust
part of the show should there be rain on Aug. 24, but it should not spoil the
show on the whole. The Olympic closing ceremony will present the world with a
grand, ecstatic party," the paper said, quoting unidentified staff with the
BOCOG (Beijing Organizing Committee for the Olympic
Games).
Xinhua
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