Tones and I ProfilePeter V’landys, chairman of the Australian Rugby League Commission, has backtracked on comments that this year’s NRL Grand Final will have no pre-game entertainment.
Less than a week after it was reported that the NRL wouldn’t feature a performer at this Sunday’s Grand Final (4 October), V’landys has teased a mystery act set to perform for eleven minutes at Sydney’s Accor Stadium.
“I’ve got to tell you – it’ll be the highest-rating 11 minutes you will ever see, because no one knows what it is, and we won’t tell until the night,” V’landys told journalists on Monday (28 September), via 7 News.
He added, “And a lot of people will be surprised. There will be something, but I am not saying what it is. Stay tuned.”
Last week, reports emerged that negotiations with Tones And I had apparently fallen through, leaving the main event without a pre-match entertainment headliner.
Sources claimed the negotiations broke down because the NRL insisted Tones play her 2019 hit, Dance Monkey. However, her team confirmed that prior commitments touring with Macklemore in the US left her unable to accept the offer when it was put to her earlier this month.
Since then, numerous artists offered to perform on the day, including Shannon Noll, who said he was “ready and willing” to take the stage.
But the Herald Sun reported that in an interview with Today, V’landys said no replacement act would be booked, though it wouldn’t affect the day.
“I have been inundated with emails from young Australian performers that want to perform at the Grand Final,” V’landys explained. “We have even had an international star that has said if we donate money to his charity that he would possibly do it.
“We have plenty of entertainment. Our entertainment is our game. We have a festival of rugby league all day.”
Last year, American singer Teddy Swims headlined the NRL Grand Final pre-game entertainment, performing his hits Bad Dreams, The Door, and Lose Control, plus a roaring take on AC/DC’s T.N.T.
