Beckham to join X Factor star in Beijing closing show

David Beckham and former X Factor winner Leona Lewis are among stars being lined up to feature in the closing ceremony of the Beijing Olympics.

The "handover" performance will mark the point when the next Games move to London.

A central feature of the eightminute spectacle in Beijing's 90,000 capacity Olympic stadium will be a red Routemaster bus on loan from Transport for London.

Beckham, who originates from Leyton and backed the 2012 bid, will jump off the bus for a kickabout with children representing every country in the world. At the next "stop" in the arena Lewis, Hackney-born winner of the 2006 X Factor talent show, will perform one of her hits.

The production will culminate in Boris Johnson receiving the Olympic flag from his Beijing counterpart. The Mayor has admitted practising every day to ensure he does not make a mistake at the ceremony - where he has to wave the six-metre flag back and forth eight times. He told business leaders that with an audience of three billion people watching, it would be embarrassing to drop it.