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OLYMPIC GAMES

Tokyo Olympics 2021 closing ceremony: performers, times, TV, stream and how to watch

The Olympic Games officially come to an end at the August 8 closing ceremony, with half of the athletes back at home and an empty stadium to be seen.

Update:
The Tokyo 2020 Olympics Opening Ceremony - Olympic Stadium, Tokyo, Japan - July 23, 2021.
MARKO DJURICAREUTERS

The closing ceremony, implemented since the first modern Olympics in Athens in 1896, is a celebration that takes place to mark the end of the current Games and the beginning of the next ones, in this case Paris 2024.

Each closing ceremony has its own theme set around a certain idea. This year, the International Olympic Commmittee (IOC) has chosen “Worlds we share” as its theme. Organizers say it truly “reflects the Olympic spirit and expresses the idea that each of us inhabits their own world”.

Even though the way each host country conveys artistically the theme is different, there are still certain structures to follow throughout the ceremony. Those protocols were set in 1920 with Antwerp as its first “traditional” closing ceremony. Some of the rules to stick with are: the parade of nations’ flags, the handing out of medal awards to winners, victory parade which includes all the winners of every event, and the lowering of the Olympic flag, which is then handed over to the following host country.

However, the most representative element of the closing ceremony is the extinguishing of the Olympic flame, which marks the true end of the Games.

Closing ceremonies: when and where?

Tokyo 2020 will conclude on Sunday, August 8, with several events, including volleyball, boxing, and the men’s marathon all scheduled for the final day of competition. The last event of the Tokyo Olympic Games will be the men’s waterpolo final at 3:30 a.m. ET. After the last goal is scored and the final winner is declared, the closing ceremony will take place at the Tokyo Olympic Stadium at 7 a.m. ET.

**Follow all the action live**

How to watch live

NBC will be airing the ceremony live starting at 7 a.m ET, August 8, and will show a full, prime-time replay of the event at 7:30 p.m. on the same day.

Nevertheless, if you don’t have cable, NBC will also live stream the ceremony on NBCUniversal's streaming service Peacock, so you can easily watch the event, or through a variety of streamers including Sling TV, FuboTV, Youtube TV. Fubo TV offers a seven-day free trial.

What artists are performing at the closing ceremony?

The IOC has remained silent about who the artists performing at Tokyo's closing ceremony are going to be.

However, even if no official confirmation have been done yet, most-likely we will se Jonas Brothers performing live tomorrow at the closure event. Several weeks ago JB posted a tik tok where they promoted their new song by saying they were going to perform at the Tokyo Olympic Games, performance that hasn't yet happened... will August 8 be the day the American teen icons perform live?

Even though little have been revealed about how the ceremony will be or who will be performing, thanks to the opening ceremony we can have an idea about the style of music organizers have chosen for the host country's closing event. At the official beginning, several singers and dancers performed a show around the theme "Moving Forward: United by Emotion", after Japanese singer Misia performed Japan's national anthem.

John Legend was one of the American singers that performed the "Imagine" music video played at the event, together with other highly recognized international singers such as Spaniard Alejandro Sanz, Australian Keith Urban and Benin's Angélique Kidjo.