Olympic closing ceremony 'includes Muse and Michael'

Muse, fronted by Matt Bellamy, say they are taking part

London 2012 officials are keen to keep secret details of Sunday's Olympic closing ceremony, refusing to confirm announcements from Muse and George Michael that they will take part.

Former Wham! singer Michael announced his involvement on Twitter.

Muse, who performed the official track for the Olympics, told NME magazine they would be involved.

"We want to keep everything a secret, as with the opening ceremony," said a Locog spokesman.

"There's been rumours bandied about, particularly in the last 48 hours."

The ceremony, which begins at 2100 BST on Sunday, is likely to be watched by a capacity 80,000 crowd at the Olympic Stadium, with a global TV audience that could match the estimated 900m who watched the opening of the Games.

It will be called "A Symphony of British Music" and artistic director Kim Gavin said months ago the programme would span music from "Elgar to Adele".

Michael tweeted on Tuesday: "Spending most of the next week rehearsing like crazy for the Olympic closing ceremony...

"Obviously a bit nervous not having played for nearly a year, but rehearsals sounding great so far!"

Singer Ed Sheeran told Australian radio recently that he was down to sing with Pink Floyd, prompting a swift denial from the band.

The Who, Madness, Take That and the Spice Girls are all rumoured to be taking part.

The closing ceremony cast will be mainly made up of more than 4,000 local volunteers including around 400 children.

It will include a procession of the participating nations' flagbearers, followed by athletes appearing together rather than divided by nationality, symbolising how the Games bring the world together.

Three flags - Greece, host nation Great Britain and Brazil, which holds the 2016 Olympics - will be raised and International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge will declare the London 2012 Olympic Games closed.

At the end of the ceremony the Olympic flame, which has been burning in the stadium since the Games opened on 27 July, is extinguished.