Martin Garrix, Teen Guitarist Yang Tae-Hwan & K-Pop Stars Light up Dazzling Winter Olympics Closing Ceremony

After a fortnight that provided endless snowy thrills, the crowning of new Winter Olympic kings and queens and the usual allotment of crushed dreams and heart-filling underdog stories, the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics roared to a close on Sunday (Feb. 25) with a glorious, colorful bang.

As befitting a nation whose technological and musical prowess is on a steep incline, the day-glo closing ceremonies (which took place early in the morning U.S. time before being re-broadcast on NBC in prime time) were heavy on hi-def digital theatrics and packed with the nation’s hugely popular K-pop stars, including EXO and CL, as well as Dutch EDM superstar Martin Garrix and a 13-year-old child prodigy who nearly stole the show from all of them with his rocking take on a classical masterpiece. Not to mention NBC commentator Johnny Weir’s favorite thing: Roller-blading pandas.

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The eye-popping night kicked off with 102 skaters (there were 102 events at the Games) in paint-splattered white costumes gliding around on the giant circular stage on top of candy-colored, shifting digital tableaus representing the different sports, ending with the group forming the Olympic rings as fireworks light up the chilly night sky.

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With the stands blinking like giant video game displays, the event’s first iconic moment came with a scene-stealing performance from teen guitarist Yang Tae-Hwan, who tore up the “Winter” section of Vivaldi’s “The Four Seasons” on electric guitar. Hammering on the strings like a grade school Eddie Van Halen, he slashed away accompanied by dancers in light-up suits on the stadium’s long ramp doing acrobatic moves while attached to bungee cords. As with the opening ceremony, the closing was a mixture of the ancient and the modern, as evidenced by the 80-musician group playing the traditional zither-like Korean geomungo alongside Tae-Hwan and Seoul post-rock band Jambinai as well as a throng of female dancers in long white skirts spinning underneath a digitally projected pagoda roof.

The ceremony was filled with the kind of over-the-top set pieces that are expected from the Olympics, especially the typically looser, less formal closing, where the athletes who’ve spent four years laser-focused on this moment can finally relax and mingle with each other. Jesse Diggins, who won the U.S.’s first medal in cross-country skiing, was among the athletes carrying their nation’s flags, marching in to form a circle in the middle of the floor as a prelude to all the athletes marching in together as a symbol of the event’s unity.

During their entrance the stands lit up with the digital flags of the record 92 nations that participated in the Games and the floor was scattered with projected snowflakes, the perfect backdrop for the gold medal-winning U.S. women’s hockey team to whoop it up one more time and get their last Pyeongchang selfies and “USA! USA!” chants out of their systems.

Not to be outdone, some of the athletes put on their own display during the blowout, including French figure skater Morgan Cipres, who triumphantly carried partner Vanessa James over his head, not to mention everyone’s oiled-up, barechested favorite, Tonga’s Pita Taufatofua, who flexed alongside U.S. skiing legend Lindsey Vonn, celebrating her final Olympics.

Though the U.S. had one of its most lackluster showings in recent memory, the raucous Canadian delegation marched in with their heads held high — and with many showing off their new bling — after their best Winter Olympics ever, complete with 29 medals (including 14 gold).

As a callback to the opening ceremony’s signature moment, 300 drones hovered over the 35,000 attendees in the shape of the Games’ official mascot, white tiger Soohorang, before reforming into a giant floating heart. Amid the pageantry was an in memoriam segment for the athletes who’ve passed, lead by 20 performers holding giant dandelions (symbolizing life arising from death), trailed by a giant glowing turtle, the symbol of long life.

Following a thrilling black and white segment that featured dramatic, swirling projections on the floor, one of the nation’s biggest stars strutted out for a showcase that brought some serious attitude to the stadium. Dressed in a striking gothy black outfit with a leather bustier and chainmail accents, former 2NE1 rapper CL made the crowd go nuts with “The Baddest Female.” Surrounded by dancers with streaked hair, the rapper ascended to a mini stage as flames shot up all around her and she got the whole stadium to chant along to another Olympic-appropriate hit, “I Am the Best.”

The ceremonial handing over of the Olympic flag to the mayor of the next host city, Beijing, China, in 2020, segued into the preview of the 24th Winter games. The circular floor of the stadium turned into a giant swirl of colorful tracers as glittering, roller-blading pandas took their laps alongside luminous Tron-like roller skaters in a mesmerizing visual display that turned the stage into a giant futuristic Etch a Sketch.

The eye-popping spectacle rose to a din with the big baller entrance from EXO following a traditional dance from the group’s Kai. The other seven members rushed in on neon-lit ATV’s and then assembled mid-floor in their sharp white suits with black accents for tightly choreographed runs through their 2013 hit “Growl” and last year’s “Power,” flanked by black-clad dancers wearing glowing gloves.

And, just as the lighting of the Olympic flame is always an emotional high point, the extinguishing of it came with the proper ceremony as 400 dancers carrying LED balls entered the stadium and a flurry of digital snowflakes traced up to the torch to snuff it out on a bittersweet note for the NBC crew. The tears didn’t last long, though, as Garrix cranked things up and made the whole stadium rock, with athletes and attendees in the stands jumping up and down as the Dutch superstar spun from behind a glowing DJ booth.

The global rave ended in a hail of colorful fireworks above the stadium soundtracked by homegrown DJ Raiden, capping 10 days filled with chills, thrills, and yes, plenty of spills.

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