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Short and sweet closing ceremony for World Cup

The closing ceremony of the ongoing World Cup soccer tournament, on Sunday, is expected to be short and, hopefully, sweet.

The ten minute ceremony will take place in the stadium in St Denis, specially constructed for the tournament, after the final between Brazil and France. Once the Cup is won and lost and the trophy handed out, the winning team will take a lap of honour and then the closing ceremony will begin.

To be directed by Yves Pepin -- who, incidentally, choreographed the opening ceremony on June 10 -- the ceremony will consist of four different scenes variously featuring musicians, acrobats, torch-carriers and plenty of special effects and pyrotechnics, culminating in rockets flying skywards as the stadium, symbolically, takes off.

It will also include a showcase of Korean and Japanese percussionists, as part of the tradition that links the closing ceremony to the hosts of the next World Cup.

The festivities will, however, begin about 90 minutes before the final with a Yves Saint Laurent fashion show and a performance by Puerto Rican singer Ricky Martin, singer of the official World Cup song, Cup of Life.

Agencies