Closing ceremony of 'lights, splendour'
9 July 2010
A combination of fireworks and the latest light effects technology will mark the closing ceremony of the 2010 Fifa World Cup on Sunday night. The ceremony, to be broadcast to millions of television viewers worldwide, takes place at Johannesburg's Soccer City Stadium from 6.30pm local time.
"We are looking at a youthful and technologically advanced closing ceremony and, because it is at night time, the event will feature a lot of lighting technology," Organising Committee spokesperson Jamaine Craig said on Wednesday.
He confirmed that Shakira and local group Freshlyground would perform their number one hit "Waka Waka (This Time For Africa)" during the closing ceremony.
The official song of the 2010 World Cup has reportedly reached the one million sales mark since it became available on 11 May, making the fastest-selling single and the biggest-selling World Cup single in the history of the tournament.
It is still not clear who, between President Jacob Zuma or Fifa president Sepp Blatter, will be handing over the trophy to the winning team, as there is no official protocol for this.
Three-million spectators
Meanwhile, Fifa announced earlier this week that three-million spectators had so far turned up at stadiums across the country since the start of the World Cup, the third-highest overall total in the history of the event, behind only the 1994 and 2006 tournaments.
"It's very impressive, and we are expecting another milestone as the tournament progresses to the final matches," said spokesman Nicolas Maingot.
Fan Fests also continued to be a resounding success, and Fifa is hoping to have recorded a five million worldwild attendance when the tournament closes on Sunday. On Tuesday, night Cape Town recorded a turnout of 49 144 people watching the game at a Fan Fest, the highest for the Mother City so far.
