And on that note, the Paralympics come to a close. Thanks for reading. Roll on Tokyo …
Though the stands remain backed. Meanwhile, flags with “love” written on them in every language from a host country are being waved. Tom has appeared on the stage to give Sangalo a hug and there is an immense display of fireworks as Brazil’s most influential woman finishes her last song.
I would guess about 80% of the athletes’ seats are now empty as Sangalo goes into her fifth number and there is another burst of fireworks in the sky.
At least a hundred people dressed in some bizarre but striking outfits have emerged twirling those things that you put in your garden and spin when it’s windy. Do they have a proper name? Anyway, they are joined by Ivete Sangalo, who has 15m Twitter followers – suffice to say, there are few bigger stars in Brazil.
Now that’s done with, we can turn to the serious business of extinguishing the flame. And officially say goodbye to Rio 2016.
Calum Scott, who was formerly on Britain’s Got Talent, is now on stage performing a medley of cheesy pop hits.
Amarantos seems an improvement on the previous artists we were treated to … she’s certainly got a fine set of lungs.
Momento de @GabyAmarantos de hacer bailar al Maracaná. 🎵🎶🎵🎉#CeremoniaDeClausura #Rio2016 pic.twitter.com/ZfXA8azQ13
— Rio 2016 (@rio2016_es) September 19, 2016
Gaby Amarantos now appears. She will sing three more songs.
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Dream Team do Passinho, from the favelas, deliver more abysmal miming and some funky dancing.
Now more music from Saulo Fernandes. Again, it goes down brilliantly among those in the stands.
Such is the heaviness of the rain at the moment, many of the athletes have disappeared. We are being treated to more music following those speeches.
Craven will give Rio the Paralympic Order award, the highest honour they could receive for “their outstanding support of the Paralympic Games”. That pleases the thousands who are now getting quite wet seeing as the heavens have opened.
Craven speaks: “Tonight is a celebration of the past 12 days of sport but also a somber occasion after yesterday’s events … the whole Paralympic movement is united in grief.” There will now be a moment of silence.
Nuzman is now addressing the people of Rio. “Mission accomplished,” he says. “These were a spectacular Games and Brazil has shown the world what it can do.” The response: loud cheers from the big crowd in the Maracanã.
Nuzman starts by offering his sympathies to the Iranian team following the passing of Bahman Golbarnezhad. “We are very sorry for your loss.”
Now a montage of people saying obrigado to Riom before Carlos Arthur Nuzman and Craven appear on stage to deliver the official closing speech.
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Akira Hiyama, who is blind, appears next to “share his view of Tokyo from his imagination”.
Gimico, a famous amputee model in Japan, appears on stage and introduces Koichi Omae, a professional dancer that lost his left leg after being knocked down by a drunk driver more than a decade ago. He will perform a dance on stage.
Koichi Omae does “the kind of dance only possible for someone with one leg shorter than the other” #Tokyo2020 pic.twitter.com/oONmJ1gfGc
— Tokyo 2020 (@Tokyo2020) September 19, 2016
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The first Paralympics were held in Tokyo in 1964, of course, so we are being treated to a montage of that Games now.
Japan’s national anthem is impeccably delivered by a choir as the country’s flag is put on a mast and slowly pulled up by a member of the military. Tokyo will have a decent job on its hands to better these past two Paralympics.
The flag will now be handed over by Eduardo Paes, the Rio mayor, to Craven, who then gives it to the governor of Tokyo, Yuriko Koike.
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The Paralympic anthem is being played as the IPC flag is slowly taken down from its mast. A sad moment.
It’s time for a montage!
Is there an award for worst miming in the history of music?
There are now special awards being given to some volunteers, who are on stage with five of the biggest athletes from the Games, all of whom are being elected to the Paralympic council. This is all being soundtracked to a man singing (he’s miming, again) to One Love.
The five athletes
Monica Bascio – US – cycling
Kurt Fearnley – Australia – athletics
Chelsey Gotell – Canada – swimming
Elvira Stinissen – Netherlands – volleyball
Sarah Storey – GB – cycling
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The US athlete Tatyana McFadden and Ibrahim Al-Hussein of Syria will now receive a solid gold medal after being announced as winners of the Whang Youn Dai Achievement Award.
An email from Lael Previtali: “I’m Brazilian and.... Man... Vanessa da Mata and Nação Zumbi sucks.... Will this never end? The only good moment was the guitar player showing the poster: ‘Fora Temer’ (Get out, President Temer)”
"@ThiEarsiling: Lúcio Maia mandou um recado na #CerimoniaDeEncerramento #foratemer pic.twitter.com/ak8Sm8GGkV"
— Francisco NEP (@fco_nephew) September 18, 2016
The conga is growing in size as the third performer comes out. Unfortunately, a lack of proper introductions, the shortage of info supplied by the organisers and no captions on the TV feed means I’ve no idea what her name is. Yet.
Some key insight
@alansmith90 I thought Da Mata was a less fruity Carmen Miranda. As are most of us.
— TheRev LJP (@RevLJP) September 18, 2016
A conga has developed among some of the athletes.
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Oh, hold on. She’s on to her third number. The Tokyo games might have started by the time we wind up here.
Although, in saying that, the crowd seem to be loving it.
Da Mata is miming. And is really badly out of sync. It’s pants.
A thank you from ParalympicsGB to the people of Rio
From us to you, @Rio2016
— ParalympicsGB (@ParalympicsGB) September 18, 2016
(Subtitles: Thank you, Rio!) ❤️🇧🇷 pic.twitter.com/zI1JYkJUjJ
Vanessa da Mata has emerged in a spectacular outfit that is part dress, part poncho and it’s lighting up. She won a grammy and is well famous in Brazil. There will be one more musical act after her jaunty number before we leap on to the next segment of the ceremony.
Without sounding rude, this current segment is a bit mundane. Many of the athletes are creating their own fun instead – understandably. Back to Ricardinho, he was asked if his family would be watching him bring the flag into this famous old stadium. His response? “Yes and afterwards I will phone them and ask ‘was I handsome?’” Brilliant!
Here was the moment Cox carried the flag in to the Maracanã
The @ParalympicsGB flag enters the stadium with @kad_c
— C4 Paralympics (@C4Paralympics) September 18, 2016
She seized her moment to win 4 medals at #Rio2016
🇬🇧 ❤️ 🏅 https://t.co/SY8iOyBJou
More fireworks now, coming from the roof of the Marcanã … and we leap on to the section called “biodiversity: our inspiration”, a celebrating of nature featuring some music and graphics of leaves and trees.
The Brazilian flag comes out last, carried by the matchwinner in the five-a-side football, Ricardinho, who looks typically delighted to have the honour.
This was Cox’s reaction to learning she would carry the flag tonight.
.@kad_c on being chosen to be ParalympicsGB Closing Ceremony Flagbearer... pic.twitter.com/uGsOahjmxb
— ParalympicsGB (@ParalympicsGB) September 18, 2016
There is quite a big crowd in the stadium. Considering the fears over shocking pre-Games ticket sales, the cariocas have turned out in huge numbers. The people of Rio deserve plenty of credit for making the Paralympics a success.
Unlike the closing ceremony, there is no team parade. The athletes are already sat in the middle of the stadium. However, one athlete from each of the 160 countries participating in Rio will bring the flag out and plant it near the stage. Kadeena Cox, as mentioned earlier, is carrying the British flag.
Before the flag is raised, the national anthem is being belted out.
Now the Brazilian flag is brought out by six soldier and Craven is introduced to the crowd, who have been told to turn their phone torches on to add a little more to the spectacle.
Andreas Kisser is up next, hammering away at his guitar, with a selection of acrobats in wheelchairs, before Jonathan Bastos appears. If that name is unfamiliar, he’s worth checking out. Born without arms, he plays the guitar with his feet.
There is a 10 second countdown involving Gaby Amarantos, a Brazilian pop singer. And the cursory fireworks display from the roof of the stadium follows.
The lights in the Maracanã have dimmed. There is drumming. We are about to begin!
At last, it’s about to begin. Thanks for keeping with us.
Athletes are gathered in their seats and the Closing Ceremony is about to begin! #Paralympics #Rio2016 pic.twitter.com/FEVzUd3ccN
— snap: paralympics (@Paralympics) September 18, 2016
ParalympicsGB’s chef de mission, Penny Briscoe, has been on Channel 4. “Incredible, 11 days of tough competition, 264 athletes in 19 sports vying for medals. We smashed targets out of the water. We’re all delighted with the team’s performance. The mood in the camp has been fantastic. The athletes have really enjoyed competing here in Rio, not just because of huge success but because the Brazilians have hosted a fantastic Games.”
The head of the IPC, Sir Philip Craven, has been speaking about his experience of the Games: “Ten weeks ago it was a disaster, so we had to piece things together. I’m so proud. London just seemed to flow, the planets were in alignment. They were definitely out of alignment here but things came together. The future is very safe here.”
The contents of the closing ceremony have been kept quiet but there will be a moment of silence for Bahman Golbarnezhad, the Iranian cyclist who tragically passed away yesterday.
The seats in the Maracanã are beginning to fill up. Kadeena Cox, the multi-sport star of the Games, will be Great Britain’s flag bearer.
Meanwhile, RJ Mitte – he of Breaking Bad fame and an ambassador of the Paralympics – has been on Channel 4 to discuss what the event means for the US, who have been indifferent at best about the Paralympics before. “I do think they need to wake up,” he said. “I think they are. 2012 wasn’t just a freak, this is something that has an impact, people have to see this and want to see this.”
The Games have finished, but Jacob Steinberg was in Rio from start to finish. How does he evaluate GB’s haul?
Talent, pride, determination. That motto might look like nothing more than a collection of buzzwords at first glance, British Paralympic Association marketing speak that counts for little during the unforgiving heat of competition. But those three qualities coalesced brilliantly for ParalympicsGB in Rio, pushing a squad of 264 outstanding athletes to scale greater heights with each passing day, until the tally of 120 medals in London four years ago was well and truly beaten out of sight.
The final medal table
Hello! So the Paralympics draw to a close after a week and a half of unprecedented glory for Great Britain, some hugely emotional moments and an inevitable dosage of controversy. In one sense this is also the closing ceremony of two years of intense scrutiny on Brazil, its chaos and its struggles, dating back to the World Cup. This evening is a celebration of the Paralympics but it should also be a nod to that sense of closure. Inhabitants of Rio, your lives can now return to normal! Despite all the fears, it has passed off quite OK. Far from perfect, but by no means disastrous.
Anyway, what has your highlight of the Paralympics been? Which medallist stood out? What event left you captivated? Email me alan.smith@theguardian.com or Tweet @alansmith90.
The closing ceremony gets underway at around 6.30pm local time (10.30pm BST) and should last for three hours or so. Get yourself a cup of coffee, or open that bottle of wine and settle in for song, dance, colour and many, many fireworks.
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