“Party one last time”, as Tony Estanguet proclaims. The grand finale to the enchanted interlude of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, the closing ceremony of the Paralympic Games to be held this Sunday was imagined “as much as a show as a party”, performed by around twenty artists from the French electro scene.
Like the Olympic Games, the ceremony at the Stade de France will take place from 8:30 p.m. to 10:45 p.m., in front of around 60,000 spectators. A real challenge for the organizers, since they will have only 18 hours to transform the Dionysian stadium from an athletics stadium to its festive version.
“It will be a party”
And this ceremony will first be intended to honor the approximately 5,000 para-athletes and their sports entourage, according to the organizers. A protocol time – anthems, speeches, flags – will be punctuated by “artistic sequences”, including “choreographic passages”, indicated Thomas Jolly, artistic director of the ceremonies, in front of the press this Thursday.
The handover between Paris and Los Angeles, the next host city, will include the participation of American athletes and artists, including Ali Stroker, an actress and singer in a wheelchair who will sing the American national anthem.
At the end of this ceremonial time, the cauldron of the flame at the Tuileries will be extinguished. Then “it will be party time”, added Thomas Jolly. The Stade de France will be transformed into a giant dancefloor for an hour of musical entertainment, around the theme “Paris is a party”, with an electro tone.
A selection of 24 DJs representing different generations and trends of the “French touch” – this banner of French electro recognized internationally and exported – are announced. The cast includes: Kavinsky (already present at the closing ceremony of the Olympic Games), Pedro Winter (aka Busy P, former manager of Daft Punk) and also hitmakers Martin Solveig (“All stars”, “Hello”), The Avener (“Fade out lines”), Cassius…
The young successful guard will also be represented through the duo Ofenbach or the tropical melodies of Polo & Pan, and nuggets on the rise with the electro-techno of Irène Drésel, the uninhibited house of Chloé Caillet or the vitamin-packed mixes of Tatyana Jane.
Jean-Michel Jarre, the pioneer
The tempo will be set by a medley by Jean-Michel Jarre, who, at 76, embodies the tutelary figure of the genre. This “bridge between generations” will form “the last postcard sent from Paris”, poeticizes this pioneer of concrete music.
“It’s a big family. We all meet in clubs or at festivals and, there, we have the chance to be able to perform like this in front of millions of people around the world”, enthuses Valentin Brunel, alias Kungs, who hopes to “make people dance”.
Victor Le Masne, musical director of the ceremonies, has imagined a “wave journey” in which “all the artists are connected”. This “musical journey” will cross four scenes entitled “French Touch”, “High Energy”, “Forever Rave” and “Radio Star”.
“You have to put in a very precise rhythm, emotion and a real narration,” he says.
The selected artists had to comply with an imposed figure: a single piece per DJ – often their flagship title – without exceeding two minutes. The challenge is to achieve “a harmony from artist to artist and that it creates one and the same music”, draws Irène Drésel, who reworked the piece that she will play with her percussionist.
Light, the star of the ceremony
At the controls of the visual staging to “tell the story of electronic music”: Romain Pissenem, a must-see producer and director in the world of electro. He promises “lots of lights” and “very symmetrical designs” to dress the musical universes that will follow one another during this show intended “as much as a spectacle as a party”.
“We tried to create a stage set-up so that we really felt, in the stadium but also at home, that we were part of that moment,” assures this 46-year-old Frenchman, known for his club in Ibiza and his creations for giant musical shows.
“We are also celebrating the end of Paris 2024. The last time we had the Olympic Games was 100 years ago, we must not forget that,” recalls Romain Pissenem.
What about the para-athletes? During the show, they will be installed in a dance area to “party”, according to the organizers. “Among the values that are very important to me, there is that of bringing people together”, rejoices Martin Solveig. Usually, music is like “an individual sport”, he compares. “Here, we are going to do a collective thing.”
- RMC Sport
