Scaled-down closing ceremony aims for big emotional statement

Tonight's closing ceremony for the Beijing Paralympics will feature a fraction of the cast of thousands mobilised for the Olympic Games finale, but organisers promise the event at the National Stadium will be just as touching.

Chen Weiya , assistant director for the opening and closing ceremonies, was quoted as saying: 'Although we are still forbidden to reveal the name [of each act of the performance] and the specific content, you can trust that we will find an ingenious angle for expressing the conviviality, sincerity and friendship suited to the closing ceremony.

'The closing ceremony for the Paralympics should be worthy of people's anticipation,' the Hangzhou -based Du Shi Kuai Bao reported him saying.

Mainland media said the two-hour ceremony would depict the unique features of Beijing, pay homage to the power of life and nature, and encourage interaction between performers and spectators.

The event's chief director, Zhang Jigang , said the ceremony's major scenarios would be largely the same as for the opening ceremony, but 'it will make people feel more warm-hearted, natural, fresh and crisp'.

Echoing the Olympics' closing theme song, Hard to Say Goodbye, the keynote song for the Paralympics' closing is One More Glimpse and will be sung by People's Liberation Army singer Tan Jing , Singaporean pop star Stefanie Sun and Hong Kong Canto-pop stars Karen Mok Man-wai and Joey Yung Cho-yee.