It's just one day to go until the official start of the Glasgow Commonwealth Games.
How exciting!!!!
As I stepped out of my office this afternoon there was a buzz in the air as tourists milled about the city center. Isn't it also great that the sun is shining!!! Long may it continue.
Last night I was delighted to attend the Dress Rehearsal of the Opening Ceremony. We've been asked to keep all the details secret to #SaveTheSurprise for the rest of the world, but I can tell you that the Opening Ceremony is certainly "uniquely Glaswegian and Scottish".
It's already been in the press that Rod Stewart is performing (he wasn't there last night though, there was a stand in miming in his place!). The other artists include Susan Boyle, violin virtuoso Nicola Benedetti, Glasgow singer/songwriter Amy MacDonald and Julie Fowlis who sang for the film Brave.
Celtic Park - the stage being set. At almost 100 metres long, 11 metres high and weighing 38 tonnes the LED screen is Europe's largest!There are 2000 cast members that will be representing the host city and nation (I know two of them!) as they perform in front of an audience of 40,000 at Celtic Park and a potential television audience of over 1 billion viewers!!!
The partnership with Unicef will also be part of the Opening Ceremony in a global fundraising first which aims to positively impact the lives of children across the Commonwealth. During the ceremony, spectators, athletes and viewers will be invited to Put Children First by making a donation via text creating a powerful Games legacy for children.
The Unicef footage that was shown at the rehearsal last night nearly had me in tears. I felt extremely moved by it. Which made up for some of the more embarrassing parts of the ceremony that had me cringing. Lots of laughs too, don't get me wrong. I'm just not sure that the rest of the world are going to get the Glaswegian banter (and possibly even understand the accent). I had Steven, another blogger from #Team14 sat next to me, who traveled up from England to watch the rehearsal, and I don't think he fully appreciated all the jokes.
Anyway, the Opening Ceremony event will be broadcast live from 8pm on BBC One and you can tweet along using the hashtag #2014Ceremony.
I definitely suggest you tune in - I'd love to know what you think!
The cast at rehearsals
