Exciting new acts join Line-up for London Olympic Handover Celebrations

On August 24, 40,000 people will gather in The Mall to watch performances from multi-million-selling artists including The Feeling, Il Divo, Katherine Jenkins, McFly and now joined by Will Young, James Morrison, and Scouting for Girls.

Featuring unique collaborations and specially-arranged performances, some with a sporting theme, the show from the Mall will synchronise with the Beijing 2008 Olympic Closing Ceremony at which London Mayor Boris Johnson will be symbolically handed the Olympic flag, officially marking the start of London’s tenure as Summer Host city in front of a worldwide audience estimated to be around 1.5 billion

Tickets have already been allocated via a ballot, which was oversubscribed, but the public will be able to watch the performances via the UK’s largest-ever network of public giant screens, known as ‘Live Sites’. The event will also be broadcast live to the rest of the nation on BBC One and BBC Radio 2.

London 2012 Organising Committee Chairman Sebastian Coe said: “At approximately 2.30pm UK time, on the afternoon of August 24 the Olympic Flag will pass from the Mayor of Beijing to the Mayor of London in the Olympic Stadium in Beijing and the eyes of the world will turn to us. This will be a thrilling moment."

Colin Grannell, Executive Vice-President, Partnership Marketing at Visa Europe, said: “As a global supporter of the Olympic Games for more than two decades we at Visa are proud to sponsor an historic and memorable event for people to celebrate the return of the Games to London after sixty years.”

Scouting for Girls “This will truly be one of the most memorable events that we have ever performed at, and we are so happy to be involved. Our nation should feel very proud to be the next host city for the Olympic and Paralympic Games.”

James Morrison said “‘Being involved with the Olympic Handover celebrations, and playing in front of Buckingham Palace to thousands of people is going to be amazing. It’s one of those once in a life time opportunities and I am very excited!”

Further announcements of acts will be made in due course. These Beijing Games will be the first ever 24/7 Olympic Games. BBC Television will broadcast more than 2,750 hours of coverage, giving viewers access to live coverage, the latest news updates regardless of the time of day and where they are, through the BBC's extensive TV, radio, online, mobile and BBC iPlayer services.

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Notes to Editors:

The Live Site screens will represent a major legacy from London 2012 with the fixed locations plan to operate not just for the four years up to 2012, but for many years afterwards. They will carry a range of local information, news, cultural, sporting, education and community events and content. Moving forward, the screens will also have interactive capabilities which will enable cities to link to each other.

Screen breakdown

There will be eight permanent screens funded by the National Lottery through the Olympic Lottery Distributor, erected in Cardiff, Middlesbrough, Plymouth, Portsmouth, Swansea and Waltham Forest. Subject to planning permission, there will also be screens in Bristol and Norwich. This project is a unique collaboration between LOCOG, its partners in the project the Olympic Lottery Distributor, Lloyds TSB, BT and Panasonic, the cities and the BBC.

Screens will be erected for the 2008 Games in Canary Wharf (London) and Leicester.

Further screens will also be operating for the handover day in Belfast, Glasgow, Herne Bay, Notting Hill and Weymouth, funded by LOCOG and in Hackney, Greenwich, Coventry, Kettering, Southend-on-Sea and Great Yarmouth and other areas funded by local authorities and organisations.

Screens from the BBC-driven Public Space Broadcasting Network will be used in Birmingham, Bradford, Derby, Hull, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Rotherham and Swindon during the Games and for Handover.

LOCOG is in discussion with CABE and English Heritage to ensure that these screens are well designed and will have a positive effect on the towns and cities hosting them.

Sing the Nation

A festival to unite the UK in song this August: all kinds of people singing all kinds of music in all kinds of places. There will be singing in museums, libraries, parks abbeys and city centres. All events are participatory. Museum events range from Songs of London at the Museum of London to Sing Yorkshire in Rotherham.

Sing the Nation culminates on August 24th’Olympic Handover ceremonies when regions across the UK will hold mass city sings led by community choirs. From Glasgow to Cardiff, people across the UK will lift their voices. The result is expected to be the UK’s biggest singalong.

Each city will sing one regional song which connects to that location: Danny Boy in Ulster…I do like to be beside the seaside in Blackpool; Derby Ram in Derby…. Delila in Swansea… Maybe it’s Because I’m a Londoner in Walthamstow and Greenwich.

Cities taking part in the City sings include: Middlesbrough; Glasgow; Portsmouth; Manchester; Norwich; Hull; Bradford; Coventry; Derby; Birmingham; Swansea; London; Leicester; Blackpool.

Sing the Nation is delivered by Sing London, a not for profit company who delivered Sing London in 2007. Sing the Nation is supported by Paul Hamlyn Foundation, LOCOG and the Heritage Lottery Fund.

For further information please contact:

The London 2012 Press Office on +44 (0)203 2012 100 or visit the website at www.london2012.com or Sameena Rizwi at Freud Communications Sameena.Rizwi@freud.com mobile: 07961 373 464.