In just a few hours from now, all eyes will be on Glasgow as the Opening Ceremony of the 2014 Commonwealth Games will be on its way to formally welcome some of the best athletes in the world gathered to take part in the coveted games.
[Get the Opening Ceremony report HERE]
Glasgow the hosts of the CWG this year were awarded the rights well over 6 years ago after staving off rivals Abuja, Nigeria.
The opening ceremony will see the following list of events taking place.
Athlete Parade
The ceremony will start off with the traditional "athlete walk" where more than 4500 athletes from 71 countries will take a walk around the parade ground with 2010 hosts India enjoying the pleasure of heading out first.
Shooter Vijay Kumar will lead the way for the Indian brigade which will feature 221 athletes taking part in 14 out of the 17 events. Some prominent names in the contingent include Jwala Gutta, Abhinav Bindra, PV Sindhu, P Kashyap, Vijender Singh and more.
UNICEF's Message
In an effort to focus on dealing with the problems that children face worldwide, UNICEF, the official charity partner of the event, will showcase various videos of the work that they are doing in the various commonwealth countries for the betterment of poor children.
UNICEF brand ambassadors from around the world including Sachin Tendulkar, Nicole Scherzinger, Chris Hoy etc. will feature in the videos which will showcase the work being done. A gigantic LED screen has been installed at Celtic Park, the venue for the ceremony, to showcase the various footages.
The event organizers will also be donating £1 to UNICEEF per ticket purchase.
Live Performances
Musical performances of the night will see grammy winner Rod Stewart, Susan Boyle, Amy Macdonald, Julie Fowlis and Nicola Benedetti who are expected to woo the crowd with their hit songs along with a live show that will see 2000 local performers perform a centre-piece.
Official start
As head of the commonwealth nations, Queen Elizabeth II will grace the occasion to read out the hand written message that was inserted into the baton in October of last year to signify the official start of the games.
The baton circumvented the globe while stopping over at each commonwealth nation allowing for more than 4000 athletes to carry it before making its journey back to Glasgow.
The ceremony promises to be a spectacular event with David Zolkwer, the head of ceremonies saying: "Our goal has always been to have the people of Glasgow and Scotland take centre-stage, for them to speak and sing and dance for themselves."
"So, on the night our audience will witness thousands of real people doing extraordinary things - and in the process I know our volunteer cast performers will do themselves, the city and Scotland proud."
Where to Watch Live
The Opening Ceremony is scheduled for a 9 pm BST (1.30 am IST, 6 am EST (both Thursday) start with live coverage on the Ten HD, Ten Action and Ten Sports. The ceremony can also be watched via live streaming online in India HERE or HERE. Coverage in the UK will be on BBC, while viewers can also watch the Opening Cermony via BBC IPlayer. Viewers in Australia can catch the action on Network Ten, with the option to live stream HERE. Viewers in South Africa watch on SuperSport or online HERE. Canada viewers can watch the ceremony on CBC or via the live streaming option HERE. Viewers can also watch the Opening Ceremony via CWG official Youtube Channel with the link available HERE.
