As debate continues to rage around whether a scene featuring drag queens in the Paris 2024 Olympics opening ceremony was inspired by Leonardo da Vinci’s Last Supper, speculation is now mounting over details of the closing ceremony on August 11.
Artistic director Thomas Jolly – who has received death threats amid claims the scene was an insult to Christianity, even though he insists it was inspired by Greek mythology and not the Bible – is also responsible for the closing ceremony and has been pushing on with its preparation against the backdrop of the furore.
French sports Minister Amélie Oudéa-Castéra told radio news network FranceInfo that she had “absolute confidence” that Jolly and his team would “dazzle the world” once again.
Unlike the logistically ambitious opening ceremony which ran along a four-mile stretch of the River Seine under pouring rain, the closing will take place in the 80,000-capacity, Stade de France stadium, which has been hosting the athletics competitions across the games.
It will run from 9pm to 11.15pm local time on Sunday, August 11.
While less of a headache than the opening ceremony, which resulted in much of central Paris being shut down, security will be a key concern. France remains on high alert amid a deteriorating situation in the Middle East and continued tensions over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which has resulted in the former country being banned from this year’s games.
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Sabotage acts on key rail lines on the day of the opening ceremony as well as cyber attacks on IT systems connected to Olympic game venues have also heightened concerns, although no culprits have been named as yet.
Against this backdrop, the opening ceremony, entitled “Records”, will take stock of the sporting achievements and festivities of the 17-day tournament but also reflect on the fragility of the games.
The French Olympics committee has said that the Stade de France will be transformed into a gigantic concert hall, with hundreds of performers, acrobats, dancers and circus artists taking part alongside famous headlining acts.
Under Olympics protocol, the ceremony must feature a number of key stages including the entry of the flags of participating nations, an athletes parade, a victory ceremony for one of the final contests, a moment of remembrance, the lowering of the Olympic flag, a handover ceremony to the next summer Olympics destination, and the extinguishing of the Olympic flame.
As with the opening ceremony, Jolly and his team are attempting to keep the famous participants in the two-hour show under wraps, although details have been leaking out.
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Tom Cruise’s rumored participation, first suggested in the French press in the spring, was confirmed last week.
Per details first reported on TMZ and confirmed by Deadline, the star will skydive into the stadium for a segment in which the Olympic flag will be handed over from host city Paris to L.A. as it gears up for the next summer games in 2028.
While Paris has put the accent on its landmark sites, and the history and culture wrapped up with them, to give its games a unique signature, L.A. is expected to lean heavily into its Hollywood heritage.
A host of other Hollywood stars and U.S. sports champions are expected to join Cruise in the stadium for the handover.
Stars spotted in Paris across the course of the games include Greta Gerwig, Michelle Yeoh, Sharon Stone, John Travolta, Ryan Gosling and Eva Mendes but there is no suggestion any of them will participate in the closing, although there have been strong rumors Leonardo DiCaprio could touch down for the event.
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Sports Minister Oudéa-Castéra said on Tuesday that music would be a big component
“The musical dimension of the closing ceremony is always very important. I think we all remember the concert by Midnight Oil at the closing ceremony of the Sydney Olympics [in 2000]. It was a huge moment that has remained in all of our minds,” she said.
It was not clear if she was also referring to the controversy sparked by the song and performance calling for an official apology from the Australian government to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people for the violence of colonisation.
Le Parisien newspaper has reported French electro-pop Air and Phoenix (led by Sofia Coppola’s husband Thomas Mars) and French electronic music pioneer Jean-Michel Jarre will be performing. The former two bands would make sense given they also have strong L.A. connections and fanbases.
Oudéa-Castéra conceded there would be a “French touch though electro-pop which has been successful worldwide” but would not be drawn on details.
Following Lady Gaga and Celine Dion’s performances for the opening ceremony, speculation is rife over which big U.S. music stars might perform to support the Paris-L.A. Olympics handover.
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Taylor Swift fans are suggesting the star would be free to jet in from Vienna for an August 11 performance, with The Eras Tour touching down in Austria for August 9 to 10 dates, followed by a gap before the artist returns to the U.K. on August 19.
Swift’s release of a promo video for the Olympics, celebrating gymnast Simone Biles, swimmer Katie Ledecky, and sprinter Sha’Carri Richardson, has further stoked speculation.
Other names being bandied about are Ariana Grande, on the basis that she has been spotted in the stadiums with Wicked co-star Cynthia Erivo, as well as Beyoncé.
But there have been no sightings of Beyoncé in Paris as yet, apart from a new statue unveiled by the Musee Grévin Wax Works Museum in early July.
Amid the glitz, Jolly is hoping the evening will have a deeper meaning as it reflects on the human value of the games bringing some just under 11,000 athletes around the world together.
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“On 11 August 2024, the Olympic Games will be over and the Olympic flame will be extinguished. That moment will remind us just how precious these Olympic Games are – a unique monument to a shared experience – and therefore fragile,” he revealed prior to the kick-off of the games.
“The Olympic Games already disappeared after antiquity and were re-founded in France by Pierre De Coubertin. We want to celebrate, but consciously. This moment of celebration will also be an opportunity to reflect on the importance of the Olympic Games in our society. So I’ve designed a show in which the Olympic Games disappear once again, and someone comes along and founds them. It’s a very visual, very choreographic, very acrobatic show with an operatic dimension to give a great visual fresco and say goodbye to athletes from all over the world. Together, let’s make this evening a memorable and conscious celebration, honouring the past and embracing the future.”