With three days to go until the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics, speculation is rampant about the participation of a world-renowned singer.
Some mention Céline Dion or Lady Gaga, while others bet on Aya Nakamura.
Excitement is building as the Paris Olympics approach. Céline Dion and Lady Gaga have been spotted in Paris, while Aya Nakamura is the talk of the town. Predictions about performances by major international singers are in full swing for the opening ceremony on Friday.
The secrecy remains around the 3-hour and 45-minute show, designed along six kilometers of the Seine—a first outside a stadium—and orchestrated by artistic director Thomas Jolly.
Coming from the theater, Jolly has worked on Shakespeare’s plays and revived the rock opera "Starmania" in France. He aims to create a show that matches the radiance of the City of Light and surpasses London’s 2012 Olympics, when Queen Elizabeth II participated in a humorous video with James Bond (Daniel Craig).
Thomas Jolly has always said he would not rule out anything or anyone, as long as there is a connection to France.
The Return of Céline Dion?
For Céline Dion, it’s a given. In France, she gained enormous success with the album "D’eux" (1995), written by Jean-Jacques Goldman. In 1997, she conquered the world with "My Heart Will Go On," the soundtrack of James Cameron’s blockbuster "Titanic."
The participation of the Quebecois singer would be a major event, as she has not performed live since March 2020, due to the global health crisis and an autoimmune disease, Stiff Person Syndrome (SPS).
Few imagined her in Paris after seeing the shocking footage in the documentary "I Am: Céline Dion," where she appears shaken by spasms, overwhelmed by pain.
But on Tuesday, Céline Dion, 56, was filmed by fans in front of her Parisian hotel, surrounded by bodyguards wearing Olympic accreditation badges. Her private jet left Las Vegas the day before, as revealed by French radio RTL.
The Lady Gaga Rumor
There is also the Lady Gaga rumor. Her fans like to recall that she sang "La Vie en rose" by Edith Piaf in French in "A Star Is Born" (2018), directed by Bradley Cooper.
Fans of the 38-year-old American singer are convinced that it is her, hidden under a futuristic hood, in a sneak peek of the opening ceremony broadcast on French television. She was also seen greeting fans in front of her Parisian hotel in recent days.
Aya Nakamura Victim of Racism
Finally, there is Aya Nakamura, who has been the subject of much discussion since March. The rumor of her participation, mentioned in the spring, has irked the far-right in France.
An identity group had posted a banner along the Seine declaring: "Y'a pas moyen Aya (an expression from her hit 'Djadja'), here is Paris, not the Bamako market!"
Aya Nakamura condemned her detractors on social media, calling them "racists." "I’ve become the number one state topic," she said, adding, "and that’s what hurts you." She concluded with, "What do I owe you, really? Nothing." The Paris prosecutor’s office opened an investigation in March concerning these comments.
The controversy has gained global attention, as Aya Nakamura is the most listened-to French-speaking singer in the world. "Djadja" (2018) now has 970 million views on YouTube.
Dua Lipa, the British megastar of Kosovar origin, rumored at one point to be participating, has yet to be spotted in Paris. Photo by Anne Jea., Wikimedia commons.