If there is one medal – whether silver, bronze, gold or platinum – that no one can dispute, it is that of controversy, even indignation. After the “rancid France” denounced by part of the left during the opening ceremony of the Rugby World Cup when Jean Dujardin paraded at the Stade de France in a tricycle and triptych marcel, beret and baguette, it is the turn of Jul to attract the wrath (conservative?) of observers outraged to see the Marseille rapper receive the distinguished honor of first lighting the Olympic cauldron on French soil.
“You were waiting for Zidane, you end up with Jul”
“It’s the Olympics, not the NRJ Music Awards.”, “You were waiting for Zidane, you end up with Jul.” lamented about X, the least virulent Internet users. Not to mention the tweet from the Prime Minister, Gabriel Attal, who, by repeating a phrase that has become an antiquity of the singer (“The J is the S”), took a beating. The Marseillais themselves seem to have been surprised, as Mika confided, at the microphone of France 3 to see “our own Johnny Hallyday of rap” steal the spotlight from an athlete.
The Marseille rapper has been making fun of the Good Mother of French sport since one evening in July 1998
I must admit that I cringed a little behind my television when I realized that it was the most “streamed” artist in France – despite his reduced lexical field and his singular spelling – who on the Old Port had has been making fun of the Good Mother of French sport since one evening in July 1998. Twenty-six years is perhaps enough to become old and a bit stupid.
The clash of cultures was, in any case total, between the falsely improvised song of the rapper at the foot of the Canebière and the variations of the Marseille philharmonic orchestra which from the Palais du Pharo interpreted the official theme of the Olympic Games. What if that wasn’t ultimately the Olympic spirit? Come together despite our differences and make these Olympics a great popular celebration.
