2024 Paris Olympics: as they happened
French indie music met Hollywood star power in the closing ceremony of the Paris Olympics.
Held at the Stade de France on Sunday, the event bid au revoir with eclectic music performances by artists from both sides of the Atlantic.
The biggest talking point of the night wasn’t the soundtrack. It was Tom Cruise being lowered by rope from the roof of the stadiumto receive the Olympic flag as part of the official handover to 2028 host city Los Angeles.
The move began a recorded sequence where the Mission: Impossible star roared down Parisian streets with the Olympic flag, making his way towards an awaiting military jet en route to Los Angeles.
Nearing his destination, Cruise then parachutes into the city and plants the flag next to the Hollywood sign.
In another sign of Los Angeles flexing its cultural cache to promote the next Games, the segment featured three of the city’s biggest musical exports performing on a makeshift stage in a sunny Venice Beach.
Red Hot Chili Peppers delivered a stomping take of 2002 track Can’t Stop. Perched on a lifeguard station, Billie Eilish used the opportunity to perform the pulsating new single Birds of a Feather.
It all set the stage for hip-hop heroes Snoop Dogg and Dr Dre to reunite for a mini repeat of their 2022 Super Bowl half-time show, performing Next Episode.
French musicians would also have made an impression in the proceedings if it wasn’t for the odd and indulgent line up at the Stade de France.
The opening ceremony on July 26 should have set the tone for the evening with its thrilling and unapologetic display of France’s rich music scene, especially in those goosebump-inducing moments provided by Canadian singer Celine Dion, opera star Axelle Saint-Cirel and heavy metal band Gojira.
What we got, instead, is a closing event dominated by Phoenix.
The French synth-pop band played four songs on a makeshift stage in the middle of the stadium, including relative hits Lisztomania and Tonight.
It seemed like an odd decision, with the group regarded as a cult favourite act at best.
Compounding the dilemma was the appearance of French band Air playing the 2000 hit Playground Love. While rightly lauded as an indie classic, the tune’s ambient and languid vibes didn't quite match the atmosphere of the Olympic closing ceremony.
Some much-needed awe arrived when opera singer Benjamin Bernheim sang the powerful Hymn to Apollo, accompanied by Alain Roche playing the piano while suspended in the air.
Fortunately, soul singer Yseult saved Gallic blushes by ending the ceremony with a classy version of My Way.
While the piece was made famous by Frank Sinatra in 1969, the event's master of ceremonies made sure to mention it was originally based on the French song Comme d’habitude released two years earlier by Jacques Revaux.
Touche, indeed.
