Worst ever closing ceremony? Twitter melts down as Commonwealth Games end on bum note

Gold Coast did a magnificent job of hosting the 2018 Commonwealth Games, but the closing ceremony left rather a lot to be desired...

It’s not often that you see TV anchors openly aiming barbs at the content being broadcast on their channel. But so atrocious was the execution of the 2018 Commonwealth Games closing ceremony that Jo Griggs and Basil Zempilas of Australia’s Channel 7 pulled no punches on air.

The pair – understandably given the fare offered – wasted no time in distancing themselves and their station from the rather cringe-worthy ceremony. Griggs stated, “People are thinking that Channel 7 has chosen not to show pictures of athletes or not to show the flagbearer, Kurt Fearnley or other flagbearers. We can only show the pictures that are provided by the actual host broadcasters.”

The organisers had somehow seen fit to lay on a poetry slam, 40 minutes of speeches and a ‘reimagining’ of Olivia Newton-John and ELO’s hit song, Xanadu – yet didn’t deem it worthwhile to make the athletes part of proceedings. As Zempilas alluded to, how did such a well-run sporting event end up with such a poor closing ceremony?

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Long before the end, spectators in the Carrara Stadium began to stream out, presumably bored out of their minds.

Predictably, social media reaction was brutal.

Still, at least the next hosts, Birmingham, improved the tone of proceedings. Er, sort of:

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What do you think?