There was an uninvited guest at the Commonwealth Games opening ceremony:
the ghost of London 2012. The opening night of the Olympics was witty and creative and you could feel its presence during the televised ceremony from Celtic Park. Could Glasgow be as good?
It certainly wouldn't be as expensive. Two years ago, I spoke to David Zolkwer after he started as 2014's head of ceremonies and he warned me that Glasgow could never emulate the scale and spend of London. But he promised that instead of lots of money, there would be lots of wit, guile and invention.
On the night, there was a little. It started with John Barrowman being driven in on the back of a four wheel drive car and singing his way through all the clichés of Scotland: Nessie, Burns, tea cakes, and ship building.
None of it felt very modern, or witty, but then, in front of a billion people, Barrowman kissed another man on the lips. Many of the Commonwealth countries have homophobic policies but here was Scotland saying: we are not prejudiced. It felt like the most modern moment of the night.
Barrowman's song was terrible though and his co-host Karen Dunbar seemed jumpy, like she'd had too much Irn-Bru, but the involvement of many ordinary Glaswegians was a good idea.
Then it was time for the arrival of the Queen. At the Olympics, she was parachuted in from a helicopter, so what would happen in Glasgow? Would she be fired from a cannon? Would she jump out from a giant cake? No. She would drive in.
And just when you think you're getting cynical, the athletes arrive from all over the world, waving and taking selfies. It wasn't glitzy or expensive, but it was the simple heart of the games.
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