2018 Commonwealth Games closing ceremony

The closing ceremony for the 2018 Commonwealth Games was held on 15 April 2018 in the Carrara stadium, Gold Coast. The worldwide broadcast began at 20:30 and finished at 22:30 AEST, lasting almost two hours.

Dignitaries in attendance

Program

Singers performance

The closing ceremony started with a performance of Australian singer Amy Shark. She performed the song "Let Love Rule". She then introduced Australian musician Archie Roach and together with the youth choir continued the performance.[3] Then thirteen year old poet Soli Raphael recited a poem about the Games.[4] He is known for winning the Australian Poetry Slam competition in 2017 and is the youngest ever to win the competition.[5] Australian singer Ricki-Lee Coutler performed her song "All We Need is Love".[6] She also performed in the opening ceremony with her song "Technicolor Love". After her, Australian boy group The Koi Boys gave a performance. Anthony Callea performed the song "You Should Be Dancing" originally by the Bee Gees.[7] After him, Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt appeared as DJ along with Games mascot Borobi in the middle of the stage.[8]

Speeches

GOLDOC chairman Peter Beattie gave a speech:

He also praised the athletes, volunteers, the CGF and wished good luck to the Birmingham 2022 committee. After him, the David Dixon Award was presented by the CGF president Louise Martin to New Zealand weightlifter David Liti who won gold at the Men's +105 kg weightlifting event at the 2018 Commonwealth Games.[9] Following the David Dixon award presentation, Louise Martin gave a speech about the conduct of the Games:

Martin also announced that the Games mascot Borobi should remain active after the Games in order to support and raise funds for the Yugambeh community.[11] After Martin, Premier of Queensland Ananstacia Palaszczuk gave a speech[12][13]:

The commonwealth Games ceremonial flag was passed from Tom Tate, Mayor of Gold Coast to Sam Coffa, President of Commonwealth Games Australia, to Louise Martin, President of the Commonwealth Games Federation, to Ian Metcalfe, Chairman of Commonwealth Games England and finally to Anne Underwood, Lord Mayor of Birmingham.[15] Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate presented his speech to the audience and thanked the volunteers for their support and wished good luck to the Birmingham 2022 committee. President of Commonwealth Games Australia Sam Coffa presented his speech and praised Gold Coast city and the athletes of the Games. He then offered his thanks to the people of Gold Coast for their support. After him, Lord Mayor of Birmingham Anne Underwood gave her speech and told the crowd:

Birmingham handover

After her speech ended, a video about Birmingham's life and culture was shown in the screens of the stadium. The video showed the skyline of Birmingham city, its street markets, active youth, shopping streets, bars, pubs, Birmingham New Street railway station, trams and spaghetti junction. In the video, a man and a girl was shown dancing in one of the pubs of Birmingham and said ''a night you never forget, in a city that never sleeps''. The video ended with displaying the word #BRUM. Lady Sanity, a rap artist from Birmingham, performed with her song ''Go The Distance''.[17]

Criticism and controversy

The closing ceremony received some criticism on social media for various reasons.

For operational reasons, the organising committee had decided that the athletes still on the Gold Coast would enter the arena during the pre-show, before the ceremony began, which is not broadcast and played only on the big screen within the venue to entertain the crowds. This was certainly not a decision without precedent. It was deemed necessary for operationally related athlete welfare reasons and had been briefed to the Commonwealth Games Federation as well as athlete and host broadcast representatives many weeks in advance of the Games. All stakeholders had signed off on the proposed plan well before the Closing Ceremony aired.

The television broadcast focused exclusively on the performances/speeches with few images of the athletes; whose celebration traditionally forms a larger focus of the closing ceremony. However, the media failed to report that athlete attendance on the night was very low and plans to recognise and celebrate all the athletes present during the early performance of 'You Should Be Dancing' by Anthony Called had to be curtailed as there were too few athletes on the field of play to deliver the desired broadcast images. (A clue to the original intent can seen on camera when Callea was accompanied on stage by a troupe of some 20 athletes who had learnt a choreographic sequence in the Athletes' Village in the days leading up to the Ceremony. Adding Usain Bolt to the scene was intended to further highlight the achievements of the athletes. The athletes who entered the stadium prior to broadcast had also been taught a dance routine in anticipation of them being celebrated when the broadcast cameras went live).

With hindsight, the low athlete attendance on the night was foreshadowed during the Opening Ceremony which also fell victim to poor - and many felt, disrespectful, athlete attendance.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Commonwealth Games 2018: Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk will speak at closing ceremony". Courier Mail. Archived from the original on 12 September 2018.
  2. ↑ Kowalewski, Kris. "Lord Mayor visiting Australia to build Commonwealth bridges". www.birmingham.gov.uk. Retrieved 2018-04-25.
  3. ↑ "The ceremony starts with the song 'let love rule' - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 2018-09-05.
  4. ↑ "Gold Coast: Poet Solli Raphael, 13, addresses audience during the… – Daily World". dailyworld.in. Retrieved 2018-09-05.
  5. ↑ "Meet Australia's 12-year-old slam poetry champion". ABC News. 2017-10-19. Retrieved 2018-09-05.
  6. ↑ "Guy Sebastian and Ricki-Lee Coulter wow at Commonwealth Games Closing Ceremony". Retrieved 2018-09-05.
  7. ↑ "Which song did Anthony Callea's perform in the CWG 2018 closing event? - Quora". www.quora.com. Retrieved 2018-09-05.
  8. ↑ "Usain Bolt steals the show as DJ at Commonwealth Games closing ceremony". The Sun. 2018-04-15. Retrieved 2018-09-10.
  9. ↑ "David Liti receives the David Dixon Award for outstanding sporting spirit at Commonwealth Games". Stuff. Retrieved 2018-09-10.
  10. ↑ "CGF President declares Commonwealth more relevant than ever before as "Games of Firsts" draw to a close on Gold Coast". Commonwealth Games Federation. Retrieved 2018-09-10.
  11. ↑ "Blue koala revealed as mascot for Gold Coast Commonwealth Games". ABC News. 2016-04-04. Retrieved 2018-09-14.
  12. ↑ "Annastacia Palaszczuk speaks at the Commonwealth Games Closing Ceremony". ABC News. 2018-04-16. Retrieved 2018-09-14.
  13. ↑ "Queensland entering golden age: Premier". Sunshine Coast Daily. Retrieved 2018-09-14.
  14. ↑ "Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk says Queensland is entering a 'golden age'". The Courier-Mail. April 15, 2018.
  15. ↑ "Gold Coast 2018: Closing Ceremony". 2018-04-15. Retrieved 2018-09-15.
  16. ↑ Davies, Diane. "It's game on for 2022 as Brum takes Commonwealth Games reins". www.expressandstar.com. Retrieved 2018-09-19.
  17. ↑ "VIDEO: Lady Sanity performs Birmingham 2022 song 'Go The Distance' | I Am Birmingham". I Am Birmingham. 2018-04-11. Retrieved 2018-10-10.
  18. ↑ "Commonwealth Games 2018: Closing ceremony line-up revealed". The New Daily. 2018-04-13. Retrieved 2018-04-14.
  19. ↑ "Prince Edward declares Gold Coast 2018 closed as flag passed to Birmingham 2022 in ordinary Closing Ceremony". 2018-04-15. Retrieved 2018-09-05.
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