Article by Jackson Barrett courtesy of the West Australian.
Prince of Darkness’ cameo rounds out spectacle now headed Down Under for 2026.
Birmingham’s Commonwealth Games went out with a bang in the early hours of Tuesday morning with a closing ceremony that was as memorable and colourful as the event itself.
And with the Games set to head Down Under in four years time, it was a show-stopping night littered with a tinge of green and gold.
As the sun set on the final day of what was a remarkable Games for Australia, the athletes let their hair down — to catch a spectacular finale that featured iconic artists from the host nation and some from a bit closer to home.
In a set inspired by the factories and trades of the West Midlands’ industrial heartland, the night was opened by local favourites Dexys Midnight Runners and their pub hit Come on Eileen.
The city’s proud multiculturalism and its close relationship with the Asian music scene was then represented with Naleem Gill’s performance alongside DJ Panjabi MC, while there was a figurative tip of the hat to global sensation Peaky Blinders the hit television series about Birmingham’s most notorious gangs.
Then, there was a chance to celebrate the athletes, who have entertained and given their all in competition over the past fortnight.
Australian diving great Melissa Wu was handed the honour of carrying the country’s flag into Alexander Stadium as thousands of athletes made the customary march into the arena.
Wu won a third gold medal in Birmingham at her fifth and final Games.
The host nation were the final team to enter, greeted by a huge roar from a packed and feverish crowd before the figurative baton was passed on to Australia.
With Australia set to host for the second time in three Games and the third time since 2006, Aboriginal elders from the land on which the 2026 event will be held were there to witness the handing over of the flag.
Regional Victoria will stage the event in 2026 — just 20 years after the State’s last event in Melbourne.
To mark the occasion, Aussie artists Baker Boy and Vanessa Amorosi performed to a backdrop of performers clad in fluoresent green and gold outfits.
Rapper Baker Boy, the 2019 Young Australian of the Year, took centre stage with a song performed in both English and the Indigenous language of Yolnu Matha. The 25-yearold was then followed by Victorians Amorosi and singersongwriter Taylor Henderson.
Linda Dessau, the Governor of Victoria, was then ceremonially handed the Commonwealth Games flag — folded up and formally passed on by athletes from Team Australia.
During the handover, Indigenous dancers performed against a video backdrop highlighting Aussie athletes and all things regional Victoria.
But much of the fanfare, flagwaving and pomp and ceremony was all just build-up to a showstealing finale.
Birmingham’s very own Ozzy Osbourne made a surprise, 1980sinspired cameo — bringing the curtain down on the Games in spectacular style.
The legendary 73-year-old Black Sabbath frontman played out the show with the band’s biggest hit Paranoid in an energetic end to proceedings.
The performance was made more impressive given the Prince of Darkness underwent a major back operation in June and two years ago was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease.
Regional Victoria has a lot to live up to in 2026 with Commonwealth Games Federation president Louise Martin praising Birmingham for having put on an event “unlike any we’ve seen before”.
“We are emerging from one of the most challenging periods in modern history, where the COVID-19 pandemic has kept us apart,” she said.
“Birmingham 2022 proved to be a special moment when we reunited, when the power of sport to connect us came into sharp focus.”
And the expectations to match Birmingham in four years time won’t just be about hosting and hospitality.
The closing ceremony came just hours after Australia’s Kookaburras thumped India 7-0 to win hockey gold, the final medal handed out at the 11-day sporting extravaganza.
It was the perfect end to a dominant Games, where Australia comfortably topped the medal count, with 67 gold medals, 57 silver and 54 bronze. In doing so, Australia also passed the momentous 1000 goldmedal landmark.
It means our athletes have headed up the medal table at every Games since 1990 — with one exception in 2014, when England finished in first place in Glasgow.
Delivering the same in Geelong, Ballarat, Bendigo and Gippsland in 2026 will now be the target.
