Smart dresses, raging bulls, carnivals: Birmingham opens Commonwealth Games 2022 in style
The opening ceremony showcased the city of Birmingham’s unity, inventions, culture and a Parade of Nations, with some dapper drapes by the Indian athletes.
The Commonwealth Games 2022 officially got underway with a snazzy opening ceremony - replete with performances, carnivals, puppets, a raging bull and an inspirational speech by Malala Yousafzai - at the Alexander Stadium in Birmingham on Thursday.
It kicked off with some virtual reality as 72 houses - representing each nation competing at Birmingham 2022 - hovered over the stadium.
Then, several vintage cars, owned by local residents, were driven into the stadium to form the shape of the Union Jack. This was to showcase Birmingham’s history in the motor industry and at the end, Prince Charles, accompanied by wife Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, drove his own Aston Martin into the stadium.
Mezzo-soprano Samantha Oxborough then belted out the UK’s national anthem, ‘God Save the Queen’ and performing along with her was the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and a choir of 700 people.
Some famous Birmingham personalities like playwright William Shakespeare, composer Edward Elgar and writer Samuel Johnson were showcased in the form of giant puppets.
It was followed by an inspirational welcome speech by Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai, who now calls the city of Birmingham her home.
Performances by Black Sabbath founder Tommy Iommi, who did a guitar solo, saxophonist Soweto Kinch and the Birmingham Royal Ballet followed.
A carnival-like performance was created to showcase Birmingham’s various inventions, like the celluloid film and the printing press.
The highlight of the ceremony then arrived in the form of a 10m-high bull, which took five months to build, being pulled by female chain workers. It represented the 1910 strikes when the workers went on strike, demanding better pay, and the bull shed its outer skin to represent the victory of the workers.
The Parade of Nations then began with Australia, the hosts of the previous CWG, walking in first, followed by nations from the Oceania region.
Countries from the regions of Africa, America, Asia, the Caribbean and Europe then entered in that order.
The Indian contingent - led by flagbearers PV Sindhu and Manpreet Singh - were dressed in some dapper attire, showcasing some traditional flavour in their long kurta and pyjamas.
“It's a very proud moment representing my country. It's my second time (after Gold Coast 2018), so I'm really excited by the honour,” PV Sindhu said. “It’s an exciting environment, with all sports coming together.”
India had one of the biggest number of participants during the parade, including veterans like Sharath Kamal and young guns like Chirag Shetty, Lakshya Sen and Sathiyan Gnanasekaran.
The Indian women’s cricket team was not a part of the parade as it had an early morning fixture on Friday against world champions Australia.
Hosts England were the last team to walk out during the parade, and did so in style - entering to the soundtrack of the band Queen’s uber-popular ‘We Will Rock You!’
After the parade, the ceremonial flag of the Commonwealth Games Federation was hoisted by former athletes.
English diver Tom Daley then brought the Queen’s baton into the stadium and it was passed on to other English athletes before being handed to Dame Louise Martin, the CWG Federation President.
The ceremony was brought to a rousing end by Birmingham-based band Duran Duran.
After such a hair-raising ceremony to kick things off, we can only imagine how exciting the rest of the days are going to be!