2008 Summer Olympics closing ceremony

2008 Summer Olympics
closing ceremony
The Memory torch section after the cauldron was extinguished
Date24 August 2008
Time20:00 – 21:55 CST (UTC+08:00)
VenueBeijing National Stadium
LocationBeijing, China
Coordinates39°59′30″N 116°23′26″E / 39.99167°N 116.39056°E / 39.99167; 116.39056
Filmed byBeijing Olympic Broadcasting (BOB)
FootageFull closing ceremony on the IOC YouTube channel on YouTube

The 2008 Summer Olympics closing ceremony was held at the Beijing National Stadium, also known as the Bird's Nest.[1] It was directed by Chinese filmmaker Zhang Yimou and began at 20:00 China Standard Time (UTC+8) on Sunday night, 24 August 2008. The number 8 is associated with prosperity and confidence in Chinese culture.[2]

The musical acts included

The Ceremony also included the handover of the games from Beijing to London. Guo Jinlong, the Mayor of Beijing, handed over the Olympic flag to the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson. There was also a performance organized by the London Organising Committee for the Olympic Games (LOCOG).

While the opening ceremony was described as an artistic and serious introduction of China's ancient past, the closing ceremony was described by Western media as "much more lighthearted", "silly" and "fun" than the opening ceremony.[3][4]

By the end of the 16 days of NBC's coverage of the Beijing Olympics in the United States, it had also become the most-watched U.S. television event of all time,[5] with over 211 million American viewers tuned into the Olympics on NBC according to the Nielsen Media Research;[5] this is 2 million more than the 1996 Atlanta Games, the previous all-time record-holder.[5]

  1. ^ Full Coverage: The Closing Ceremony of the 2008 Olympic Games Archived 24 August 2008 at the Wayback MachineThe Official Website of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games (en.beijing2008.cn) (24 August 2008) (Retrieved on 24 August 2008)
  2. ^ "The Number Eight And The Chinese". Archived from the original on 27 April 2007. Retrieved 22 April 2007.
  3. ^ "Olympics Close With a Bang and a Double-Decker Bus". The New York Times. 25 August 2008. Retrieved 25 August 2008.
  4. ^ "China engages in revelry at Olympics' closing ceremony". Los Angeles Times. 5 August 2008. Archived from the original on 28 August 2008. Retrieved 25 August 2008.
  5. ^ a b c "Beijing Games most-watched U.S. TV event". The Hollywood Reporter. 24 August 2008. Archived from the original on 27 August 2008. Retrieved 24 August 2008.

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