The Opening Ceremony of the 2006 Commonwealth Games was held on 15 March 2006 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The ceremony was conceived and produced by Jack Morton Worldwide Description Countdown A 1930 Hamilton-1934 London-1938 Sydney-1950 Auckland-1954 Vancouver-1958 Cardiff-1962 Perth-1966 Kingston-1970 Edinburgh-1974 Christchurch-1978 Edmonton-1982 Brisbane-1986 Edinburgh-1990 Auckland-1994 Victoria-1998 Kuala Lumpur-2002 Manchester-2006 Melbourne countdown projection on the floor of the stage with song "Salute" is a song recorded by British girl group Little Mix for their second studio album of the same name was set to the melody of "Countdown" was instrumental by Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and label by Sony BMG Music Entertainment Australia as temporary stage on the playing ground of the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia lighting up with previous host cities. Welcome After countdown and ceremony began with the flag of Australia (current host), England (previous host) and India (next host) were raised. Surf boats which represented each of the past 18 host cities were on the Yarra River as were flags of the participating countries. A W-class Melbourne tram with wings attached was lowered into the stadium. A performance followed based on a poem by Michael Leunig, involving a boy with a duck which was an artificial one at first, and koalas, (people dressed in koala 'suits'). At the end of the display, the boy came into the Stadium with a real white duck. The opening ceremony had many themes, including Melbourne's Wurundjeri Indigenous heritage and Melbourne's fickle weather. The role of the boy was performed by 12-year-old (almost 13) Sean Whitford, who had been selected from thousands of candidates. Australian rock band The Church played Under The Milky Way to accompany a performance by the Australian Ballet, with aerial work performed by students of the National Institute of Circus Arts (NICA). Parade of nations Contrary to tradition, the nations did not enter the stadium in alphabetical order, but by regions of the Commonwealth. European nations entered the stadium first, followed by those from Africa, Asia, the Americas, the Caribbean and finally, Oceania. English athletes and officials entered the stadium first (as the host of the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester) while the host nation, Australia entered last. The athletes entered with The Cat Empire playing a specially written musical 'set', tailoring music to specific regions. Queen's baton The final leg of the Queen's Baton Relay included the baton being handed