Ceremony organiser not happy

THE American firm behind the universally panned Commonwealth Games closing ceremony says it is disappointed at the criticism of the event.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk yesterday said organisers should “hang their heads in shame” and the man behind the Sydney Olympics ceremonies Ric Birch said the $8 million show was “like a school concert”.

Games chairman Peter Beattie accepted that organisers had “got it wrong”.

But the US-based firm that created the show — Jack Morton Worldwide — said only it was disappointed “at the level of criticism targeted at specific aspects of [the] ceremony”.

ANNASTACIA Palaszczuk says the organisers of the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games closing ceremony should be ashamed for not giving athletes the starring role.

The Queensland premier was scathing about the decision to effectively exclude the athletes from the broadcast.

Previous years have seen teams featured entering the stadium behind their nation’s flag bearer.

“I’m just as disappointed as anyone else,” Ms Palaszczuk said while attending a post Games celebration in Surfers Paradise yesterday.

“Whoever made that decision not to allow those athletes to march in should hang their head in shame.”

The closing ceremony has been criticised as underwhelming, including from Ric Birch, who choreographed the Sydney Olympic Games and other ceremonies but lost out to US-based firm Jack Morton Worldwide [JMW] to stage the Gold Coast event.

Athletes were brought into Carrara Stadium before the broadcast on Sunday.

“What I’ve been told makes it sound like a school concert and given the role of Schoolies Week in the Gold Coast, perhaps that was the idea,” Mr Birch told the Courier-Mail after the ceremony.

“[It] sounds as though the producers planned [nothing] other than a parade of songs and singers with a kind of ‘ Hit Parade’ choreography to represent the Gold Coast.”

JMW said it had worked closely alongside the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games Corporation [Goldoc] over the past three years to develop the ceremonies.

“We share Goldoc’s disappointment at the level of criticism targeted at specific aspects of last night’s ceremony,” it said in a statement.

The decision denied television viewers the chance to watch retiring para-sports veteran Kurt Fearnley, who won gold in the men’s wheelchair marathon, carry the flag into the venue.

Organising committee chairman Peter Beattie has said the decision was wrong and has apologised to Fearnley.

The champion agreed with Beattie that organisers had “got it wrong” but he stopped short of any further criticism.

“Right now, we have just finished the best and most inclusive Games we have ever had,” Fearnley told SEN radio.

“It’s the best two weeks of my life ... Let’s just move on and remember the Games as the absolute success that it was.”

Queensland Commonwealth Games Minister Kate Jones has praised Mr Beattie for taking responsibility but said many people felt let down.

Ms Palaszczuk said that despite the closing ceremony falling flat, the Games were still a great success that would deliver lasting benefits for the state.

She said the Government would consider a ticker-tape parade for the athletes.