One Direction and Adele Rumored to Play at Olympic Closing Ceremony

The opening Ceremony for the London 2012 Olympics was a celebration of what was quintessentially British, from the Monarchy to Mr. Bean. London 2012 has been a celebration of not just sports, but also British culture -- most specifically, the music. 

Similarly, there is a lot of excitement over who will be appearing in tonight’s closing ceremony -- which promises to be a celebration of British music from Elgar to Adele.

As the birthplace of the staples of an iPod, I imagine it’s safe to say that Great Britain is the home of great music. Having brought you the Beatles, the Spice Girls, Sex Pistols, the Who, the Clash, the Doors, the Rolling Stones, Amy Winehouse, the Bee Gees, Elton John and others, England can claim that title.

Definite for the closing ceremony titled "A Symphony of British Music" have included the Spice Girls, George Michael, Muse (who wrote the official Olympic song), Ed Sheeran and the London Symphony Orchestra. But that’s only a fraction of the performers and hasn’t stopped observers from guessing who else might perform.

1. Adele: The Tottenham gal, with six Grammys under her belt, is a favorite to take to the stage in the closing ceremony. There have even been rumors that she would duet with fellow Londoner Leona Lewis, who performed at Beijing’s closing ceremony. However, these rumors were later refuted. But Adele is also known to be quite shy when it comes to performing for really large crowds, and don’t forget she is also pregnant -- with a baby due around September.

2. Jessie J: It’s been a good couple of years during which Jessie J has had a successful singing career at home and abroad. She was one of the coaches on the UK’s version of The Voice and also performed at the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Concert. Known for her hit song Price Tag, the East Londoner has been spotted rehearsing at a car plant in East London where the final preparations for the closing ceremony have been taking place.

3. Elton John: Also something of a British institution, next to Sir Paul McCartney, Sir Elton John's absence from the opening ceremony came as a bit of a surprise. Honestly, I would love to see the entire stadium singing along to this:

4. Kate Bush: Speculation has been mounting that the 1970s chart topper, known for her song Wuthering Heights, will make an appearance after a remix of her song Running Up That Hill was posted on Amazon with a release date of Sunday August 12 -- the day of the closing ceremony. Her management has declined to comment on the rumors, but many of us are on our toes.

5. One Direction: The boy band movement suffered a slowdown in the last decade or so, but the arrival of the X-factor saw a resurgence of that with runners-up JLS and later One Direction. The five-piece band has been commercially successful over the last year and was even described as being “bigger than The Beatles in the US”. Should be interesting to see how Sir Paul McCartney would react -- although he has insisted he is a “big fan” of the band.

6. Coldplay: One of the most well known British bands of the moment, one would imagine there is an expectation for Coldplay to perform. The band will be headlining at the opening ceremony of the London 2012 Paralympics so it’s possible that such rumors will be put to bed, but there’s nothing to stop them from performing at the closing ceremony as well.