Live Commentary: Baku 2015 European Games closing ceremony - as it happened

On June 12, Baku witnessed the opening ceremony of the inaugural European Games. Sixteen days and 217 sets of medals later, we bring the curtain down on what has proven a magnificent tournament - but there's one more spectacle to behold before Tottenham try to bid for this Olympic Stadium: the closing ceremony. Excited? Me too.

What can we expect then? Truthfully - I've got no idea. But I do know it'll be special. The ceremony will be overseen by James Hadley, who was the artistic director on the world-famous Cirque du Soleil. This means two things: 1) the show will almost certainly be visually stunning and 2) leave your mushrooms at home.

We've got also got music to look forward to. Lady Gaga performed during the opening ceremony. Can we top that tonight in terms of star power? Beyonce? Elton John? Rihanna? Sadly, I'm a known jinx, so get ready for Jedward ft somebody who was eliminated at boot camp in the 2007 edition of X-Factor. We jest. Clean Bandit are at least one of the musical guests. Will they be followed by another?

There has also been one or two murmurs around Baku that Katy Perry could be among the performers. I'm more of a T-Swift man myself so I'm indifferent in regards to whether or not these rumours prove true. But surely her presence would contribute to the show - and that's what it's all about.

Anywho, we're expected to get underway at around 8:15 pm local time - 4:15pm our time. Yep, we have an hour to kill. How's about we have a quick recap of the Games thus far? Why not. Link my arm as we stroll down memory lane together.

What a truly magnificent Games it has proven for Russian Federation, who will surely turn up at the closing ceremony looking like a bunch of Mr Ts by virtue of their shiny neck-wear. We pity the fool at customs when they're flying home.

Indeed, Team Russia has ripped this competition a new one. With 164, they have finished top of the medal table - 79 golds, 40 silvers and 45 bronze. Not bad, is it? They picked up 108 more medals than host nation Azerbaijan, who finished second! That should put their dominance into context, my friends.

In third we've got Great Britain, who did well by picking up 47 in total - nine less than Azerbaijan. It was a particularly successful Games for Team GB swimmers: Duncan Scott picked up three golds and three silvers. Luke Greenbank, who set a junior world record in the 200m backstroke, notched two golds and two silvers. Well done to them, and the many more Britons who excelled in and out of the pool.

Meanwhile, my own country Ireland didn't disgrace itself. We managed six medals in total - and two gold thanks to Katie Taylor and Michael O'Reilly in boxing. So the Irish know how to fight. Who knew.

It's about quality, not quantity folks. This concept has obviously flown over the heads of Team Russia, who will turn up at the closing ceremony with more metal on them than Robocop. We jest again. Well done Russia.

We should also point out that, while Russia's athletes are obviously extremely skilled in their chosen fields, they did bring a 359-strong team with them. That is 70 more than Azerbaijan - and 199 more than Great Britain! Domination was always on the cards for them.

Not to take anything away from Team Russia because, as we said, they've got some stunning athletes in their ranks - especially the swimmers!

Arina Openysheva was tipped to win eight gold by her coach. She won only seven, and one silver. Mariia Kamenva and Polina Egorova won six gold apiece. Daniil Pakhomov, Maria Astashkina, Anton Chupkov and Vasilissa Buinaia all won four golds in the pool.

See? Despite bringing with them plenty of numbers, so many of their athletes are exceptional - and the above names are just a select few. It would be impractical to name all of their medal-winning athletes - and it'd only be a matter of time before I spell one of their surnames incorrectly.

Before we have a quick look at the facts and figures involved in the upcoming close ceremony, can we spare a thought for Albania, Andorra, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Iceland, Lichenstein, Luxembourg, Malta and Monaco? These countries will leave the European Games without a single medal. Even San Marino won a few.

Again, we must bear in mind that the above nations more than likely didn't bring an abundance of athletes to the Games; meaning that a burgeoning medal haul was never on the cards. Fair is fair, right?

Anywho, shall we take a look at a few facts and figures surrounding the organisation of this closing ceremony? Why not.

Did you know that 5,000 hours of on-site preperation has been dedicated to ensuring that this evening's pyrotechnic display goes off without a hitch? Yep. And did you know there's 10,000 pyrotechnics? Yep. There will also be 12,000 earpieces in operation this evening - and 6,000 of them belong to Vladimir Putin's security team. That last one may not be true.

We've also got, hmm, 800 speakers, with 25km of cabling used to rig up the sound system. I think it's safe to assume we're in for quite a show, my friends.

What a magnificent arena this is, by the way. It took some 20.5 MILLION man hours to build this Olympic Stadium. Azerbaijan's national football team will begin using it once this competition has ended - and it will also host three games during Euro 2020, which will be held everywhere from Dublin to Mars apparently.

I can confirm that super heavyweight Joe Joyce, fresh from his gold-medal success at Crystal Hall, will be Team GB's flagbearer this evening. Incidentally, he sent Russian Gasan Gimbatov to the hospital with a comprehensive 3-0 win in the final. Meanwhile, 14-year-old Mona McSharry - Ireland's youngest athlete at the Games - will lead the Irish out.

One of four Sports Mole reporters on site in Baku, Jack Prescott, has been surveying the scene ahead of what promises to be a fine closing ceremony. We're 15 minutes away from the pre-show, according to the competition's official Twitter page.

In place for the @BakuGames2015 closing ceremony #Baku #Baku2015 pic.twitter.com/gCPBTddEqL — Jack Prescott (@JackPrescott86) June 28, 2015

No word on Katy Perry as of yet folks, but Clean Bandit are confirmed and here. Don't believe me?

I can confirm that we got our wires crossed and K Perry is actually performing at this closing ceremony.

Closing ceremony time, it's been emotional @PaccarScoutCamp #Japan2015 pic.twitter.com/ZHAy5D64F0 — The Flying Royals (@glmwjapan) June 28, 2015

That was a joke. She might be here. We just don't know as of yet. Anywho, we're just minutes away from the pre-show now folks. Stay tuned.

The FIRST CLASS #TeamGB European Games Swim Team ready to go to the Closing Ceremony.... #SmashedIt pic.twitter.com/CAaH1Di7lm

— Tim Jones (@swimtimswim) June 28, 2015

We've already had our facts and figures segment but how about this one: up to 68,000 people are expected to be in attendance for the main show this evening, with a potential worldwide television reach of more than 800 million. #DoingitBIGinBaku

Ceremonies on this scale are never going to ruin completely smoothly and there's a bit of a delay on the start of the pre-show, but it's only by two minutes so we'll let them away with it.

The stadium is still filling up nicely based on real-time pictures I've seen of the venue and the pre-show can't be far away now. Or can it? Lord knows. Think of it as a calm before the storm, my friends.

John Newman has been added to the bill of musicians. Well, I wouldn't say 'bill', given how it's just him and Clean Bandit.

Something tells me they only billed the pre-show for 20:15 to be clever, because it's 20:26 local time and there's no sign of the show as of yet.

I spoke too soon. Here we go ladies and gents.

I'm just being treated to a quick highlights reel of the opening ceremony, which looked spectacular. If the organisers emulate that this evening then we're in for quite a show folks.

The first bit of entertainment involves a group of young men dressed in black and gold, doing press-ups to the soundtrack of the crowd applauding them. I can only guess it's a symbolic gesture. For what? Hmm. Leave it with me.

Looks like new musicians are being confirmed all the time. We've got Clean Bandit, John Newman and Gareth Emery now.

Tonight I'm honored to play at the closing ceremony of the European Games...in THIS stadium 😁 #Baku2015 pic.twitter.com/aNddplRuE4

— Gareth Emery (@garethemery) June 28, 2015

We're 19 minutes away from the main event now, ladies and gents. Much of the pre-show has been limited to people inside the stadium, meaning that information is scarce for me, located in my house in Ireland, but I'll bring you everything as I get it.

As far as I can tell, all that's happened in the pre-show thus far is: a Mexican wave, some Azeri dancing and young men in those Russian hats doing press-ups. We're missing nothing folks. We've got the main course in 13 minutes!

We are ready now! #Closing #Ceremony #Baku2015 #realbaku2015 #biginbaku @BakuGames2015 @biginbaku pic.twitter.com/VTb6FZwTnz

— Nargis Sharifova (@nara_serifova) June 28, 2015

Five minutes. Ed Sheeran is being blared through the speakers, but he's not in Baku so I wouldn't get your hopes up. But he might be! No. He's definitely not.

The flame is still burning brightly in the Olympic Stadium. The fire will be extinguished to symbolise the end of the Games. Surely they've got a classy way of doing it, rather than some fat bloke in a vest throwing a bucket of water over it?

An announcement has been made: "the closing ceremony will begin in two minutes". There we have it. Tighten your seatbelts.

Right, we've just seen the president of Azerbaijan and his very attractive wife. Well done him. She won't be the last spectacular thing we see this evening so stay tuned. We're officially underway!

Two singers - one female, one male - now sing what I can only assume is the national anthem because it begins with "Azerbaijan" and the crowd stands up.

Both singers are joined by a choir comprised of children and adults, dressed mainly in white, as the Azeri flag is raised up the pole. And now fireworks! Lots of them.

Now we've got a bunch of men in red coats banging hand-held drums and dancing around quite impressively it has to be said. The drummers now give way to tap-dancers. Flatley best watch out. These boys have skills.

Dozens of dancers now emerge from underneath very large circular tents and three giant effigies of women are now twirled amongst the dancers. Visually, it is quite impressive to behold.

Lots more fireworks now as the castle is now peeled away to reveal the country's famous Flame Towers - not the actual ones obviously, but a very uncanny representation.

It appears as if we've seen the first segment - and it was excellent overall. Vibrant. Colourful, and ridiculously complex. Well done to the director - a former director of Cirque du Soleil as we noted. What's next? Stay tuned to find out.

Dozens of boys and girl, all dressed in white, now line a five or six-step monument and sing a celebratory song for the athletes. Here come the flags!

The women escorting the flagbearers are all very beautiful but they're wearing dodgy metal outfits. Gaga must have left them behind from the opening ceremony.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaand here come the athletes. Bear in mind there's about 6,000 of them here so we could be here for a while.

Here come the Azerbaijanis, huge round of applause for all nations but it's been cranked up a notch in recent minutes since the host country came out. No sign of Russia, Great Britain or Ireland yet.

I suspect the Russians will emerge walking like they've got hunchbacks by virtue of all the medals around their necks. What a memorable tournament it's been for them.

Here come Russian Federation now. The ones that don't have medals - all six of them - aren't too perturbed and they seem to be enjoying the entrance.

Lots of selfie sticks employed by many different athletes, of many different nations. The fella who invented those must be able to buy Azerbaijan if he wanted.

It's funny when the athletes play up for the camera, but when the cameraman doesn't move away they get nervous because they don't know what to do next. Anywho, no sign of Team GB just yet. Or Ireland. They must be keeping the best until last.

There's TEAM GB. Braaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaap. And then Ireland! Braaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaap.Both nations finally emerge and there can't be many countries left now.

All athletes take their seats in the stands now and we should be getting into part three of the ceremony very, very shortly.

Part three will entail a few speeches, which will probably be boring between me and you, but then we've got music from Clean Bandit, John Newman and Gareth Emery. I don't quite know who that last bloke is but time will tell.

Dozens upon dozens of fireworks now illuminate this Azeri skyline and here come the speeches. We've got the first lady and the president of some sort of committee - presumably European athletics or something.

The first lady has been doing the Kylie Jenner challenge. She speaks very eloquently about the Games, though.

The volunteers now get a huge round of applause - perhaps the biggest of the night. Indeed, well done them. Azerbaijan only had some two-and-a-half years to get this organised. Compare that to an Olympics, where host nations are given seven years.

The first lady finishes off her rousing speech with the words "thank you Azerbaijan" and she's applauded off. Here's Patrick Hickey, president of the European Olympic committee - an Irishman. Another brap.

Huge round of applause for Paddy, who declares the Games officially closed. I'm fascinated to see how they extinguish this flame. I've got visions of a tradesman standing on a ladder and pouring a bucket of water over it but surely it'll be a little more classy.

Now we've got part of the segment called the Energy of Youth, which sees young dancers in Lycra doing all sorts of proficient dancing: moonwalking, pop, locks and body popping while a blue light runs underneath their feet.

Visually this is quite something. Think Tron meets Diversity. It's excellent. I'm bringing these moves to the club next time around.

Women are now suspended from the top of the stadium in illuminated rings. Not only do you have to exceptionally talented for this, you can't possibly be afraid of heights.

The production is concluded when fireworks are released from the top of the stadium in unison - and we're talking about hundreds of them, not some bloke with a roman candle. It's truly amazing.

I've got a feeling we're nearing the musical part of the show, with Clean Bandit, John Newman and Gareth Emery. Before you ask: I don't know who he is, but he's apparently quite a proficient DJ so let's hope for good things.

Before we head into the final stretch we're being treated to a highlights package of some of the best bits in the competition thus far - and there's been cracking moments. Not bad for an inaugural tournament, eh?

We've got a sand artist drawing the tree of life, under the soundtrack to a fella playing the violin. This is taking place aloft a magnificent temple, with a fire lighting on each of the four corners. I didn't see the full opening ceremony, but if it was better than this it must've been some show.

Looks nothing like a tree so far but let's give her a minute. She's here for a reason. Neil Buchanan must've been busy.

We're being flippant. She's clearly immensely talented; she's painting birds and flowers with sand!

Outside of the temple, dancers, with a fake wing in each hand, jog around, while other performers display their talent with fire. When they said pyrotechnics I wasn't picturing this! This is incredible.

There's now an illuminated bird suspended some 70 feet in the air. Fire has been a fairly prominent theme in this ceremony thus far.

Hundreds of children now emerge carrying lanterns, and I can confirm that the flame of the Games has been extinguished - but I didn't catch how they did it! The lanterns have been attached to something which resembles a massive chandelier, which is being raised high above the floor. And that's that. Here's the music.

Our two Tron friends from earlier do their thing, while DJ Gareth Emery claps his hands trying to get the crowd involved. I'm not sure they're feeling it.

This is fantastic. Every performer is in the middle of the stadium, dancing unrehearsed this time, and they're going to be joined by the athletes it seems. I could be wrong but this is shaping up to be the biggest, craziest rave in history.

Gareth Emery, who received a rather lukewarm reception it has to be said, gives way to Clean Bandit, who kick off their set with Real Love.

There were rumours of Katy Perry earlier in the day, but those look unlikely to materialise at this juncture. After Clean Bandit we've got John Newman and that'll probably it. It's 22:46 local time.

If they perform Rather Be it might be rather apt, having flown to Baku after performing at Glastonbury earlier this weekend. Fair play to them. Anywho, they're playing Stronger now, so it remains to be seen if they will perform arguably their flagship song.

It's party time in Baku. Athletes interacting with athletes of different nations, along with the performers, who have stuck around. Could be a long, long night!

As expected, Clean Bandit bash out Rather Be - and the crowd love it!

Here's Gareth Emery back for one last tune from him I think. He's still clapping, trying to make this place rock, but this isn't his type of gig I don't think. Still, fair play for trying.

It appears as if Gaz is only a stop-gap to more established performers come on, because they're after cutting him off mid-way through a song in favour of introducing John Newman, who kicks off his set with Blame.

Mr Newman is now dancing how I dance in the club when I've had nine pints and Michael Jackson comes on. The professional dancers in attendance don't seem to mind, though.

Now he's singing Teardrops - presumably dedicated to Gareth Emery, who is most probably a bit upset after the organisers cut him off in favour of Newman.

Luckily Newman has a decent voice, because he can't dance for you know what. He's belting out Love Me Again now as the last of the fireworks are used to illuminate the Azeri skyline once more.

They've used enough fireworks here to cover the next 1,000 Halloweens - and they're still going on. It really is quite a spectacle.

And, you know what, I think we'll have to call it there folks. John Newman closes 17 days of European Games with an excellent performance of Love Me Again and that appears to be all she wrote in Baku, my friends.

Have you enjoyed it? I have - and so has Russia! Just the 164 medals for them and their excellent athletes. Great Britain came third behind host nation Azerbaijan in second and, given that they took markedly fewer athletes to Baku than the hosts and Russia, it's not a bad return at all.

Anywho, that just about does it, ladies and gents. Thanks for joining our live text commentary of the closing ceremony and we'll see you in Rio!