ABC blasted over 'woke snooze fest' fireworks coverage

As thousands of people flocked to Sydney Harbour to view the spectacle, some viewers of the national broadcaster were less impressed with what they saw which was led by Charlie Pickering, Zan Rowe and Jeremy Fernandez.

Following the Calling Country fireworks display over the Harbour at 9pm, the live music commenced which featured acts such as Tones and I, Ball Park Music, Vika & Linda, Dami Im, Morgan Evans and Tasman Keith.

A segment of the coverage was also dedicated to this year’s WorldPride Festival, to be held in Sydney, which included a performance from drag queen Courtney Act.

Stream more on this story and all the latest news with Flash. 25+ news channels in 1 place. New to Flash? Try 1 month free. Offer ends 31 October, 2023

In introducing Act, Fernandez teased that the performance will be “a little taste of what you can expect” during the festival, ahead of corresponding 11pm WorldPride fireworks.

“Our next few performers exemplify the word pride,” he said, before being interrupted by Pickering.

“I felt bad you out here on your own, I felt like I abandoned you,” Pickering said jokingly.

“I want to show some solidarity. Am I an ally? Am I an ally?”

“You’re an ally and WorldPride is about that too, paying tribute to the allies who stood alongside the rainbow community as well,” Fernandez replied.

In a tribute to the late Olivia Newton John, Courtney Act covered classic hit ‘Xanadu’ before belting out AC/DC’s ‘You Shook Me All Night Long”.

Act also covered ‘Somewhere Over the Rainbow’ and the Divinyls’ raunchy hit ‘I Touch Myself’ to the ire of some social media users.

“#SydneyNYE could they have missed the mark more with the kids fireworks music selection,” one asked.

“I’m sure many kids are saying WTF was that. It’s really not that hard~just get Bluey to sing baby shark then run TikTok vids.

"Save the obligatory woke snooze fest for the adults fireworks."

“There's zero chance the ABC would broadcast a women in skimpy gear singing those songs but because it's a drag Queen, f***ing tokenism," another said.

"That music for the 9pm NYE fireworks on ABC was not good. Sorry,” one commented.

Another user pre-empted the coverage, saying he was bracing himself for the “expected laughs” from the ABC.

“Not cause it's a comedy, but because it's always a train wreck,” he said.

It wasn’t all negative however with numerous praising the ABC’s line-up and choice of artists.

“Courtney Act singing an AC/DC song and promoting World Pride 2023 is everything I need now,” someone said.

“Courtney Act slaying on ABC just made my night.. what a legend,” another wrote.

The Sydney Morning Herald said the ABC delivered a “largely controversy-free” broadcast.

“How to be everything to all people, from the kiddies early on, through to their probably inebriated elders later in the night,” an editorial questioned.

“To that end, the 2022 passage to 2023 ticked all the boxes, and ticked them well.”