Katie Noonan cops criticism after Games ceremonies bomb

THE harsh criticism she copped in the Comm Games was enough to bring her to tears. But there are others who held all the power.

AUSSIE singer-songwriter Katie Noonan, who copped a stinging backlash after her performance at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games opening ceremony, is in the firing line again after she performed at last night’s closing ceremony.

Noonan acted as musical director for both of the spectacles, with viewers complaining that last night’s ceremony focused on pop stars and dignitaries at the expense of highlighting the athletes.

Games boss Peter Beattie fell on his sword this morning, admitting he was the one angry viewers should blame for the closing ceremony blunder.

And while Noonan has also received her fair share of criticism — an Instagram post last week showed it was enough to bring her to tears — she and Mr Beattie weren’t the only ones who decided the athletes should enter the stadium before the ceremony was broadcast.

The decision to not show the 6600 athletes entering Carrara Stadium — including flag bearer Kurt Fearnley — was something that rested on the shoulders of the ceremonies’ creative team: David Zolkwer, Wesley Enoch, Drew Anthony, Merryn Hughes and Noonan.

Noonan was just one member of the team headed by Mr Zolkwer and Ms Hughes, who served as the artistic director and executive producer respectively and work for the US-based company Jack Morton Worldwide.

The creative team behind the opening and closing ceremonies. Picture: Richard Gosling

Commonwealth Games Artistic Director David Zolkwer, Chairman Peter Beattie and Commonwealth Games Federation President Louise Martin. Picture: Getty

Last week, Noonan’s manger Jesse Flavell defended the singer and said she was “a cog in a very large machine”.

“The misunderstanding of Katie’s role and responsibility as musical director of the Opening Ceremony needs some correcting.

“The role of the musical director is to provide creative suggestions and options to the artistic director and the senior creative team (and multiple additional stakeholders) and to work with them to deliver their vision for the ceremony.

“To suggest that the MD has unilateral control and the final say on any creative decisions for events of this magnitude is incorrect. To suggest that the MD is involved in setting the commercial terms offered to any performers is incorrect. To suggest that the MD controls the camera work and editing choices of the broadcast partner is incorrect.

“Katie was contracted to do a job as an MD and a performer, which she nailed. In this context, she is a cog in a very large machine,” her manager wrote.

Ms Flavell issued a statement hours after Noonan posted a teary photo to Instagram, calling claims her ego took a starring role in the Opening Ceremony “the ultimate insult”.

The ceremony, which ran a lengthy two-and-a-half hours, would’ve been at least a half-hour longer if the decision was made to broadcast the athletes entering the stadium.

Whether or not the ceremony’s run time played a part in the decision to not broadcast the athletes wasn’t something GOLDOC chairman Peter Beattie confirmed this morning, telling Sunrise the decision had been made for the “athletes welfare”.

In his interview with the breakfast program this morning, Mr Beattie said the “buck stops with us”.

“You can have a blame game from now until eternity but the reality is, I’m chairman of the organising committee, the buck stops with us. I’m not interested in blaming anyone but us.

“That’s our fault ... that’s my fault ... I apologise to you and anyone else,” he added.

But when Sunrise host David Koch unleashed at Mr Beattie and said the ceremony appeared to have been “put together by some arty farty entertainment organiser who doesn’t know what the games are all about”, the GOLDOC chairman admitted “that’s true”.

Kochie was particularly furious at Jack Morton Worldwide, questioning why an American company “that’s not even part of the Commonwealth, which I think is ironic”, was handed control.

One of those who was handed control was project and artistic director Mr Zolkwer, who also serves as the head of Jack Morton Worldwide Public Events.

His impressive resume includes previously leading the teams for the Athens 2004 Olympic Games and the Manchester 2002, Melbourne 2006 and Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games.

In November 2017, Mr Zolkwer told GOLDOC it was “a real privilege to be working alongside practitioners who are so respected not only here in Australia but across the world”.

“The Gold Coast Ceremonies will be truly and authentically homemade by a team that know this place, who love it, and who are excited to be sharing its story,” he added.

Also working for Jack Morton Worldwide is Sydney-based events manager Merryn Hughes, who served as executive producer for both ceremonies.

With over 25 years experience in the event industry, Ms Hughes’ gig as executive producer also ranked her well above Noonan.

In an email released last year by the Gold Coast Bulletin, Ms Hughes said the two ceremonies had undergone “rigorous and time-consuming creative development” when explaining why the iconic Meter Maids wouldn’t make an appearance.

In a statement to news.com.au, a spokeswoman for Jack Morton Worldwide said it was “disappointed” at criticism of last night’s closing ceremony.

“Having received such a positive response to the Opening Ceremony on the Gold Coast earlier this month, we share GOLDOC’S disappointment at the level of criticism targeted at specific aspects of last night’s ceremony,” the statement said.

Representatives for Katie Noonan have been contacted for comment.

Originally published as Katie Noonan cops criticism after Games ceremonies bomb