Birch's knack at putting on a show was revealed during the spectacular opening and closing of the 1982 Brisbane Commonwealth Games. It attracted the highest TV ratings in Australian history and led to his success at the opening ceremonies for the Los Angeles Olympics in 1984.

After LA, the former rock and roll singer formed Spectak Productions, an events management company, which now has offices in Los Angeles, Sydney and Milan. He has consulted for theme park developments in Hong Kong, Japan, Spain and France, and dazzled at the 1990 World Expo in Osaka, the 1992 Universal Exposition in Sevilla, and the 1995 Exposition in Vienna.

In 1990, Birch directed the Singapore Jubilee Spectacular - a multi-million dollar production with a cast of 15,000 performers to celebrate 25 years of the city-state's independence. He was appointed executive producer for the opening and closing ceremonies in Barcelona the following year, with its unforgettable scene of an archer firing an arrow and lighting the Olympic flame.

For more than two decades, Birch was responsible for the creative concepts, planning, organization, budgets, and the selection of personnel for these huge events. He would form international teams, which would continue to top the previous Olympic ceremonies efforts.

But the Sydney 2000 was the jewel in Birch's crown.

The opening ceremony featuring fireworks of the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. File photo

Many hailed the Sydney Olympic opening ceremonies as establishing new standards for creativity, performance and technical production. The Olympic cauldron rose from a large pool and was lit by Aboriginal Australian Kathy Freeman, who later went on to win the 400m gold medal. The ceremony featured a "Dreamtime" indigenous theme of an ancient land, in which the Sydney stadium was transformed into a huge desert.

Performers were magically transported through the air, just like in many kungfu films, and the amazing ceremony cemented Birch's global reputation as the master of ceremonies.

He returns to Beijing this week, as he has many times over the past three years, and is focused on the Middle Kingdom.