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The opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games has left its mark on the minds of the French and spectators around the world. This is evidenced by the listening figures for the artists who performed on Friday, July 26: for the past week, they have been soaring.
© GABRIEL BOUYSAFP
– Franco-Malian singer Aya Nakamura performed at the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
“Who is here because of the Olympic opening ceremony ?», asks a user in the song’s comments area Supernature (1977) by Cerrone, on Youtube. The 10-minute track was broadcast almost in its entirety on Friday, July 26, during the final act of the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, directed by Thomas Jolly. The Eiffel Tower lit up to the rhythm of the French electronic track. Since then, the listening has been going crazy. It has jumped by 1,200% according to Marc Cerrone’s press office. Aged 72, the artist also thanks his new fans in a comment on Youtube: “I hope you all enjoyed Supernature at the Olympic Opening Ceremony.”
He is not the only one to have benefited from a spotlight. The French touch was put in the spotlight during this exceptional ceremony – the first outside a stadium. Listening was multiplied by six according to the Because label for electro tracks And Cassius (2011) et Signatune by DJ Mehdi (2006). The latter died at the age of 34 in 2011, as did Philippe Zdar, co-founder of Cassius, who died at the age of 52 in 2019. In France, the Shazam top – this application that allows you to identify a song in a few seconds – has been monopolized since the opening of the Games by titles such as Music Sounds Better With You (Stardust, 1998), Midnight City (M83, 2011), I (Cassius, 2011) or even Lady – Hear Me Tonight (Modjo, 2000).
Also read: 2024 Olympics: Will the taxpayer have to pay for the opening ceremony?
Gojira, the metal band that is breaking the records
The show on the Seine was also marked by the explosive interpretation of the French revolutionary song Ah! It will be fine by the metal band Gojira. The four French musicians performed hanging from the windows of the Conciergerie and in the company of the Franco-Swiss mezzo-soprano, Marina Viotti, herself a big metal fan. The opera singer’s career was also interrupted by a stint with two metal bands. Since then, the French band’s listening, which had already recorded 2 million French listeners until then, has jumped 282% in France and 129% internationally on Spotify. On Deezer, second on the music streaming market, Gojira’s artist page has grown by 1,000% on average between France and the world.
The Hymn to Loveby Edith Piaf, performed by Celine Dion, has seen a 285% increase in listens on Spotify in France and 317% worldwide. On Deezer, the figure climbs to 654%. This great classic of French song, released in 1950, is being brought up to date 74 years later. Listens to Celine Dion, whose performance was unanimously praised by the world press, have increased by 64% on Spotify, while the 56-year-old Canadian artist had not sung in front of an audience for nearly four years, having suffered from stiff-person syndrome for several years.
Aya Nakamura and Philippe Katerine, social media stars
As for Aya Nakamura, the international star who has accumulated more than 6 billion streams on Spotify and more than 8.5 million monthly listeners, the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics gives her a slight boost. She records a 36% increase in France and 40% internationally on the music streaming platform. A smaller increase for the singer of Pookiewhich is still approaching 10 million monthly listeners. Furthermore, since her remarkable performance on the Pont des Arts with the Republican Guard on Friday, July 26, Aya Nakamura has become a social media star. On TikTok, many Internet users are having fun recreating this scene and using the lyrics of For me Formidable in the version performed by the singer during the opening ceremony.
Philippe Katerine has also won new fans. In France, his performance sparked debate, with some seeing it as an inappropriate reference to the Last Supper. However, the performance of the French artist, known for his fantasy, particularly attracted the attention of Chinese Internet users. The one they now nickname “the Smurf artist” is represented in drawings or figurines in many posts on Chinese social networks. It must be said that his performance made an impression. Embodying Dionysus, the god of wine, the singer appeared in the simplest of clothes, painted blue and covered in glitter to perform his new song, NotPublished at midnight on YouTube, the clip of this title – different from the version performed during the Olympic ceremony – has already accumulated more than a million views.
It was Juliette Armanet who had the pleasure of taking over Imagine by John Lennon (1971). The song has been performed at every opening ceremony of the Games since 1996, when Stevie Wonder sang it in tribute to the victims of a bomb attack in the Olympic Village. His performance earned him a 63% increase in listens on Spotify. Since Friday, July 26, playlists featuring all the songs performed and broadcast during the opening ceremony of the Paris Games have been multiplying. Victor Le Masne, musical director of the ceremony, stated in the columns of West Francethat the whole of «the original band» broadcast that evening could come out, “It’s a very strong possibility”he said.
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