END OF OLLYMPIC 2012 LONDON.

Feeling sad about the end of the Games? Eric Idle leads 80,000 crowd in rendition of Always Look on the Bright Side of Life

By IAN GARLAND

The audience at the Olympics closing ceremony were treated to a taste of Britain's comedy heritage tonight when Monty Python star Eric Idle appeared onstage.

The actor led the 80,000-strong crowd through a singalong rendition of Always Look on the Bright Side of Life, while a bizarre troupe of dancers performed around him.

They included jigging Morris Dancers, a choir of rugby players and skating nuns and when the song finished, a human cannonball was launched across the stadium.

He was followed by a performance by pop icons Queen, including vocals from Jessie J and from beyond the grave, by the band's late singer Freddie Mercury.

Comedy legend: Monty Python star Eric Idle appears at the Closing Ceremony to lead the audience through a singalong of his hit Always Look On The Bright Side of Life

Finale: A heartstopping array of colours zigzag through the night sky above the Olympic Park as fireworks conclude the London 2012 Olympic Games

Alight: Fireworks explode into the London night sky as the Olympic closing ceremony comes to a spectacular end

Inside the stadium, audience members and athletes look on as the Olympic Park is illuminated by a breathtaking display

It's over: Fireworks light up the Olympic Village in Stratford, east London as London 2012 draws to an emotional close

Supermodel: As the stadium is turned into a giant catwalk, London-born model Kate Moss appears wearing a gold Alexander McQueen dress

Shimmering: Naomi Campbell, draped in gold, takes over, strutting in a dazzling gold McQueen dress with a long train

Within moments, The Beatles' hit Because, performed by London gospel choir Urban Voices Collective, merged into Edward Elgar's Salut d'Amour by cellist Julian Lloyd Webber on top of the Royal Albert Hall.

As the morning traffic jam came to life, newspaper-clad vehicles from black cabs and vintage cars to folding bikes revved their engines and honked their horns as newspaper-dressed businessmen and women portrayed a busy Monday morning on Waterloo Bridge.

Winston Churchill, played by King's Speech actor Timothy Spall, stood atop Big Ben reciting the same lines from Shakespeare's The Tempest which helped open the Games 16 days ago: "Be not afeard: the isle is full of noises."

As the deafening noise grew to a crescendo, Churchill brought the worldwide audience's focus to the royal box as a fanfare announced the arrival of Prince Harry and International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge.

As Union flags were waved from car windows, the packed stadium was led in the British National Anthem by the London Symphony Orchestra and the Urban Voices Collective.

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