While the Olympics‘ opening ceremony showcased two North American superstars, Lady Gaga and Celine Dion, the closing bash will highlight two iconic French bands, Phoenix and Air, the event’s executive director Thierry Reboul confirmed to Variety in an interview.
Reboul, who produced the blockbuster, controversial opening ceremony show along the Seine and recently filed a police complaint after receiving death threats for it, is now in the final stretch of preparing the closing event alongside artistic director Thomas Jolly.
“We’ve tried to champion French talents from the start even if we had international stars (Celine Dion and Lady Gaga); each time it was promoting a French artist nevertheless,” said Reboul. “We always have in mind to turn the spotlight on our country, of course.” Gaga, who had to pre-tape her performance in anticipation of pouring rain, indeed sang in French and paid tribute to Zizi Jeanmaire’s cabaret-inspired “Mon Truc en Plumes,” while Dion made an emotional comeback on stage with Edith Piaf’s “L’Hymne à l’amour.”
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Air and Phoenix both came about during the so-called French Touch music wave that kicked off in the mid-1990s and took the world’s pop culture by storm with its original blend of electro, dance, jazz and rock beats. While the French Touch movement winded down in the late 2000’s, Air and Phoenix have continued to be celebrated around the world, alongside one of their most famous contemporaries, Daft Punk.
“Today, where we look at the history of music, it’s certainly the French music style and the artists behind it, who have had the biggest resonance in the world. So it was important for us to acknowledge it,” said Reboul. Aside from Gaga and Dion, the opening ceremony had also featured French musicians, including the metal band Gojira — which performed the classic French song “Ah! Ca Ira” alongside a decapitated Marie-Antoinette — and Aya Nakamura, the French Malian R&B singer who sang her two biggest hits, “Pookie” and “Djadja,” whose lyrics were laced with Aznavour’s “Ma Boheme” and “For Me Formidable.”
Formed by Nicolas Godin and Jean-Benoit Dunckel, Air released six albums and two soundtracks that sold millions of copies. Godin also scored “Fire of Love,” the Oscar-nominated documentary directed by Sara Dosa about volcanologists Katia and Maurice Krafft which came out in 2022.
Phoenix, meanwhile, is an alternative rock band formed in 1995 and led by frontman Thomas Mars. The band’s seventh album, Alpha Zulu, came out in 2022. Mars is also married to Sofia Coppola and has collaborated with the filmmaker multiple times, including for the soundtrack of her Apple movie “On the Rocks.”
Reboul declined to comment on Tom Cruise’s reported stunts and the rumored presence of Taylor Swift or Beyoncé at the closing ceremony, but he did tell Variety that the segment prepared by the Los Angeles organizing committee will last 10 to 15 minutes and will include some live elements.
“As per the tradition, Los Angeles has prepared a sort of teaser that lasts 10 to 15 minutes, and it’s dedicated to them, to show what their Olympic games will look like — and they’ve had all the freedom to create their segment,” said Reboul. “It’s going to include lots of things. We’re in charge of producing some things for them, but they are 100% in charge of it,” he continued. As for the participation of Gaga and Dion, which was kept top secret, the roster of performers for the L.A. segment of the ceremony is ultra-confidential. Reboul is only one of the few people within the Paris 2024 committee who know the lineup.
Although some French outlets have predicted that Beyoncé will be the headline performer of the closing ceremony, some staffers within the Paris committee have told Variety that they are betting on Swift, based on her social media activity and the fact that she has a gap in her Eras Tour schedule. However, recent news about Swift cancelling three concerts in Vienna due to a thwarted ISIS-related terrorist attack would likely complicate potential plans for the Olympics’ closing ceremony. Swift is still due to perform at Wembley Stadium in London for five more dates, from August 15 to 20.
Asked about measures to beef up the security for the closing ceremony in the wake of the thwarted Vienna attack, a source close to Paris 2024’s organizing committee told Variety that the protocol for these Olympics, including the closing ceremony at the Stade de France, is “already at its highest level.”
Reboul confirmed that he and the rest of organizers have spent an “incalculable” amount of time to prepare an airtight security plan for the ceremonies. “The security is handled by the government directly but we are working very well with us and as of now we can’t argue the fact that it has been successful. We haven’t reached the finishing line yet, but up until now we haven’t had any security hurdles,” he said, adding that the indoors set up inside the Stade de France, rather than along the Seine, makes the process “less complicated.”
France ramped up security to the highest level after the Oct. 7 Hamas attack in Israel and the deadly attack at a Russian concert hall in March, which was claimed by ISIS. Addressing the dangerous messages he has received alongside Jolly, Reboul said they included “all sorts of threats.” “In this type of cases, there’s a series a threats which shouldn’t exist, and I think they have a relative importance, but we’ve taken all the necessary steps,” he said. An investigation was launched by the crime unit last weekend.
While less complicated in terms of security and logistics, preparing the closing bash at the Stade de France will present its own set of challenges because sports competition will wrap up the night before, on Saturday around 2 a.m., said Reboul.
“We have about 10 to 12 hours to build all the sets and rehearse on site because you can’t do that before and you have to be ready at the end of the day, so it’s a race against the clock,” he said.
The executive director also said Jolly was preparing a show that will use “science-fiction” and “dystopia” to emphasize the necessity to preserve the Olympics and our world.
“There will be a science-fiction dimension in his show to raise awareness about the fact that our world is fragile and we need to preserve our values,” he said. Reboul wouldn’t say if he considered Jolly’s closing show as possibly subversive. “If we’re accused of doing politics just because we’re talking about peace and the need for more harmony in humankind, I don’t know what to do,” he said, adding that the vast majority of people in France and overseas lauded the opening ceremony. Reboul also confirmed Jolly’s claim that the opening ceremony’s performance featuring drag queens was never meant to mock Leonardo da Vinci’s religious painting “The Last Supper” — rather, it was a tribute to the Greek mythology.
There will be more Greek gods at the closing ceremony, which, as previously announced, will chart milestones throughout the history of the Olympic Games, dating back to Ancient Greece. After the Olympics’ closing ceremony, Reboul and Jolly will switch to Paralympic festivities, whose opening bash will take place Place de la Concorde, in the center of Paris.
