The Eurovision acts who have performed at Commonwealth Games ceremonies
- Kyriakos Tsinivits
- Jul 30
- 4 min read
Updated: 7 days ago
This weekend, one of the world's biggest sporting events, the XXIII Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, will come to a close.
Over the past few decades, Commonwealth Games opening and closing ceremonies have celebrated the very best of their host cities, showcasing local history, culture, music and artistic talent. On more than one occasion, that has included appearances from Eurovision stars.
Ahead of the Glasgow 2026 closing ceremony, we've taken a look back at the moments where the Commonwealth Games and Eurovision have crossed paths – and there are a few surprises along the way. Let's dive in.
2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester
Vanessa Amorosi, who finished in third place 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.
At the closing ceremony for 2002 Manchester Games, Vanessa sung one of her well known hits Shine. Also, to celebrate the games being handed over to Melbourne for the next games in 2006, Vanessa 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
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. Casey just missed out on the crown by seven points.
She 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 Casey's Australian Idol winners single Listen with Your Heart.
This year's Eurovision representative for Australia Delta Goodrem wowed us with her powerful song Eclipse in Vienna which finished in fourth place.
Two decades earlier in 2006 Delta 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
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.
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 Jessica was invited as a guest to take part in the second semi-final in Copenhagen 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 Jessica which was released as a promotional single.
Jessica 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.
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, Karen was part of the 2014 Commonwealth Games closing ceremony where she sung the song 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 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.
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. Guy performed his hit single Like It Like That and Bloodstone in a set which included fellow Australian Idol entrants Anthony Callea and Ricki-Lee.
Dami performed an incredible cover of Sia's Alive.
2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham
Vanessa would be invited to perform again at the closing ceremony the Alexander Stadium where she headlined a segment of the formal handover to the Australian state of Victoria.
Victoria was then expected to be the host of the 2026 Commonwealth Games but withdrew nearly a year later before being replaced by Glasgow.
Vanessa performed the song Amazing. The song was a single released back in 2011. It was due to be a part of her album, V, which was later unfortunately scrapped.
She shared the stage with Yolngu rapper Baker Boy and singer-songwriter Taylor Henderson.
2026 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow
Delta will perform during the ceremony on August 2, joining an international line-up celebrating the end of the Games before the handover to the next host city, Ahmedabad, India.
As mentioned earlier the appearance continues Delta's long association with the Commonwealth Games, having previously performed at both the Melbourne 2006 and Gold Coast 2018 opening ceremonies.
The Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games closing ceremony will take place on Sunday, August 2, 2026, at the OVO Hydro in Glasgow. It will be shown free to air in Australia on the Seven Network on Monday 3 August at 4.45am (AEST).
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