He came, he saw, he conquered.
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By all accounts Sir Elton John delivered tenfold to the people of Wollongong and showed why the city should be on the radar of other international acts who save themselves for capital cities.
Now we've shown the world what an amazing venue we have in WIN Stadium, which mega star should come play Wollongong next?
The answer is pop megastar Pink, according to the results of a Mercury online poll.
More than 20 per cent of respondents voted for the singer, who shouldn’t need to be convinced that our city is a great place to bring a world tour.
In 2009, five semitrailers rolled up to WIN Entertainment Centre packed with gear for Pink's two sold-out shows.
A close second in the Mercury poll was English singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran, followed by international acts Foo Fighters, Bruce Springsteen and U2.
More than 20,000 tickets were sold for Elton John’s concert and nine trailers were needed to truck in the elaborate sound, lighting, video and equipment for the show.
The visit is said to have injected $3 millon into the local economy.
The venue’s NSW chair Christine McLoughlin, who was in Wollongong for the performance, said the show delivered for scale and size for one of the world’s most famous international performers.
“That’s a great start.
“Now it’s up to the board to see how we can help build on that,” she said.
Sir Elton is certainly not the first world class act to perform in Wollongong.
Pink is among other big names to grace us with her presence.
But now it’s time to stamp ourselves as a first choice for visiting artists – we’ve shown what we have to offer and we too can deliver.
Ms McLoghlin says the governing body of the major stadiums in Sydney and regional NSW will do its bit to “encourage whatever we can” for the stadium by the sea.
Destination Wollongong’s Mark Sleigh echoed her sentiments, noting promoters from around the world were watching to see what the Illawarra could turn on.
“I think what we take for granted is we have a 20,000 seat stadium on a surf beach within a kilometre of the main CBD. It is an iconic stadium.
“Wollongong definitely demonstrated again on Sunday night that it is a major event city. And this community wants to come out and be a part of it.”
Sir Elton seemed impressed, and his tweets will be seen around the world. And his words to the crowd showed his appreciation.
“I never thought I would say this but good evening Wollongong, we are very happy to be here”.
It's up to us as a community now to ride the wave. Business and tourism leaders and the community at large must work together to ensure the Sir Elton show is no one-hit wonder.