The AFL Grand Final entertainment is controversial almost every year. As one of the most high-profile music performances of the year, it’s no surprise that there’ll always be someone unhappy.

But it’s the song choice that this year has perplexed a large number of fans, including Collingwood President Eddie McGuire who took to radio yesterday to vent his frustration.

McGuire is unhappy with crooner Tom Jones for singing a ballad about a man stabbing his cheating girlfriend to death, saying the song was an inappropriate choice given the sensitivity around domestic violence and sport at the moment.

“I just thought it was the wrong selection,” McGuire said on Triple M radio according to News Ltd. “Obviously at the moment domestic violence is a massive issue in world sport. In the National Football League in America they are getting absolutely smashed because of their tin-eared approach to domestic violence.”

“Tom has got a songbook bigger than the yellow pages,” he continue. “Don’t walk into the fire. Sing It’s Not Unusual, sing the Green Green Grass of Home, It was an inappropriate song in 2014.”

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The verse from the song that has caused the most ire describes a man approaching his girlfriend’s house after her lover has left:
At break of day when that man drove away, I was waiting
I cross the street to her house and she opened the door
She stood there laughing
I felt the knife in my hand and she laughed no more.

Not everyone agrees however, and McGuire’s co-host Luke Darcy defended the song choice. “Mate, you’re kidding aren’t you?,” he said. “(There were) 99,543 people there and I reckon 99,542 didn’t care and I think you’re the only one who does”

“He was fantastic, the grand final was brilliant and if he chooses to play Delilah, come on … it was written in 1968, no one has even an inkling that would be an issue.”

But McGuire isn’t the only one who took issue with the song choice, with a number of fans jumping on Twitter.

https://twitter.com/asp0908/status/515719963294707712

You can watch the performances of Ed Sheeran and Tom Jones below.

The AFL has copped plenty of heat for its pre-game entertainment on Grand Final day, particularly Meat Loaf’s performance in 2011.

Acting on this, the AFL had made great progress using their substantial airtime on television and radio to promote Australian artists, and having the likes of Hunters & Collectors, and The Temper Trap perform. For some reason this year decided to abandon their support of local talent.

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