2018 Commonwealth Games closing ceremony

The closing ceremony for the 2018 Commonwealth Games was held on 15 April 2018 in the Carrara stadium, Gold Coast. The worldwide broadcast began at 20:30 and finished at 22:30 AEST, lasting almost two hours. The athletes entered the stadium before the broadcast began, a decision which attracted criticism. In reality, this early entrance was not without recent precedent and in reality, a 10-minute 'salute to the athletes of the Commonwealth' had been planned and rehearsed with the athletes and crowd in the stadium before the broadcast began - intended as a surprise to the broadcast audience. However, due to a very low turnout of athletes on the night, the sequence, which was to feature Usain Bolt DJ ing as the cast and athletes danced for the crowd had to be curtailed. Channel 7 was particularly virulent in its criticism. (It was later revealed that many athletes has elected not to attend the Ceremony in favour of attending a party being hosted elsewhere by the channel).