The AFL has long been copping it for the less than sterling quality of their Grand Final entertainment. Most complaints centre on the league’s omission of homegrown acts in favour of international performers, some who are well past their prime.
After Ellie Goulding, Bryan Adams, and Chris Isaak were announced for last year’s Grand Final entertainment, Music Victoria were amongst those who called the lineup “disappointing” and criticised the lack of homegrown acts on the bill for one of the country’s biggest events.
Many readers will remember the disastrous appearances made by the likes of Meat Loaf, who later blamed a throat condition for his out-of-tune performance, and Angry Anderson, who gave arguably the most infamous Grand Final performance of all time.
After this year’s Super Bowl halftime show featuring Coldplay, Beyonce, Bruno Mars, and Mark Ronson but mostly Beyonce, many AFL fans urged the league to pay attention to the performance and take notes, and according to Australian music industry legend Michael Gudinski, they did.
As The Music reports, Gudinski was recently speaking to Triple M’s breakfast show and claimed the lineup will be unveiled in the coming weeks and looks as though it will feature homegrown Australian acts.
“I think people will be very happy this year,” he said. “The reason it’s taking a bit of time is there’s a possibility of a very, very special song and a very Australian meaning that could possibly encapsulate the ground.”
A “very, very special” song with a “very Australian meaning” that encapsulated the MCG? We obviously can’t confirm this, but it sounds to us like Gudinski could be referring to Paul Kelly’s classic tune ‘Leaps and Bounds’?
