Rio 2016 organisers have promised to bring the spirit of the Sambadrome to Stratford as their contribution to a closing ceremony on Sunday that has been dubbed the ultimate aftershow party for London's Games.
In a bid to outdo London's 2008 handover effort in Beijing, which garnered mixed reviews after putting David Beckham and Jimmy Page atop a red London bus, Rio's organising committee promised their eight-minute segment would be "full of joy and passion".
Renato Sorriso, a street cleaner in the Rio Sambadrome – where the city's samba schools stage their exhibitions – who became a cult hero when he was filmed dancing while he swept, and the musician Seu Jorge are among those in the cast, along with 300 other performers. "The cliches are just the tip of the iceberg. They don't misrepresent us, but we want to show other ways in which we mix. We are very far from Europe and North America," said artistic director Daniela Thomas. "We get this information and we reinvent. We remix, this is our spirit, this is how we produce culture. Eight minutes is a small time but we want to show you how we mix things, how we mix with pop culture. It will be the cliches reinvented, hopefully."
While Danny Boyle's mindblowing £27m opening ceremony was loaded with layers of meaning, London 2012 organising committee chairman Lord Coe promised the closing ceremony – called A Symphony of British Music – would be more of a big party. "It's an aftershow party. It's not anything desperately profound. It's not the opening ceremony but I think it will be great. It's basically a tribute to British music over the last few decades. It's fun," he said.
Having opened with the focus on one Beckham, the Games will close with attention fixed on another. After David ferried the Olympic torch down the Thames in Boyle's opening ceremony, Victoria and her fellow Spice Girls are expected to feature in the closing show astride black London taxi cabs. Kim Gavin, the director of the closing ceremony, made his name with lavish concert shows for the likes of Take That and has said he wants to "create a fabulous, emotional experience in the stadium".
Musical director David Arnold, whose score takes in dozens of well-known artists "from Adele to Elgar", has said it will be "an elegant mash up" of British creativity.
Locog have not confirmed any artists, but Muse are likely to perform their Games-themed track, Survival, that focuses on the "darker side" of the Olympics.
George Michael has also tweeted about his involvement – his first live appearance since his life-threatening illness last year. The artists will be assisted by 4,100 performers, of whom 3,500 are volunteers. Their performances will be punctuated by the medal ceremony for the men's marathon, speeches by the likes of the International Olympic Committee president, Jacques Rogge, and video highlights from the Games themselves.
After the last athletics events on Saturday night, Gavin and his team have just 16 hours to fill the stadium with replicas of London landmarks, including Tower Bridge.
