It’s all eyes on Birmingham tonight as the second city hosts the opening ceremony for the Commonwealth Games 2022.
Taking place at Alexander Stadium, the curtain-raiser will welcome participants from across the globe ahead of a fortnight of competition.
And who better to greet them than local legends Duran Duran? (Level of sarcasm in that query entirely dependent on preferences of reader.)
Simon Le Bon and his band of merry New Romantics are set to headline the spectacle (presumably having failed with a previous bid for the 2016 Olympics opening ceremony in Rio).
Thing is though, Birmingham have given the world of music so much down the years, and with that in mind, we thought we’d take a look at some of the cultural exports who can perhaps feel a little affronted to have not been given the nod over D².
*Warning, this article may contain traces of Jasper Carrott.
And who better to greet them than local legends Duran Duran? (Level of sarcasm in that query entirely dependent on preferences of reader.)
5. The Streets
Not entirely joking with this one. Mike Skinner is a cult legend, and his rambling, deadpan monologues on the trials and tribulations of mundane ordinariness would be a much more accurate and earnest representation of British culture than Simon Le Bon and his musings on wild boys and peckish wolves.
6. Slade
The band Oasis wish they could have been, Slade absolutely deserve to be more than just a yuletide novelty. (Sorry Wizzard). Picture the scene... Alexander Stadium cuts to pitch black. Through the darkness a lone voice trills ‘Baby, baby, baaaaby’. A single spotlight illuminates Noddy Holder. He’s wearing a top hat made of Cadbury Dairy Milk wrappers and Typhoo teabags, or something. Suddenly, an explosion of light and colour, lasers and fireworks. The old boys fire through a stirring rendition of ‘Cum On Feel The Noize’. The world (or at least the bits that Britain forced itself into a ‘special relationship’ with) rejoices.
7. Jamelia
Even now, 19 years later, ‘Superstar’ still absolutely slaps, plus the songstress was a vocal and fervent supporter of Jeremy Corbyn during his time as leader of the Labour Party, so she definitely knows a thing or two about common wealth.
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