Commonwealth Games Opening Ceremony reaches an estimated global audience of 1 billion people
An estimated 1 billion people across the 71 Commonwealth nations and territories tuned into the Opening Ceremony of the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games last night.
The television audience joined a 40,000-strong crowd at Celtic Park in the east end of Glasgow to watch global celebrities including Rod Stewart, James McAvoy and Susan Boyle join with local talent to create a show filled with a mix of tradition, irreverent fun and Glaswegian hospitality.
The 1,300 volunteer cast members ranged from eight to 85 years old and represented every local authority in Scotland. In addition to live music form Stewart and Boyle the performance also featured tracks from The Proclaimers and international DJ Calvin Harris who hails from Dumfries.
During the opener an appeal from Unicef managed to raise £2.5m in donations with John Barrowman’s gay kiss and the Scottie dogs which lead the athletes into the park dominating the chat on social media.
The Games runs for 11 days closing on Sunday 3 August at Hampden Park where Scotland will hand the reins over to Gold Coast City, Queensland, Australia, hosts of the 2018 Games.