Spanish tenor Placido Domingo will grace the stage in a duet with Chinese star soprano Song Zuying on Sunday, the last day of the 17-day Olympic festival, according to China Daily, which cited what a director of the first part of the ceremony's cultural performances had told a Shanghai news website.

Director of the closing ceremony's first scene Tao Chunjie told Chinese media earlier that the program would feature elements of culture from Yunnan province, in south-western China.

In contrast with the opening ceremony, the closing event would not be preceded by dress rehearsals because the men's marathon was to end just eight hours earlier, the newspaper said.

Although the broad content of the closing ceremony remains a secret, the report said a kung fu display featuring 350 practitioners from a Bejiing martial arts school would be part of the show, as well as an ensemble of 60 players of the erhu. a Chinese string instrument.

Renowned Chinese director Zhang Yimou told Chinese media earlier this month that the show's climax would be the extinguishing of the Olympic flame.

Zhang, chief director for both the opening and closing ceremonies, said, ''We are dedicated to creating a happy atmosphere at the closing ceremony. The message is to say goodbye, and to promise to meet again in four years.''

The report said organisers had made contingency plans for any possible, emergency, with the biggest threat being rain, which might force part of the show to be cut or readjusted.

The closing ceremony be at the open-air National Stadium, or Bird's Nest, as was the opening ceremony.

London, host of the 2012 Olympics, will perform an eight-minute dance show during the ceremony. DPA