Tom Jones and Ed Sheeran have a kick on the MCG ahead of their AFL grand final performance
TOM Jones and Ed Sheeran had a fumbling crash course with the footy ahead of their AFL Grand Final performance this Saturday — and Sheeran got a special surprise.
GRAND final entertainers Tom Jones and Ed Sheeran have had an instant education in AFL footy.
AFL boss Gillon McLachlan helped the pair awkwardly kicking and handball a footy on the MCG ahead of this Saturday’s big day.
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In a it-had-to-happen moment British singer Sheeran was presented with a Sherrin football with his surname replacing the famous logo.
“When I first saw the ball I said ‘Wouldn’t it be funny if it said ‘Sheeran’ instead of Sheerin and I was told they couldn’t do it,” Sheeran said. “But they did it. It’s good. I’m looking forward to seeing my first Aussie Rules game.”
Welsh icon Jones is also going to watch the match, but was undecided who to barrack for and was presented with a fence-sitting Frankenstein jumper half Hawks, half Swans.
“I’ve watched it on television,” Jones said. “The players look very fit, a lot more fit than I did when I was young.”
Both men will perform three of their own songs before the game, with Jones promising “some oldies” but keeping his choices a surprise.
“It could more than likely be Delilah,” Jones teased. “I won’t be doing any obscure songs, I’ll be doing songs people know. I’m there to please an audience.”
The 74 year old also reiterated his anti-panty stance when it came to knicker tossing from fans.
“Those days are over, thank God. I’ve had enough,” Jones stated. “Knickers get in the way.”
The cross-generational performers will also sing a duet, with rumours it will be on Jones’ version of the Prince classic Kiss.
“I was hoping someone would suggest we should duet, and he actually suggested it himself which is good,” Sheeran said.
“It’s always nice to sing on stage with people you really respect.”
The two singers, who met when playing the Queen’s Jubilee concert, caught up in Melbourne today.
“Tom’s stories are amazing,” Sheeran said. “Meeting Elvis, being on the Simpsons, being on the Fresh Prince of Bel Air. I love his classic hits but I really like Sex Bomb. That’s my era, that’s when I first heard Tom Jones.”
The two performed a full dress rehearsal today before Saturday’s AFL Grand Final.
They will also play a free show, open to anyone, after the match.
Yesterday Sheeran recorded four songs in an inner-city Melbourne studio which may end up on his third album.
“They’re just demos, but sometimes demos turn into album tracks,” Sheeran said. “I’ve got loads of songs on voice memos, but this time I’ve been in the studio putting them down so they become something.”
One is a future Christmas single — but not for this Christmas.
“I wanted to write a Christmas song that isn’t cheesy and is more like a hymn you’d hear in a church,” Sheeran said.
“It won’t be this year. That’d be overkill. I’ve got Thinking Out Loud going into Christmas this year. I’ve had a good year. If I saw an artist who’d had a string of hits, an album that did well and then did a Christmas single I’d think that was a bit much.
“So if I think about someone else, then I won’t do it myself. There’s a better time to do it. If it came next year or the one after when I haven’t released anything for a while it’d be bigger.”
Sheeran will tour Australia in March and April next year.
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