The London Olympics closing ceremony, which featured music stars from The Who to The Spice Girls, has been broadly welcomed by the world's critics. According to The Guardian, the event was "a kaleidoscopic spectacle", while The Independent called it "eccentric, bewildering and shameless good fun". Initial figures suggest it was watched by an average of 23m viewers in the UK. The Telegraph said the show was "meant to be about cheese - an unabashed, honking hunk of over ripe Stilton". The ceremony, wrote the newspaper's music editor Bernadette McNulty, was "pitched somewhere between a wedding reception and tuning into Magic FM". Yet her review did bemoan the "obvious" absence of such "top-drawer" stars as David Bowie and Kate Bush and said the three-and-a-half hour event was "way too long". "This all-star mix of live and pre-recorded music was a major crowd-pleaser," declared David Rooney of the Hollywood Reporter, saying the event would be "regarded as a wonderfully chaotic treasure trove by some and a hot mess by others". The result, he continued, "echoed the fun, free-wheeling spirit and quirky humour established by director Danny Boyle in his divisive opening ceremony". The New Zealand Herald described the event at the Olympic Stadium in east London as "a pop culture smorgasbord that had touches of brilliance, beauty and bewilderment". Yet its critic Troy Rawhiti-Forbes expressed reservations about comedian Russell Brand's "tuneless" contribution and George Michael's performance of his new single White Light. "If there had been remote controls here in the stadium people might have been reaching for them," he suggested. The Times' critic Will Hodgkinson also bemoaned the "notable" absence of The Rolling Stones, Emeli Sande's "underwhelming" rendition of Read All About It and Ray Davies' "croaky" Waterloo Sunset. Overall, though, Hodgkinson concluded that the "joyful and welcoming" occasion "celebrated a side of British life too often dismissed as frivolous". The Spice Girls performed for the first time in four years, while George Michael returned to the stage after almost dying of pneumonia last year. Take That's Gary Barlow appeared just a week after suffering the loss of his baby daughter, who was stillborn. The Pet Shop Boys, Elbow, Jessie J and Monty Python star Eric Idle were among the other performers who took to a stage modelled on the Union Jack adorned with representations of familiar London landmarks. The UK television audience averaged 22.9 million viewers - more than the 22.4 million who watched the opening ceremony. The audience for Sunday's closing ceremony on BBC One peaked at 26 million at 21:35 BST, when the athletes entered the Olympic Stadium. Meanwhile, in Hyde Park in central London, a celebration concert took place featuring Blur, The Specials, New Order and Bombay Bicycle Club. BBC 6 Music's Matt Everitt said singer Damon Albarn "reflected Olympic fever, diving into the crowd wide-eyed, holding up a Union Jack and doing what's become known as 'The Mobot'". He added: "Both sides of Blur's character were on display - the celebratory mood was amplified with a frenetic Song 2, barrelling takes on Country House and Sunday Sunday, and a huge sing-along performance of Parklife - complete with Phil Daniels and Harry Enfield dressed as a tea lady. "But the band also showcased their more introverted side with live rarities Trim Trabb, Caramel and a subdued No Distance Left To Run. "As for whether this will be Blur's last gig, when the finale of The Universal drew to a close, a tearful Damon stood speechless until the very last minute, staring out over the crowd, before simply saying 'Good night' and wandering dazed offstage. And 'Good night' is very different to 'Goodbye'."