Time to Party for Athletes, Greeks
BY CHRISTY LEMIRE
AP Entertainment Writer
ATHENS, Greece (AP) _ In the end, it didn't matter which dream teams the other countries brought _ Greece had its own during the closing ceremony.
An all-star lineup of Greek pop icons had Olympic Stadium rocking Sunday night with classic songs and new hits amid glittering fireworks, clouds of confetti and balloons.
Anna Vissi _ Greece's own Madonna _ sang her famous song "Eisai" ("You Are"), and its disco rhythms had volunteers and even a few journalists dancing in the aisles.
Alkistis Protopsalti got the crowd swaying and singing along to the title song from the 1960 film "Never on Sunday," by Greek composer Manos Hadjikdais.
Also sharing a rectangular, rotating stage were veterans Dionyssis Savvopoulos and Eleftheria Arvanitaki, along with newer stars Michalis Chatzigiannis and Adonis Remos.
But the loudest cheers and applause were for up-and-coming pop star Sakis Rouvis, who descended from the sky on cables in an all-white jumpsuit that made him look like Elvis _ the young, thin one.
Rouvis, who's wildly popular from his performance in a Mediterranean version of "American Idol," told The Associated Press the previous night that he wasn't nervous about performing in front the entire world.
"It's something I'll look back on the rest of my life," he said during the final Sports Illustrated party, "being able to perform in the closing ceremony for my country."
Rouvis' presence among the fabulous crowd at the magazine's final party of the Olympics is further evidence that you had to know the right people to get into the best bashes during the games.
The famous series of Sports Illustrated parties, which took place at a posh beach club, improved in size and star power as competitions ended and athletes became free to let loose.
Australian swimmer Ian Thorpe was a staple at the events, and at the most recent one, he radiated resort chic in white linen and a dark tan. Lounging on a couch in the corner, he obligingly posed for photos with star-struck women, who turned into giggly girls in his presence.
The entire U.S. women's soccer team showed up and danced on stage to a rap version of Michael Jackson's "Thriller," having won the gold medal a few days earlier. Several members of the champion American softball team also were there, including statuesque blonde pitcher Jennie Finch in a denim micro-mini skirt.
Other medalists who weren't quite so famous also mingled at the packed party _ many of them showing off their shiny new hardware _ including rower Beau Hoopman, wearing the gold he'd gotten a week earlier with the U.S. eight, and American long jumper John Moffitt with his silver around his neck.
"It's everything I expected and more," Hoopman said of his Athens experience, surveying the throbbing crowd.
As the soiree was getting into full swing around 1 a.m. Sunday, the bronze medal-winning U.S. synchronized swimming team took to the pool at the center of the club.
The women kicked and snaked through their performance with crisp precision to the strains of patriotic music, as a nearly full moon illuminated them from above.
Three hours later, a guy and a girl at the party spontaneously jumped into the same pool and floated around a bit. Security promptly fished them out and escorted them across the dance floor, through spilled drinks and broken glass, and out the door.
That's when you know the party's really over.
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