The next few weeks will see one of the biggest sporting events in the world, the XXII Commonwealth Games, which is being held in Birmingham.
For the past few decades the Commonwealth Games opening and closing ceremonies have showcased the best a host city has to offer, drawing from their history, art, culture and sometimes... their Eurovision artists!
As the opening ceremony for the Birmingham Games gets underway, we've gone back to see where Eurovision artists and the Commonwealth Games intersect with a few surprises. Let's take a look:
2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester
Vanessa Amorosi
Amorosi, who finished 3rd at 'Eurovision - Australia Decides' in 2020, wowed audiences with her performances at the Sydney Olympics. So, it was no surprise that she would perform at the Commonwealth Games.
In the closing ceremony for 2002 Manchester Games, Amorosi sung one of her well known hits 'Shine'. Also, to celebrate the games being handed over to Melbourne for the next games in 2006, Amorosi sung a song about the city of Melbourne, 'I'll always be a Melbourne girl', just as it began to pour with rain.
2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne
Casey Donovan
2004 Australian Idol winner Casey Donovan, impressed Australia with her potential Eurovision entry 'Proud' where she ended up winning the televote at 'Eurovision - Australia Decides' 2020. Donovan just missed out on the crown by seven points.
Donovan became a household name after her Idol win, two years she ended up singing 'Better To Love' as one of the concluding performances at the 2006 Commonwealth Games closing ceremony in Melbourne.
The song 'Better To Love' is off her ARIA No.2 charting debut album 'For You'. The album featured three ARIA charting singles including Donovan's Idol winners single 'Listen with Your Heart'.
Delta Goodrem
A household name in Australia, Delta Goodrem, has a Eurovision connection. Goodrem got to co-write Australia's first Junior Eurovision entry, 'My Girls' back in 2015. The entry, sung by Bella Paige finished in the top 10 in 8th place.
Years earlier in 2006 Goodrem had the privilege of wrapping up the Melbourne Commonwealth Games opening ceremony with her co-written song 'Together We Are One'. It became the theme song for the games and was released as a single where it landed in at No. 2 on the ARIA singles chart in Australia.
2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow
Lulu
Eurovision 1969 winner, Lulu, got the party started at the 2014 Commonwealth Games closing ceremony in Glasgow by performing her mega hit 'Shout' during the welcoming of the athletes.
The Scottish singer scored a top 10 on the UK singles chart with her debut single 'Shout' which has become one of her signature tunes. One of her best performing singles in the UK was her Eurovision winning song 'Boom Bang-a-Bang' which peaked at No.2.
Later on in the ceremony Lulu joined Dougie MacLean and Kylie Minogue in a performance of the traditional song 'Auld Lang Syne'.
Jessica Mauboy
During the 2014 Commonwealth Games closing ceremony, Jessica Mauboy performed 'Sea of Flags' and 'I Believe - Anything is Possible' after the games were handed over to the Gold Coast.
The former Australian Idol runner-up technically became Australia's first Eurovision representative (non-competing) when Mauboy was invited as a guest to take part in the second semi-final in Oslo in 2014 as part of an Australian presentation with the song ‘Sea of Flags’. The song ended up charting on the Australian singles chart at No. 40.
'I Believe - Anything is Possible' is a anthemic pop number written by Adam Reily and Mauboy which was released as a promotional single.
Mauboy went on to represent Australia at Eurovision 2018 in Lisbon with the song 'We Got Love'. She made it to the Grand Final finishing in 20th place.
Karen Matheson
Scottish folk singer Karen Matheson represented France at Eurovision in 1996 with the Breton language song 'Diwanit Bugale'. She was joined by Elaine Morgan as part of the l'Héritage des Celtes and Dan Ar Braz. They finished in 19th place. 'Diwanit Bugale' was the first Brenton language song performed at Eurovision.
18 years later, Matheson was part of the 2014 Commonwealth Games closing ceremony where she sung sung 'Ae Fond Kiss' while the Commonwealth Games flag was lowered and handed to the Gold Coast 2018 team.
2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast
Delta Goodrem
Delta Goodrem would once again get the opportunity to perform at an opening ceremony, this time in the Gold Coast. She sung her co-written song 'Welcome to Earth'. She was supported by 15 drummers and a 72-piece choir. The song was released as a single.
To close off the ceremony a remix version of Delta's 2006 Commonwealth Games song 'Together We Are One' was played.
Dami Im and Guy Sebastian
Eurovision royalty Dami Im and Guy Sebastian were part of the 2018 Commonwealth Games closing ceremony on the Gold Coast.
The pair were joined by a star studded group of Australian singer including Amy Shark, Anthony Callea, Deborah Conway, Kate Ceberano, Ricki-Lee Coulter, Samantha Jade and The Veronicas who performed throughout the ceremony. Sebastian performed his hit single ''Like It Like That' and 'Bloodstone' in a set which included fellow Australian Idol entrants Anthony Callea and Ricki-Lee. Im performed an incredible cover of Sia's 'Alive'.
With the games being held in Birmingham, it's quite likely we might see Eurovision artists pop-up on Friday morning.
The opening ceremony of the 2022 Commonwealth Games will be on at 7.00pm local time Thursday 28 July in Europe, 4.45am (AEST) on Friday 29 July in Australia. The closing ceremony is scheduled for 5.15am (AEST) on Tuesday 9 August in Australia.
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