2010 Commonwealth Games opening ceremony


2010 Commonwealth Games

The opening ceremony of the 2010 Commonwealth Games was held at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, the main stadium of the event, in New Delhi, India. It began at 7:00 PM (IST) on 3 October 2010 ending at 10:00 PM (IST) displaying India's varied culture in a plethora of cultural showcases.

Contents

Guests of Honour

Prince Charles, Prince of Wales, (representing Queen Elizabeth II as Head of the Commonwealth) officially declared the Games open jointly with President of India Pratibha Patil.[1] Prime Minister Manmohan Singh of the host nation, India, attended the opening ceremony as well.

A total of three heads of state from outside India attended the opening ceremony; two from Commonwealth nations and one from a non-Commonwealth nation. The three head of states are Mohamed Nasheed, President of the Maldives, Marcus Stephen, President of Nauru and a multiple Commonwealth gold medallist, and Prince Albert II of Monaco, a former Olympian, whose country Monaco is not a member of the Commonwealth.[2] Sir Anand Satyanand, the Governor General of New Zealand (the first of Indian descent), attended the ceremony as well.[3]

Along side with the Commonwealth president, attendees included International Olympic Committee president, Jacques Rogge. He was quoted as saying "I think India has set a good foundation stone for the Olympics bid and a successful Commonwealth Games can help India mount a serious bid for the Olympics."[4]

Programme

The opening ceremony featured aspects of India's heritage and culture in seven segments. It featured an aerostat costing U$8 million,[5] measuring 40×80x12 meters and manufactured in Oswestry, England.[6] The original plan was to have drummers on the aerostat, but the plan was cancelled.[6]

Rhythm of India

The countdown for the opening of commonwealth games start as the drums were being played, and fireworks exploded from the roof of the stadium.

Various Drummers from Kerala, Manipur, Karnataka, Orissa, Punjab and Meghalaya played a symphony that aimed to be "uniquely Indian in character, yet global in appeal".

Swagatham

Hariharan led this segment, which created an amalgamation of Hindustani classical, Carnatic and folk music. The song was composed by A. R. Rahman, who also composed the official theme song of the games, and was performed by various artists along with Hariharan. Children from various Delhi schools participated in a simultaneous performance forming hands of an Indian woman in a pose of Namaste - a popular Indian salutation. Later, they separated and rearranged themselves in another formation representing the Indian flag colors of saffron, white and green while another group of children entered the stadium and covered the flag formations with a large white cloth. In a widely appreciated act, the children then made a mehndi - a traditional Indian art - on this large white piece of cloth in under 30 seconds on the spot.

Tree Of Knowledge

Pt. Birju Maharaj (Kathak), Guru Rajkumar Singhajit Singh-Charu Sija Mathur (Manipuri), Dr. Saroja Vaidyanathan (Bharatnatyam), Dr. Sonal Mansingh (Odissi), Bharati Shivaji (Mohiniattam) and Raja Reddy-Radha Reddy (Kuchipudi) choreographed 480 dancers bringing alive India's "Guru-Shishya Parampara" or the master-protege tradition on stage through classical dance recitals which also depicted four different seasons of India. The aerostat (the largest ever helium balloon built for such an event) formed the leaves of the Bodhi tree, while large strips elevated from the ground, made of silk and bamboo fibre form the tree trunk.

The Great Indian Journey

This segment will give a glimpse of the lives of the masses in India, as seen through a train window. Art director Omung Kumar created a 600-ft train of bamboo sticks for this. It portrayed a common man's life and every thing in it, such as the bangle shops, politicians campaigning, Bollywood, the cycle shop etc.

Finale

A.R. Rahman ended the programme with his rendition of "Jiyo Utho Bado Jeeto", the theme song of the Delhi games, and "Jai Ho".[7][8][9]

List of national flag bearers

Australia entered first as the host of the last games, and India entered last as the host. Excluding these two nations, the flag bearers entered by alphabetical order of their nations; Anguilla was the first (after Australia) and Zambia was the last (before India). Each flag bearer was preceded by a woman in traditional Indian dress, each reflecting a different part of the country, carrying a placard with the country's name.

Order Nation Flag bearer Sport Total Athletes
1  Australia (AUS) McMahon, SharelleSharelle McMahon[10] Netball 377
2  Anguilla (AIA) Bryan, RonnieRonnie Bryan Cycling 12
3  Antigua and Barbuda (ATG) Grayman, JamesJames Grayman[11] Athletics 17
4  Bahamas (BAH) Knowles, ValentinoValentino Knowles[12] Athletics 24
5  Bangladesh (BAN) Khan, Asif HossainAsif Hossain Khan[13] Shooting 70
6  Barbados (BAR) Browne, LaurelLaurel Browne Netball 39
7  Belize (BLZ) Martinez, KainaKaina Martinez[14] Athletics 9
8  Bermuda (BER) Aitken, KieraKiera Aitken Swimming 14
9  Botswana (BOT) Montsho, AmantleAmantle Montsho Athletics 49
10  British Virgin Islands (BVI) Chapman, JosephJoseph Chapman[15] Squash 2
11  Brunei (BRU) Ahad, AmpuanAmpuan Ahad Lawn bowls 12
12  Cameroon (CMR) Mamba, HugoHugo Mamba[16] Athletics 20
13  Canada (CAN) Pereira, KenKen Pereira[17] Field Hockey 251
14  Cayman Islands (CAY) Fraser, ShauneShaune Fraser Swimming 17
15  Cook Islands (COK) Kenny, MataMata Kenny Lawn bowls 31
16  Cyprus (CYP) Georgallas, IrodotosIrodotos Georgallas Gymnastics 56
17  Dominica (DMA) Williams, BrendanBrendan Williams Athletics 15
18  England (ENG) Robertson, NathanNathan Robertson[18] Badminton 365
19  Falkland Islands (FLK) Clark, Douglas JamesDouglas James Clark Badminton 15
20  Ghana (GHA) Zakari, AzizAziz Zakari Athletics 64
21  Gibraltar (GIB) Bensadon, ColinColin Bensadon Swimming 17
22  Grenada (GRN) Batholomew, ImrodImrod Batholomew Boxing 10
23  Guernsey (GGY) Jory, PeterPeter Jory[19] Shooting 43
24  Guyana (GUY) Forde, ClevelandCleveland Forde Athletics 34
25  Isle of Man (IMN) Roche, AndrewAndrew Roche Cycling 33
26  Jamaica (JAM) Forbes, SimoneSimone Forbes[20] Netball 48
27  Jersey (JEY) Bisson, KarinaKarina Bisson[21] Lawn bowls 33
28  Kenya (KEN) Kemboi, EzekielEzekiel Kemboi Athletics 136
29  Kiribati (KIR) Katoatau, DavidDavid Katoatau Weightlifting 17
30  Lesotho (LES) Tsoaeli, SelloaneSelloane Tsoaeli Athletics 10
31  Malawi (MAW) Waya, MaryMary Waya Netball 43
32  Malaysia (MAS) Zalina, SitiSiti Zalina[22] Lawn bowls 203
33  Maldives (MDV) Mohamed, MueenaMueena Mohamed [23] Table Tennis 28
34  Malta (MLT) Madyson, RebeccaRebecca Madyson Shooting 22
35  Mauritius (MRI) Colin, Louis RicharnoLouis Richarno Colin Boxing 55
36  Montserrat (MSR) Semper, PeterPeter Semper Athletics 5
37  Mozambique (MOZ) Couto, KurtKurt Couto Athletics 10
38  Namibia (NAM) Uutoni, JafetJafet Uutoni Boxing 30
39  Nauru (NRU) Detenamo, ItteItte Detenamo Weightlifting 6
40  New Zealand (NZL) van Dyk, IreneIrene van Dyk[24] Netball 192
41  Nigeria (NGR) Obiora, FaithFaith Obiora Table Tennis 101
42  Niue (NIU) Viliamu, NaritaNarita Viliamu Weightlifting 24
43  Norfolk Island (NFK) Gray, DuncanDuncan Gray Squash 22
44  Northern Ireland (NIR) Montgomery, MarkMark Montgomery[25] Wrestling 80
45  Pakistan (PAK) Ali Shah, MohammadMohammad Ali Shah[26] Chef de mission 54
46  Papua New Guinea (PNG) Stubbings, BarbaraBarbara Stubbings Squash 79
47  Rwanda (RWA) Dieudonne, DisiDisi Dieudonne Athletics 22
48  Samoa (SAM) Dieudonne, Ele OpelogeEle Opeloge Dieudonne Weightlifting 53
49  Scotland (SCO) Edgar, RossRoss Edgar[27] Cycling 191
50  Seychelles (SEY) Malcouzane, SteveSteve Malcouzane Badminton 26
51  Sierra Leone (SLE) Kargbo, MichaelaMichaela Kargbo Athletics 31
52  Singapore (SIN) Tian Wei, FengFeng Tian Wei[28] Table Tennis 68
53  Solomon Islands (SOL) Leong, MichaelMichael Leong Tennis 12
54  South Africa (RSA) van der Burgh, CameronCameron van der Burgh[29] Swimming 113
55  Sri Lanka (SRI) Vidanage, ChinthanaChinthana Vidanage[30] Weightlifting 94
56  Saint Helena (SHN) Yon, RicoRico Yon Shooting 4
57  Saint Kitts and Nevis (SKN) Liburd, TanikaTanika Liburd Athletics 7
58  Saint Lucia (LCA) Spencer, LavernLavern Spencer Athletics 13
59  Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (VIN) Bentick, JamesJames Bentick Squash 14
60  Swaziland (SWZ) Mdluli, SiphesihleSiphesihle Mdluli Athletics 11
61  Tanzania (TAN) Ramadhani, SamsonSamson Ramadhani[31] Athletics 40
62  Gambia (GAM) Shonoboi, FannyFanny Shonoboi Athletics 17
63  Tonga (TON) Fa, UaineUaine Fa Boxing 22
64  Trinidad and Tobago (TRI) Borel-Brown, CleopatraCleopatra Borel-Brown Athletics 82
65  Turks and Caicos Islands (TCA) Williams, DelanoDelano Williams Athletics 8
66  Tuvalu (TUV) Tuau, LapuaLapua Tuau Weightlifting 3
67  Uganda (UGA) Mugula, GanziGanzi Mugula[32] Swimming 65
68  Vanuatu (VAN) Shing, YoshnaYoshna Shing Table Tennis 14
69  Wales (WAL) Davies, DavidDavid Davies[33] Swimming 175
70  Zambia (ZAM) Nachula, RachelRachel Nachula Athletics 22
71  India (IND) Bindra, AbhinavAbhinav Bindra[34] Shooting 495

Spectators' response

In the opening ceremony the head of organizing committee faced embarrassment, when he was booed by the spectators at the start of his welcome speech to 60,000 spectators in the opening ceremony. The atmosphere otherwise for the teams and officials was fine, especially when they offered warm applause to the neighbouring Pakistan squad, with whom it has tense relationships. Sri Lanka also got a loud applause. The head finished his speech in five minutes and then handed over to Michael Fennell, the Chief of the Commonwealth Games Federation.[36]

Baton Procession

Boxer Vijender Singh carried the Queen's Baton into Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, at the Opening Ceremonies.[37][38] The baton was passed to boxer Mary Kom, 5-time world champion.[37][38] It was then passed to Samresh Jung, who was named best competitor of the 2006 Melbourne Games.[37][38] It was then passed to Sushil Kumar, world champion wrestler.[37][38] The final baton bearer, Indian wrestler Sushil Kumar, handed the Queen's Baton to Prince Charles.[37][39]

Gallery

See also

References

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External links