Opening Ceremony – ‘Under Southern Skies’
Under Southern Skies was written by Damian Halloran and Maria Millward. “The song was written to celebrate the eternal youthfulness of the Olympic spirit, and reminds us that the world’s children represent our future. Under Southern Skies grew out of a passionate belief in the vision and inspiration of the Olympics, and in true Olympic tradition.” (x)
Under Southern Skies was featured on the album The Games of the XXVII Olympiad 2000: Music from the Opening Ceremony, released on 18 Septemer 2000 and reaching #1 on the ARIA Charts. Under Southern Skies and We’ll Be One were also included on the 2004 release The Best of Nikki Webster.
The signing during the chorus of the song is Auslan Sign Language.
Closing Ceremony – ‘We’ll Be One’
We’ll Be One was written by Phil Turcio and Kylieann Hewitt, and chosen for the closing ceremony. It was performed by Nikki Webster and the Sing 2001 Choir.
It was released as a single two days after the closing ceremony, on October 3, 2000 and achieved Gold status (sales of 35,000). A music video was filmed at Newtown High School of the Performing Arts.
