Gooooood morning/afternoon/evening folks! Thank you very much for joining
Sports Mole for live coverage of the 2018 Commonwealth Games opening ceremony!
It is 7pm for us here on the Gold Coast, nine hours ahead of the UK, so forget about tonight's Champions League action for now and kick off a great day of sport with the official opening of the Commonwealth Games!
The pre-show has just begun, and the ceremony itself gets underway in an hour, so allow me to walk you through the history of the Games, what these Games may have to offer, and everything else you need to know about the upcoming 11 days of action...
Us Englanders are feeling quite at home despite the jet lag here, mainly due to the weather at the moment. Cyclone Iris is far enough away not to really threaten tonight's ceremony, but there have been sporadic showers throughout the day and that has carried on to this evening.
The wind has been blowing with some force throughout the day too, but that is not likely to dampen the spirits of these fans as they celebrate the biggest event to ever hit the Gold Coast.
This will be the 21st edition of the Commonwealth Games, which has run every four years since the inaugural event in 1930 - with the exception of 1942 and 1946 due to World War Two.
The most recent of those before this year was in Glasgow four years ago, and they will be returning to the UK when Birmingham hosts it in four years' time. It is the third-biggest multi-sport event in the world, behind only the Olympic Games and the Asian Games.
We are reporting live from the Games over the next 11 days - focusing mainly on Team
England - but the Commonwealths provide such a unique experience for many of the 71 nations that compete.
There are actually only 53 members of the Commonwealth of Nations, but a number of territories compete under their own flags - including, of course, the home nations of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
The Commonwealth Games boasts a huge range of participating nations, from the tiny South Pacific island of Niue to the world's largest democracy of India, so there will be plenty of David vs. Goliath duels through the Games.
It is natural to back the underdogs, of course, but Team England are one of the big boys as far as these Games are concerned, and they will be hoping to once again upset their great rivals Australia on their own patch over the next 11 days.
This will be the fifth time that Australia have hosted the Games, which is more than any other country - counting the UK as the separate territories they compete as. The Gold Coast is, however, the first regional Australian city to ever host the Games, following in the footsteps of Sydney (1938), Perth (1962), Brisbane (1982) and Melbourne (2006).
This has been described as the biggest sporting event to ever hit the state of Queensland, and certainly the biggest for the Gold Coast.
It will, in fact, be the biggest sporting event anywhere in Australia this decade, and their long history in this competition makes it perhaps unsurprising that they top the all-time medal table in the Commonwealths.
They do it by some way too, claiming 2218 medals in total, including a whopping 852 golds. England are in second place with 669 golds and 2008 overall, while Canada sit third with 469 golds.
England are the defending champions as far as the medal table is concerned, though, getting one over on the Aussies with a record medal haul in Glasgow four years ago, breaking a monopoly of Australian dominance which had seen them top every medal table between 1986 and 2014.
Those 1986 Games were also topped by England and hosted in Scotland, but there is a huge difference between doing that in neighbouring territory and doing it on enemy turf. England haven't topped the medal table outside the UK since that great sporting year of 1966.
In all, Australia have topped the medal table 12 times from the 20 previous Games, and alongside England the only other nation to have come out on top was Canada - who did so for the one and only time in in 1978.
Only six teams have attended each and every edition of the Games, with those being Australia, Canada, England, New Zealand, Scotland and Wales.
Australia will certainly be the favourites to top the medal table this time around, then, and these will be a particularly notable Games for many reasons.
There will be more sports taking place on the Gold Coast this year than at any previous edition of the Commonwealth Games, with 18 taking place in addition to seven para-sports. Beach volleyball was announced as the unprecedented 18th sport in March 2016, being introduced for its debut at the Games.
There have been one or two changes to the schedule in Glasgow four years ago, including that debut for beach volleyball. Judo is one of the unfortunate sports to lose its place, but basketball has been reintroduced while women's rugby sevens will join beach volleyball in making its debut.
Plenty of sports to feast upon over the next 11 days so far, then, and while they may not all be at Olympic standard, we will also be seeing some of the world's very best athletes taking part.
The Commonwealths always have 10 core sports which are included in the Games - athletics, badminton, boxing, hockey, lawn bowls, netball, rugby sevens, squash, swimming and weightlifting - and there is also then a list of optional sports which can be chopped and changed for each Games as the organisers see fit.
For these Games, those optional sports are diving, basketball, cycling, gymnastics, shooting, table tennis, triathlon and wrestling.
The next 11 days will see 275 events being contested across those 18 sports and seven para-sports, including a record 38 para-events.
Indeed, these Games have been a flagbearer for equality in all aspects, with an equal number of medals available for men and women - the first time that has ever been the case at a major multi-sports event.
The competitive action will officially get underway tomorrow morning, and I'm sure you will all be glued to your screens for the kickoff of the mighty lawn bowls, which is the first sport to take place at 9am local time, or midnight back in the UK.
The highlights of day one as far as Team England are concerned is likely to come either in the swimming pool or in triathlon, the latter of which sees the Brownlee brothers - defending gold and silver medallists at the Games - and Vicky Holland in action.
The official motto for these Games is "Share the Dream", which is designed to help link the dreams of the athletes, volunteers, spectators and Australia as a whole to the rest of the world (or at least the Commonwealth).
The official line is that "it was chosen to highlight the dreams and experience at the Games", and there will certainly be plenty of dreams made over the next 11 days. We saw some of the world's best athletes launch their careers in Glasgow four years ago, and I'm sure the same will happen this time around.
Now, onto the beloved mascot at these Games - Borobi!
Borobi is an Aboriginal term for koala, and guess what - it's a koala! Well, more a mutant koala in truth, with blue fur and indigenous markings on its body. Borobi didn't go down too well when he was first unveiled, but he certainly seems to have been a popular figure since we've been out here.
Borobi's official Wikipedia page was ruthlessly hacked earlier today, with claims that the fuzzy little fella fell in with the wrong crowd at primary school, began a life as a "morally questionable defence lawyer" and liked to frequent "high-class brothels".
Thankfully, Boprobi has denied all such illicit allegations and I can dispel the myths. Borobi remains a reputable and untarnished mutant koala bear.
Looking even beyond Borobi, though, the Commonwealth Games are really all about the athletes, and we will have more than 6,600 competing on the Gold Coast over the next 11 days, including some of the very best in the world.
Sally Pearson has been the poster girl of these Games having won golds in the 100m hurdles at the last two editions of the Commonwealths, as well as being an Olympic and world champion in the discipline. Surprisingly she was not selected as Australia's flagbearer, though, with that honour going to Aussie skipper Mark Knowles.
Sally Pearson is still expected to play some part in tonight's ceremony, and she is one of 474 Aussie athletes at these Games - unsurprisingly the biggest in the competition.
Team England are once again in second place in that respect having brought a team of 396, and while that may be dwarfed by Australia's, it is still the biggest squad England have ever taken to an overseas Games.
There are plenty of athletes expecting to make headlines for their achievements in a sporting sense at these Games, but there are plenty with even more intriguing stories.
Among those is New Zealand's first transgender competitor at the Commonwealths - weightlifter Laurel Hubbard - and 11-year-old Welsh table tennis player Anna Hursey. Hursey is a whopping 56 years the junior of Northern Ireland's shooter David Calvert, who is looking for a fifth gold medal at his record-extending 11th Commonwealth Games this year.
There will be plenty of eyes on South Africa at these Games too, with their most successful track athlete Caster Semenya hoping to break the world's oldest track record in the 800m, which has stood since 1983.
In the pool, Semenya's compatriot Chad le Clos is targeting eight medals at these Games, looking to add to the seven he won in Glasgow four years ago. If he wins medals in all eight this year he could become the most successful male Commonwealth competition of all time, having won 12 from his two Games so far.
Le Clos is looking to surpass the tallies of Mick Gault and Philip Adams, who won 18 over six editions of the Games, so it would be a huge feat is he is able to do it.
The South African could, then, claim a large chunk of the 825 medals on offer at these Games. The majority of those will be handed out in swimming - 240, to be precise - but athletics is not far behind with 237.
These has not been a second of sporting action yet at the Commonwealths, but we already know the identity of one medallist - 19-year-old Australian boxer Taylah Robertson. She got the luck of the draw in the women's 51kg category after there were only seven entrants, getting the bye into the semi-finals which means that she is already guaranteed at least a bronze.
The first medal will actually be handed out at the women's triathlon tomorrow morning, though, with that beginning at 9.31am local time and taking place over a sprint distance - half the length of an Olympics triathlon.
A Games would not be a Games without some pre-competition scandal, though, and these have been no different - the most serious of which saw a cache of needles found in the Athletes' Village.
Olympic sports have been rocked by plenty of doping scandals in recent years and, while reports suggest the syringes were not used for doping purposes, it was a clear breach of the no-needles policy in the Village.
The Indian media pointed the finger at their own team being implicated in the issues, while other reports suggested that their boxers could be to blame, although the situation is yet to really be cleared up - not ideal considering we are not very close to the official start of the Games.
The CGf have promised that those to blame will be properly dealt with, though, and it is a situation they seem to be taking seriously.
On a lighter note, there was an almighty blunder in the official programme for the Games, with England being listed as an African country will a population of just over two million people.
There seemed to be a mix-up with Gambia, who only rejoined the Commonwealth a couple of weeks ago, but it certainly won't do much to improve the rivalry between the Aussies and the English!
We're not far away from the beginning of the ceremony now, so what can we expect from tonight's show?
Well, all the usuals will be there - fireworks, dances and the hordes of flags which will introduce each nation to the fans inside this Carrara Stadium. On top of that we will see Prince Charles officially open the Games, having arrived in Australia with Camilla earlier today.
Rumours are rife that Sally Pearson will hand over the Queen's Baton to Charles before the Games officially open, although Pearson has already carried the baton once today.
That came at Surfers' Paradise, although she couldn't quite keep up with me on my morning run while carrying it.
That baton - which contains a message from The Queen which will be read out by Charles tonight - began its journey more than a year ago at Buckingham Palace, but it almost hit a road block today when it was held up for almost an hour by protests nby an indigenous group - who has since relocated to outside this stadium.
This is the baton's 100th day in Australia, and having been all over the Commonwealth its long journey will finally conclude tonight.
We also expect to see Delta Goodrem perform tonight, and rumours are rife that she will be joined by another of Australia's favourite daughters Olivia Newton-John.
That is about all I can tell you at this stage, though - you'll have to stick around for the rest!
Right, this is where I leave you! I will pass you over to my colleague Dan Lewis, who has the joy of taking you through the rest of what is sure to be a very wet ceremony - the heavens have just opened in spectacular fashion!
Event organisers did warn that the heavens may open this evening, and we have been assured that the show will go on regardless. The opening ceremony is now just moments away from beginning...
We begin with a countdown of around 65,000 years, wizzing through the millennia until we We join three friends on Currumbin Beach - all of them being surfers, of course! "Hello from the people of Earth.... We are the people of the Gold Coast..." And with that we are up and running this opening ceremony.
A gentleman holding a replica of Earth is now centre stage, talking of togetherness and a sense of unity - a real theme throughout these Games. The stage on the stadium floor is lit up by 75,000 LED lights, providing the perfect backdrop to the dark surroundings.
Starting from its existence 335 million years ago, we are shown an image of Earth slowly building up. Again, we speed through the years - we'd be here for a while otherwise, let's face it! - and the continents are we know them today are slowly formed.
It's at this point I wished I'd listened in all those science lessons. Earth is still the main theme, with life now in existence on each continent. This particular section of the ceremony, incidentally, is labelled 'Many Lands, One Place' - guess the theme yourself!
We have now left the stadium to a gentleman playing the didgeridoo - and good at it he is, too! Australian artist William Barton - one of the finest traditional didgeridoo players, I'm told - is clearly getting the Aussies in the mood.
Urban-style pop singer Christine Anu has now joined us. Anu's mother's people were from Saibai Island, while her father came from Mabuiag Island, which is closer to the centre of Torres Strait. While this singing is going on, the map is still developing, with the main focus being on Australia and surrounding islands.
The Four Winds Didgeridoo Orchestra are doing a great job, it must be said. Traditional Australian music at its finest, though the decibel levels have just dropped slightly as we move into the next section - 'our past, present and future'.
As part of the transition we are treated to a performance by youngsters from Bangarra's Rekindling Program. The obvious question to ask is 'what exactly is Rekindling?' Glad you asked! It is is an intensive dance-based education program for Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait slander secondary students. Very impressive!
This ceremony may only last a couple of hours but it is hoped that this section in particular will inspire national and international audiences to learn about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures, while showcasing Bangarra's authentic storytelling. I've already been won over!
Essentially, the participants on stage are researching and gathering stories with the help and guidance from Elders within their communities. They then develop dance, performance and creative skills to produce dance theatre in collaboration with local Elders and community members. Very cultural, it must be said, but that is what opening ceremonies are all about, right?
We are being treated to a lot of chanting and a lot of dancing in this 'Totem' section of the opening ceremony. A giant bird has just lit up on the stage floor, providing plenty of colour to stand out against the dark surroundings.
The dignitaries are making their way into the stadium. Louis Martin CBE, The Honourable Peter Beattie AC and Sam Coffa AM are given a nice welcome. A little more on each of those in a few moments; for now we are shown clips of past Games.
Louise, Peter and Sam are joined on stage by three more locals. The Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall then enter stage right - again, a nice reception for them - while two Yugambeh Elders, Ted Williams and Patrica O'Connor, will also be joining us momentarily.
Ted Williams is now giving a speech, welcoming us - presumably the athletes, more so than the media! - to Australia. We are told that this welcome is a meaningful occurrence that allows everyone to be part of Australia's Reconciliation journey. Thanks, Ted!
Patrica O'Connor has taken over speaking duties, giving Ted a little rest. Ms O'Connor and Mr Williams (Ted, to you and I) are both members of the Yugambeh Elders Advisory Group, which provides cultural guidance to the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games Corporation (GOLDOC, to you and I).
Australian National Anthem time! As the anthem belts out, images of a kangaroo and emu, as depicted in the Australian coat of arms, appear in the LED sand on the stage floor. Other everyday Australians across Queensland join in the singing of the Anthem via video.
The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags are flown by members of the Australian Defence Force, alongside the flag of Australia. The Australian Aboriginal flag, if you were wondering, was designed in 1971 by Aboriginal artist Harold Thomas. The black represents the Aboriginal people of Australia, the yellow circle represents the sun and the red represents the red earth (obviously...)
Video footage now cuts to Surfers' Paradise where the Queen's Baton is passed between people. Were are reminded that this particular relay is the longest and most accessible in history, travelling through the entire Commonwealth for 388 days and 230,000 kilometres. And now here it is in all its glory - its final destination.
A glorious summer's day on the beach - an artificial beach, that is, which has taken centre stage in the stadium. While all this is going on Damien Rider has passed the baton on to a "mystery guest", who is in a kombi van on the way here. We can wait, it's fine.
We are back to the singing and dancing on this artificial beach. Ricki-Lee Coulter, an Australian singer, songwriter, television and radio presenter, is doing a fine job of it. Technicolour Love is the name of the song, if you were wondering.
"Energetic" is the best word to sum up this ongoing segment. There seems to be a lot of people dressing down on the beach now, and all of a sudden the tempo slows and the sun sets. It is dark, paving the way for the athletes to soon enter the stadium.
Bobby Alu, an accomplished songwriter and travelling musician born on the Gold Coast. Bobby is known for his signature smooth hammock music & high vibes, which is in complete contrast to the energetic singing and dancing moments beforehand.
Four years on from hosting "the best Games ever", Scotland are given the privilege of starting the parade of nations. A proud moment, in particular, for Eilidh Doyle as she carries the flag into this impressive arena. Cyprus will follow close behind.
Scotland and Cyprus down, we continue with the European nations as England start their parade around the stadium. Triathlete Alistair Brownlee has been chosen to carry the flag for his country, a day before taking part in the mixed team replay.
Three European nations down, seven more to come. Gibraltar and Guernsey are next up, with Jonathan Patron and Matthew Guile respectively carrying the flag. Twenty-two athletes brought here as far as Gibraltar are concerned.
Jake Kelly, who is looking to medal in the road cycling events, leads the way for Isle of Man. Jersey, the largest of the Channel Islands, then enter the arena, along with Malta. Ten participants for Malta on the Gold Coast, and it is wrestler Gary Giordimaina who carries the flag.
Northern Ireland join the fray, led by netball star Caroline O'Hanlon. She is one of 98 athletes to travel over from the United Kingdom. Wales have a 222-strong team, meanwhile, and they are next up. Swimmer Jazz Carlin is the athlete given the nod to carry the flag.
We have concluded the European nations; now comes the Africa section. Botswana and Cameroon are soon joined by Ghana and Kenya. The Queensland Symphony Orchestra are supplying the music for this part of the opening ceremony.
Lesotho, Malawi and Mauritius have joined us, the latter led by table tennis hopeful Rhikesh Taucoory. Fifty-four athletes sent here from Mauritius, the majority of those being weightlifters. Also a fair few track and field athletes in the mix.
A warm welcome to Mozambique and Namibia to this opening ceremony. While this is going on let me tell you a bit more about the Queensland Youth Orchestras. They are the state's leading organisation for orchestral training and performance, based in Brisbane.
We are whittling through the African nations now; Nigeria, Rwanda and Seychelles are the latest to make their way around the stadium. Blessing Okagrare-Ighotegunor, who impressed in Glasgow four years ago, carries the flag for Nigeria.
It's worth mentioning that each nation is being called into the stadium by the lifeguard service, as the City of Gold Coast employs the largest service of that kind in Australia, and is responsible for the surveillance of the region's 52 kilometres of beaches.
Edging closer to the Americas section now, as Sierra Leone, South Africa, Swaziland and Gambia have joined us. Twenty-seven down, for those wanting to keep track. This can often be a drawn-out process but the athletes are happy enough.
Uganda and the United Republic of Tanzania are with us, the latter being led on a lap around the ground by Masoud Mtalaso, who is taking part in the table tennis event. Close behind are the athletes of Zambia, concluding the African segment of the parade.
We are onto Americas! Seven nations from this part of the world, beginning with Belize. The only of these nations where the language of choice is English - I love a good fact! Alicia Thompson proudly swings the flag above her head.
Bermuda and Canada, the latter of whom have first dibs on hosting the Centurion Games, join the now-packed stage. We are just about halfway through the parade, with Asia, Caribbean and Oceania still to enter the stadium.
While Falkland Islands, Guyana, St Helena and the Bahamas conclude the Americas section, let me tell you about the Young Carers Queensland, who are helping to guide each nation around the ground. A Young Carer is a person under the age of 25 who provides care and support to a family member or friend who has a disability, mental illness, chronic condition, terminal illness or who is frail.
Just seven Asian nations to get through, starting with Bangladesh. For those in need of more stats and facts, they have 24 athletes taking part in the 2018 Games, including Abdullah Hel Baki who is leading the way for them tonight.
Brunei Darussalam are led out by a lawn bowls player, India a badminton hopeful and Malaysia a male athletics star. In case you were wondering at this point, Australia will be the very last country to enter - the biggest advantage of hosting the Games!
Pakistan, Singapore and Sri Lanka conclude the Asian segment. Had the voting turned out differently, the 2018 Commonwealth Games would have been held in Sri Lanka; as it is we are here in Australia, which will no doubt prove a great host country once again.
A warm welcome for Anguilla and Antigua and Barbuda to start the Caribbean section. Sia is now belting out around the sound system, with Queensland Symphony Orchestra certainly earning their money tonight.
It is at this point I regret announcing each nation one by one. Anyway, continue we must - Barbados, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands and Dominica are the latest to be led around the ground by the Young Carers Queensland.
Grenada, Jamaica and Montserrat are next up - please bear with me; almost there, promise! The sections seem to be going quicker and quicker as they go on, with Saint Lucia and St Kitts and Nevis being given a nice applause.
We are close to welcoming the Oceania nations now, as St Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago and Turks and Caicos Islands have just been paraded around. The Cook Islands will kick off the next segment.
Just 12 more nations to get through now, folks! Fiji, led out by Apolonia VaiVai, follow the Cook Islands onto the stage. Kiribati and Nauru are next up, and after them will be New Zealand - sure they will get a nice reception from the Aussies.
They did indeed get a pretty good reception. On we go - Niue, a small island nation in the South Pacific Ocean, proudly enter the stadium, followed by Norfolk Island and Papua New Guinea, who have 59 athletes here - 16 female and 43 male.
Lauititi Lui, the latest member of his family to go in search of a Commonwealth Games medal in weighlifting, leads out Samoa. Next up are Solomon Islands, without a medal in past participations, and Polynesian kingdom Tonga.
Following the entrance of Tuvalu and Vanuatu we are joined by the 71st and final nation - Australia. The biggest cheer of them all reserved for the hosts nation, of course, with yellow ticker tape flying into the air. They have 473 members - their largest ever.
The parade of nations comes to an end, nearly an hour after the poor Scottish athletes made their way into the ground - still, they had the best seats in the house the soak it all in. Next up Katie Noonan will treat us to a rendition of 'You're Welcome Here'.
Katie Noonan has been one of Australia's most revered musical talents for more than 20 years now. Katie has won five ARIA Awards, gone platinum seven times and released over a dozen studio albums. Nobody better, then, to start to wind down the ceremony.
Katie Noonan is not alone on the stage, as she is accompanied by the Gold Coast Choir, established in 2012 to give children an opportunity to extend their choral skills beyond the classroom. We are being entertained right until the end!
We were told before the ceremony started that this would be referred to as the smoking section. I was a fair way off with the thoughts in my head... it is actually an ancient and enduring custom still widely practiced among many Indigenous Australians. Essentially, it involves burning various native plants to produce smoke.
Luther Cora is the man tasked with leading this segment of the opening ceremony. Not that you need telling, but Cora is a contemporary Aboriginal artist and a member of the Yugambeh language group of the Bundjalung nation, a region covering the Gold Coast and Tweed Heads.
During this four-minute segment we are being shown images of the athletes based in event cities, Cairns and Townsville, who are also participating in Smoking Ceremonies, led by the traditional custodians of those lands. It is all very... smokey.
We move onto the third-from-last segment of the opening ceremony. We all know how it works by now - this being the part where the flag of the Commonwealth Games Federation is carried into the stadium. In the background, Emma Dean sings 'You're the Voice'.
Six athletes have been chosen to carry the flag into its position. They are Brendan Williams, Natalie Du Toit, Alison Shanks, Nicole Forrester, Colin Gregor, Rhona Toft. A reminder that this very same flag, presumably, will be in Birmingham four years from now.
The flag has been cleansed and is now in position to be raised by representatives of the State Emergency Services. They are a not-for-profit, community, volunteer, emergency service organisation that is enabled by both state and local governments.
We have welcomed the athletes of each nation and the flag of the Commonwealth Games Federation raised into prime position. Some pyrotechnics follow and now we enter the penultimate segment of the ceremony. An Australian athlete, coach and technical official declare the Oath on behalf of all competitors.
They key theme from this segment is all about equality, which has run throughout. You may remember the "special guest" who took the Queen's Baton into a kombi a little earlier. What's that, you forgot? Me too... well we are about to be reunited.
A great little speech from Peter Beattie, chairman of Gold Coast 2018, who signs off with: "Beautiful one day, perfect the next. Welcome to Australia, welcome to Queensland, and welcome to the Gold Coast!"
The Queen's Baton emerges from the kombi, which we last saw at Surfers' Paradise, and is presented to a local schoolgirl. It will now go through one final lap around the stadium and be presented to HRH The Prince of Wales.
Susie O'Neill was the special guest in the kombi, incidentally - an 11-time gold medallist at the Games, while also winning five silvers. She has since been labelled "Madame Butterfly" thanks to her incredible swimming ability.
With that we are into the final segment, as a human mandala is set in the sand. A blue wash of lighting evokes the Earth in space once more, and a Migaloo enters the arena. Images of Antarctica and the Great Barrier Reef flash onto its body.
So why a migaloo? The organisers say that "it 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". It's all very obvious when you think about it.
The baton is still making its way around the stadium, now into its final stages. Australia's most-capped netball player, Liz Ellis, takes over duties, and then it is handed to Brent Livermore. It has travelled across the globe but is nearly at its end destination.
Sally Pearson will conclude the baton relay. The Gold Coast native, the face of the Games, reveals that a little message w that a little message was concealed in the baton, which is passed on to Prince Charles.
Prince Charles talks us through the journey the baton has been on to make it this far. "Thank you to the many thousands of people who have lined the route," he says. And with that, the 2018 Commonwealth Games are officially declared open!
Over to Delta Goodrem now for a rendition of 'Welcome to Earth'. Delta became the first-ever artist to have five number one singles in the Australian charts from a debut album and was awarded the ARIA Albums Artist of the Decade in 2010 after selling more albums and singles than any other domestic international artist over the decade.
This is now very much the closing section of the opening ceremony and yep, you've guessed it, the energy levels are increased and the brights colours return. Just as we started, Earth is present on stage in the form of a human mandala.
The migaloo is back, floating 50 yards off the floor and connecting the various different parts of the world - the theme being, of course, that we are all united as one. This, incidentally, is one of the longer segments either side of the parade of nations.
The artwork on Migaloo was designed by Delvene Cockatoo-Collins (undoubtedly the greatest surname of those to have played a part in this ceremony) DCC was also the artist commissioned to design the gold, silver and bronze medals for the Games.
We are joined now by seven groups of youngsters, representing love, freedom, innocence, diversity and optimism. They colour the scene with all the hues of the rainbow, and with that we are treated to more fireworks, building to a crescendo.
And with that the opening ceremony comes to a close. It was energetic, colourful and, yep, quite insightful too! Fingers crossed the athletes themselves - the real stars of the show, after all - can now put on equally as good a showing over the next 11 days.
That concludes Sports Mole's live coverage of the 2018 Commonwealth Games opening ceremony. A reminder that we will be with you live from the Gold Coast over the next two weeks or so, paying particular focus to the England camp. Thanks for joining me this afternoon, and be sure to stick with us for all the goings on from Down Under!
