MacklemoreThe Killers may have beaten Macklemore to number one in the Australian charts this week, but the US rapper won the battle of the Grand Final performance TV ratings.
Vegas rockers The Killers won rave reviews for their pre-match performance at Saturday's AFL Grand Final at Melbourne's MCG in front of a crowd of 100,000 Richmond and Adelaide supporters. While the game itself pulled in 2.68 million viewers around the country for Channel 7, the band's performance was watched by just over one million fans.
On Sunday, Macklemore performed in front 80,000 punters at the NRL Melbourne Storm vs Nth Qld Cowboys final in Sydney. But given the controversy surrounding the performance, it drew 1.37 million viewers to television screens around the country for the Nine Network.
Controversy erupted ahead of Macklemore's performance after ex-PM Tony Abbott accused the artist of politicising the final by including the SSM anthem, and worldwide chart hit, Same Love in his set.
Neither Macklemore nor the NRL backed down despite the conservative backlash and the renewed attention saw the 2012 hit Same Love return to number one on the Australian iTunes chart ahead of Sunday's final.
During the performance, Macklemore seemed to double down on his position by wishing "equality for all" as rainbow coloured fireworks exploded onstage. As he left the stage, screens around the stadium displayed the words "equality" and "inclusiveness".
Macklemore has also now pledged to donate a portion of the proceeds from Australian sales of Same Love to the SSM 'Yes' campaign.
