Paralympics 2012 Closing Ceremony Review

So after what seems to have been a great summer for both the UK and Sport, the London 2012 Paralympic games come to a close, thus finishing all the big sporting events of the summer and leaving us with some fantastic venues left over. So what did I think of the closing ceremony, you may ask. Well I'll tell you:

Opening:

So with the athletes already in, we first get some oddly looking vehicles entering the stadium (according to Wikipedia, they are inspired by the film Mad Max) and we also see some wind gremlins who begin to formate the Paralympic emblem using wind. There's then a tribute to the British Military (which for an event like this, is definitely worth keeping in the ceremony rather than remove it all together) along with military Captain Luke Sinnott who scales a flagpole which resembles human endeavour, to fly the Union Jack which is then followed by the arrival of Prince Edward (a representative of her majesty the Queen) and Sir Philip Craven (current president of the International Paralympic Committee) in a vechile that combines elements from a military vehicle and a 1930's automobile. The British anthem was then sang by everyone present, followed by a speech from Rory Mackenzie who introduces the theme of the ceremony, that then follows a last minute medal presentation and the arrival of the nations flags that come and turn into the shape of a heart. This part I thought was quite nice in that it sets the tone of the ceremony and shows what to expect later on. 8/10

Festival of the Flame:

We then see the summoning of spirits (which for some strange reason, made it sound familiar to me in some way) which resemble the four seasons of the year (Winter, Spring, Summer and Autumn). That is then followed by some more oddly looking vehicles that form an attacking convoy with some flamethrowers as well. Then we have a lengthily Coldplay performance of some of their songs with a visual performance that resembles summer, containing a face of fire and dancers suspended from balloons, followed by a tribute to all the volunteers of the Olympics and Paralympics in London. Another visual performance came which resembled winter (containing a snow queen) and another one for spring then followed. During this, we get more performances from Coldplay and later on, the arrival of Rihanna. Despite the lengthily performance from Coldplay, this segment I thought was quite spectacular and a lot of work went into this which was great. 8/10

Handover of Flags and Closing of the Games:

Like with the closing ceremony of the Olympics, the flag is handed over to the mayor of Rio, followed by a preview of what to expect at the Rio Olympics and Paralympics and speeches from the Chair of the London Olympic and Paralympic Organising committee, Sebastian Coe and the current IPC president, Philip Craven which were very inspirational and closed the games on a satisfactory note. All expect one of the petals of the cauldron, were extinguished with the remaining one being used to spread the flame throughout the stadium, representing the its eternal nature. Coldplay and Rihanna, return with Jay-Z to perform some more songs with a video montage of highlights of the games and then a fireworks display across London with a message on the Palace of Westminster, "Thank you London, Thank you UK". This last segment ended the games on a great and satisfactory note. 9/10

Overall, it was a great end to the summer and a great way to show the world, what the UK really can do in an event like this so my overall score is 9/10.