Ian Ward, the Leader of the Birmingham City Council and head of the city's successful bid, revealed they were looking at doing the handover from Gold Coast 2018 on April 15 in a "different way".

He singled out the manner in which the Games were passed from the Malaysian capital to Manchester at the Closing Ceremony of the 1998 event as an example.

The Closing Ceremony of Kuala Lumpur 1998 included a segment via live video link from outside Manchester's Town Hall during which top local bands New Order and James played. 

Ward said they were looking at a number of different options and were already in dialogue with Gold Coast 2018 about the handover.

A 10-minute segment will be dedicated to Birmingham after the city was officially awarded the 2022 Commonwealth Games here today.

The star of the Gold Coast 2018 handover at Glasgow three years ago was Jessica Mauboy, a former runner-up of Australian Idol and now one of the country's most successful female artists.

Birmingham has produced some of Britain's biggest musical stars, including Black Sabbath, Duran Duran, UB40 and the Electric Light Orchestra.

"We are talking about how we might do the handover in a different way," Ward said.

"Look at the way Manchester did it.

"We won’t be seeking to do anything dramatic. 

"We want to make sure the handover is done in a way that is representative of the city."

Ward also claimed the city was "already ahead with our plans" for the Games in four-and-a-half years' time during the announcement event today, which took place at a special school assembly attended by 200 Year Seven students from Birmingham.

He added that they would look to establish an Organising Committee "as soon as possible" but did not address whether or not he would look to take on the role of chairperson.

"We will leave a lasting and real legacy for the people of Birmingham and the city has quite a bit of work to do," said Ward.

"We have already started to ensure that we can deliver a Games that the country can be proud of."

Gold Coast 2018 chairman Peter Beattie congratulated Birmingham for being officially selected as the 2022 host city.

"The Games in Glasgow in 2014 set the benchmark very high and delivered an exceptional experience for athletes and spectators and I am confident that Gold Coast 2018 will be another outstanding Games," he said.

"There have been many lessons learned on the journey towards 2018 with more to come as we move into Games time.

"We are very keen to transfer as much of our knowledge as possible to enable the new host city to develop a robust Games business plan early in the establishment of the Organising Committee so they can literally hit the ground running when we hand over the flag at the Gold Coast 2018 Closing Ceremony."