Casey Donovan has divided ABC viewers with her New Year’s Eve performance in Sydney, covering Leonard Cohen’s classic song Hallelujah.
The 36-year-old Australian pop star wowed fans when she performed several songs for the annual celebration, including Defying Gravity from the musical film Wicked.
Fans were divided over the Australian Idol winner’s upbeat performance and quickly took to social media to voice their opinions, with many praising her singing.
“Casey Donovan just enjoyed her version of Hallelujah all evening. What a national treasure. What a voice. Sublime, emotional performance,” one person gushed.
‘That was moving and beautiful, you made my evening!’ a second person added.
“Donovan is the Queen of the NYE celebration concert. She brings it every year!’ a third person chimed in and another wrote: “What a voice.”
Casey Donovan (pictured) has divided ABC viewers with her New Year’s Eve performance in Sydney, covering Leonard Cohen’s classic song Hallelujah
Others, however, were not as impressed with the performance and did not mince their words in expressing their dissatisfaction.
‘The last thing I wanted to see was Casey Donovan at NYE Sydney. Not sure how she got first place on Australian Idol,” someone snapped.
“Did Casey Donovan wake up this morning and decide she was going to go on stage and deliberately ruin Hallelujah?” another user wrote.
“I’m a live and let live kind of guy, but Casey Donovan butchered some songs tonight,” chimed in a third viewer.
Casey is a regular performer at Sydney’s New Year’s Eve concert and often divides viewers with her enthusiastic performances.
Elsewhere in the evening, furious viewers criticized the ABC for making the family-friendly 9pm coverage of the iconic New Year’s Eve celebrations too ‘woke’ in the message.
The annual celebration is usually known as the ‘children’s fireworks display’, with the younger crowd going to bed before midnight.
The national broadcaster showed the fireworks going off at the iconic Sydney Harbor Bridge, which was decorated with black, red and yellow floodlights, the color of the Indigenous flag.
The 36-year-old Australian pop star wowed fans when she performed several songs for the annual celebration, including Defying Gravity from the musical film Wicked.
Unimpressed viewers quickly took to social media to condemn the ABC for ‘politicising’ the annual celebration.
Several people complained that the event has become “woke” in recent years.
‘Glad that the ABC has once again decided to make NYE a political statement again. Children don’t need fun and fireworks at 9 p.m. without a good dose of cultural education. WAKE UP,” one viewer snapped.
“Another taxpayer funded a lot of division,” a second person added.
“How embarrassing is the 9pm music and theme… oh wait, it’s the ABC,” complained another viewer.
Elsewhere, Charlie Pickering made an embarrassing blunder as ABC’s New Year’s Eve broadcast started at 8.30pm.
Fans were divided over the Australian Idol winner’s performance and quickly took to social media to express their opinions. Some praised Casey’s singing and others criticized it.
He was speechless when he introduced the reporting together with co-presenter Zan Rowe.
“Tonight we see the new year live from all over the world, ah all over the world, ah good start,” he said.
Rowe started to interrupt before Pickering quickly corrected himself.
“From the world-famous Sydney Opera House in Gadigal Country,” and the blunder drew laughter from his co-host.
Read more in our Daily Mail Australia New Year’s Eve live blog.
The broadcaster airs the NYE celebrations every year and they are regularly criticized by upset viewers.