Watch yesterday's speeches here
Democrats are preparing a grand celebration for Barack Obama, who will accept a historic presidential nomination with a speech that spells out his vision for change in the US tonight.
Mr Obama, the first black presidential nominee of a major US party, will deliver the address in Denver's open-air football stadium before 75,000 supporters on the 45th anniversary of Martin Luther King's 'I Have a Dream' speech - a landmark in the US civil rights movement.
The televised speech by Mr Obama, who was formally nominated yesterday will give the first-term Illinois senator his biggest national audience until he meets Republican rival John McCain in late September in the first of three face-to-face debates before the 4 November election.
The setting where Mr Obama will deliver his speech is an elaborate columned stage resembling a miniature Greek temple.
Similar to structures used for rock concerts, it will be set up at the midpoint of Invesco Field.
Supporters will see Mr Obama appear from between plywood columns painted off-white to accept the party's nomination for president.
Presidential candidates at conventions past have typically spoken from the convention site itself, but the Obama campaign wanted to capitalise on the Illinois senator's populist appeal and allow members of the general public to witness his speech in person.
The last Democrat to make such a move was John F Kennedy in 1960 when he delivered his acceptance speech to 80,000 people in the Los Angeles Coliseum.
Once Mr Obama speaks, confetti will rain down on him and fireworks will be fired off from locations around the stadium wall.
Oscar-winning actress and singer Jennifer Hudson will sing the national anthem.
National conventions are often the first time voters start to pay attention to a presidential race.
Opinion polls show many voters are still unfamiliar with Mr Obama and concerned about his readiness for the job.
Republicans, who hold their own convention in St Paul, Minnesota next week to nominate the veteran 71-year-old Mr McCain, hammered on their theme that Mr Obama is unprepared and his soaring speeches mask a lack of substance.
Mr Obama is running even with Mr McCain in opinion polls.
The back to back-to-back nominating conventions will give voters a chance to compare and contrast.
Mr Obama's senior strategist, David Axelrod, told reporters the speech would focus on Mr Obama's vision for the country's future.
'He's going to lay out a case for change. He's going to set the stakes of this election, the risks of continuing down the road we're on which is plainly what Senator McCain is offering,' Mr Axelrod said.
Suprise visit
Last night, Mr Obama made a 'surprise' appearance at his party's convention, one day before his highly-anticipated speech in Denver, Colorado.
In what was the worst kept secret of the day, the man who is now the official nominee came out because he 'had a little somethin' to say'.
He went on to praise his wife Michelle, vice presidential running mate Joe Biden, former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and former president Bill Clinton for their speeches during the convention.
The penultimate night of the convention began with a roll call by states and territories, a largely symbolic procedure that officially declared Senator Obama as the Democrats' candidate for president.
Following Wednesday's speech by former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, her husband put the contentious primary campaign behind him and affirmed 'Barack Obama is ready to be president'.
'The job of the next president is to rebuild the American Dream and restore America's standing in the world,' Mr Clinton said. 'Barack Obama is the man for this job.'
He added that Senator Obama 'hit it out of the park' with his choice of Senator Biden to be his running mate.
Mr Biden spoke later in the evening, less than a week after he became the announced vice presidential candidate.
He then took on the role he is expected to play during the general election campaign, that of an 'attack dog' against Republican candidate John McCain, even interchanging his name with President George W Bush.
Party unity
Republicans, who have set up an outpost in Denver, have been trying to exploit any signs of Democratic division.
While conceding that Mrs Clinton made a strong speech Wednesday night, they reiterated the main thrust of their attack on Mr Obama: that the first-term senator is unprepared to be president.
Last night Bill Clinton countered that argument head on when he said: 'Barack Obama is ready to lead America and restore American leadership in the world... (he) is ready to be President of the United States.'
He was then played off by a cover of the U2 song 'Beautiful Day'.
Check out complete convention coverage including our photo gallery and full text of speeches at RTÉ.ie/uselection
