Stars celebrate London 2012 Paralympic Games countdown.
Leading UK pop acts and thousands of Londoners turned up to Clapham Common to celebrate a year to go until the start of the London 2012 Paralympic Games.
Sainsbury’s Super Saturday mixed music, sports, food and frolics to give everyone a great festival-inspired day out and raise the profile of The Paralympics.
Pixie Lott performed her current number one single ‘All About Tonight’ and The Wanted treated the audience to their first live performance of the new single ‘Lightning’.
A few hearts also ‘Skipped a Beat’ when Olly Murs strutted his stuff on the stage to the Stevie Wonder classic ‘Superstitious’.
Others to perform throughout the day included Dappy, Nicola Roberts, Will Young and Taio Cruz.
About 80 sportsmen and women were on hand to showcase their Paralympic sports around the vicinity whilst chart toppers performed on the big stage.
Even The Wanted, followed by their screaming fans, joined a game of Wheelchair Table Tennis with some female members of the British squad.
Children were queuing up to join in and have a go at wheelchair tennis and basketball in addition to some lesser known sports like Goalball, a sport which makes use of a ball containing bells, designed for visually impaired athletes.
Channel 4 were filming the first live programme of ‘That Paralympic Show’ with presenters Iwan Thomas and Rick Edwards.
Olympic silver medal winner Thomas, 35, admitted that the Paralympics needs the extra publicity boost: “Obviously everyone’s probably here for music there’s a lot of good acts. I mean Paralympics sports is brilliant but unless you get to see it.”
Following the Sugababes and a brief spell of rain, a fast and furious game of wheelchair basketball amused the crowds.
British wheelchair basketball squad member Lee Welch, 26 spoke of his excitement for 2012: “We’re going to get a big crowd out there this time next year.
“You know it’s going to be unbelievable. I’d say we’re up there with the best teams in the world. We all went to get that gold medal. We really do.”
The countdown to the Games began on Thursday 8th September with the International Paralympic Day in Trafalgar Square followed by tickets going on sale on Friday 9th.
To apply for tickets visit www.tickets.london2012.com.
