Commonwealth Games 2018 opening ceremony – as it happened

4 Apr 201808.42 EDT

Jonathan Howcroft

That’s a wrap from Carrara Stadium. The 21st Commonwealth Games are now officially open. I’ll see you back here when there’s action to report. Until then, goodnight!

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This is proper closing ceremony stuff now. Lots of helicopter shots of fireworks, people dancing, coloured lights everywhere. Well done Gold Coast, that wasn’t terrible.

It’s a kaleidoscope of colour and movement out on Carrara Oval now, fireworks everywhere, all underneath this massive white wale.

Starting to reach the end of the show now. The lights come up and Ruel is singing a nice up-tempo number called Golden Years.

On Migaloo’s body we can now see images of Antarctica and the Great Barrier Reef. The images of the contrasting environments merge and meld – becoming one - as, for Migaloo, the places depicted are all one home. The artwork is designed by Delvene Cockatoo-Collins, the artist commissioned to design the medals for the Games.

This is all about Migaloo, the white whale, from earlier. “This is a celebration of our shared Home and our essential connectivity to everyone and every place, as symbolized by the white whale, Migaloo. Migaloo serves to remind us that, whoever we are and wherever we are, we live in the same place; we share the same fantastic planet; we are all connected. Despite our apparent differences, we are all simply a part of the human race and our island is our shared home.”

Into the arena floats a massive animatronic whale. It’s late, I’m not sold, to be honest. It’s all gone a bit Spinal Tap.

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This has been a splendid opening ceremony but studded with crushing gear changes. Here’s another. Straight from a Coldplay-inspired pop song to silence, a cool blue light, Sigur-Rossy music and a hypnotic contemporary dance display.

Delta Goodrem is singing Welcome to Earth, which is quite literally a song, wearing the Brownlow Medal gown Diana Ross would have worn, had she ever dated a VFL footballer.

From Charlie to Delta...

HRH is now reading out the message from his mum celebrating the spirit of the Commonwealth. It ends with him declaring the 21st Commonwealth Games open!

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Netballer Liz Ellis is next, she’s having a whale of a time. After that it’s hockey starr Brent Livermore. Finally it’s world, olympic and dual Commonwealth Games gold medalist Sally Pearson. She receives the biggest roar of the night on her way up to the dais where the Queen’s message is removed - just - from the baton and handed to HRH Prince Charles.

Now Susie O’Neill, ‘Australia’s Madame Butterfly’ hands the baton over to cyclist Brad McGee, who takes it to Paralympic legend Kurt Fearnley.

There’s now more dancing, illustrating the attractions of modern day Queensland. Feeding lorikeets, skydiving, dreaming in the ocean, walking in the treetops, and riding the rollercoaster.

The baton has arrived in the stadium, in the kombi van, with the mystery guest... who could it be!?? Susie O’Neill!

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Louise Martin CBE, President of the Commonwealth Games Federation is up next. “The Commonwealth is now more relevant than ever before,” she says. Going on to celebrate gender equity in these games as well as the Reconciliation Action Plan and the integration of para-sports.

“Beautiful one day, perfect the next. Welcome to Australia, welcome to Queensland, and welcome to the Gold Coast!” Decent dismount from Peter Beattie.

We’re into the speeches. First to have a crack is The Hon. Peter Beattie, Chairman of Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games Corporation.

An Australian athlete, coach and technical official declare the oath on behalf of all competitors. Forgive me, I only managed to pick up the name of one of the three, legendary netball coach Lisa Alexander.

“The Oath We come to this place from many lands… To demonstrate the spirit of true sportsmanship that we all share. And to stand up for the values and ideals that live at the heart of these Games: Our shared Humanity – the respect we give each other, finding lasting friendships and common ground in our diversity. Our shared Equality – the level playing field on which we compete, providing fairness and opportunity for all. And our shared Destiny – to do our best here, so we inspire individuals and communities around the world to realise their own aspirations. This is our oath.”

“Why did they not get JF to sing at the games?” asks Kerrie Leonard. “Disappointing!”

This is the backdrop to the parade of the flag of the Commonwealth Games Federation which is being walked around the arena by six athletes, all recent appointees to the CGF Athlete Advisory Commission:

Brendan Williams: Dominica, Natalie Du Toit (para-sport representative): South Africa, Alison Shanks: New Zealand, Nicole Forrester: Canada, Colin Gregor: Scotland, Rhona Toft: Scotland

Yes! There’s a choir! It’s like that scene in Hot Rod with Andy Samberg.

From the sublime to... a cover of You’re The Voice! Emma Dean singing has a great voice, and there’s plenty of pathos, but this is pure unashamed bombast.

Truck driver’s gear change alert!

We’re being fed video footage of smoking ceremonies occurring simultaneously across Queensland at other event venues. It’s a captivating experience. The rhythm of the drumming, the resonance of the didgeridoo, the smoke from the burning leaves, the dancing.

Now we’re back in the centre of the arena where Luther Cora and his family are performing a traditional smoking ceremony. There’s one mesmeric male voice accompanied by a didgeridoo and the rhythmic beating of sticks.

The smoking ceremony is an ancient and enduring custom still widely practiced among many Indigenous Australians. It involves burning various native plants to produce smoke. To ‘bathe’ in the smoke is to cleanse oneself and connect with each other and with the land. It is also about connecting with good spirits.

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That little globe from the opening scene is back, which is a nice touch, but this time it’s resting on a plinth on a white baby grand piano, like an ominous music video to accompany Superman II.

With the athletes, coaches and technical officials of 71 nations and territories assembled, Katie Noonan and the Gold Coast Choir are performing You’re Welcome Here.

That’s all the athletes in Carrara Stadium, we’ll back with more formalities shortly.

This is hypnotic.

... Tuvalu, Vanuatu, and host nation Australia!

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Not tonight. Tonga led out by female boxer Magan Maka.

I’m not going to lie, I’m getting fatigued. Still, this isn’t about me, it’s about Nauru, New Zealand, Niue, Norfolk Island, Papua New Guinea, Samoa and Solomon Islands.

Last region into the arena is Oceania. I won’t lie, I’m hanging to find out what kind of Australiana Australia will walk out to. But first we have Cook Islands, Fiji, and Kiribati led out by David Katoatau who wins my flag-bearer of the night award.

... Saint Lucia, St Kitts and Nevis, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago (repping Carnival), and the Turks and Caicos Islands.

Fourteen Caribbean nations, starting with Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados (my favourite flag, I love a trident), British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands, Dominica, Grenada, Jamaica, and Montserrat, owners of the Tracksuit of the Games award. Those silver and black belters will go for a mint on eBay.

Into Asia now. Bangladesh, Brunei Darussalam, India, Malaysia and Pakistan. Singapore step out just as Throw Your Arms Around Me by Hunters and Collectors comes on and I fell like leaning over and giving Roy and HG a massive drunken bear hug. I’m hugging all the way through Sri Lanka’s entrance.

Moving on to the Americas now, who arrive to the iconic Horses by Daryl Braithwaite. Belize, Bermuda, Canada, Falkland Islands, Guyana, St Helena, and The Bahamas.

We had the Australian flag and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags.

... Uganda, United Republic of Tanzania, and Zambia. That concludes the African nations.

Aye, beyond the flag bearer pretty much everyone in the procession is holding up a mobile phone.

... Sierra Leone, South Africa, Swaziland, and The Gambia, the smallest team in the games, just six athletes in total. Not to be confused with England, of course. Well, not again, anyway.

... Nigeria, Rwanda and Seychelles, who hold the record for the most Commonwealth Medals (six) without securing gold.

... Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique and Namibia, led out by the visually impaired. Ananias Shikongo. Remarkably, when Shikongo was four-years old he lost his left eye in an accident when his brother tried to shoot birds using a bow and arrow. Three years later, while working in a field, a donkey kicked him in his right eye, resulting in him losing sight in that eye too.

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Time for Africa now. Botswana, Cameroon and Ghana - who, in a factoid that will not be repeated again over the next few days, used to be knows as Gold Coast.

Fun fact - I had a medley of Australian TV themes played by a concert pianist during my wedding. Don’t ask.

Accompanying the teams as they process is the Queensland Symphony Orchestra and the Queensland Youth Orchestra, working their way through the great Australian songbook. Gibraltar, Guernsey (to strains of Alex Lloyd’s ‘Amazing’), Isle of Man, Jersey (rocking a Wayne Mardle Hawaiian shirt uniform), Malta, Northern Ireland and Wales.

Cyprus come through next, followed by England, led by Alistair Brownlee.

I thought the CGI worked brilliantly. Agree on the singing though, but I guess it’s one less thing to worry about on the night.

First in... Scotland! As the host nation of the last games they have the honour. They will lead out the European contingent. 400m hurdler Eilidh Doyle is carrying the Scottish flag.

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We’re getting ready now for the Parade of Nations. The teams will enter by region and in alphabetical order. Each team will be led in by a Nipper carrying a rescue board decorated to ‘announce’ the name of the nation or territory they are leading.