Europe 1 with AFP // Photo credit: Dimitar DILKOFF / AFP 10:01 p.m., September 8, 2024, modified at 10:03 p.m., September 8, 2024
The closing ceremony of the Paris Paralympic Games opened on Sunday with a tribute to Johnny Hallyday, a fixture in the stadiums throughout the Olympic summer, with a symphonic version of his song “Vivre pour le meilleur” performed by rising French star Santa.
The closing ceremony of the Paris Paralympic Games opened on Sunday with a tribute to Johnny Hallyday, a fixture in the stadiums throughout the Olympic summer, with a symphonic version of his song “Vivre pour le meilleur” performed by rising French star Santa.
“I Love You”, “Live for the Best” and “Light the Fire”
The 31-year-old singer, in a huge khaki and black hooded dress with a train reminiscent of a boxer’s dressing gown, made this rock hymn to life resonate in the Stade de France. The hit “Que je t’aime” by national icon Johnny Hallyday, who died in 2017 at the age of 74, was then played to thank the 45,000 volunteers mobilized during the Games. The song had already been chosen to accompany the French delegation during the opening ceremony of the Paralympics on August 28 at Place de la Concorde. The French rhythmic gymnastics team had also chosen Johnny for one of its performances.
It’s an understatement to say that the legendary 1999 ballad marked the playlist of the Paris 2024 Games, played in the arenas during almost every event. The non-French speaking public didn’t always follow or understand but the French generally went wild. This title, along with “Allumer le feu”, enters directly into the informal playlist of French sport where we can also find “I will survive” by Gloria Gaynor or “Dans les yeux d’Emilie” by Joe Dassin.
Singer Santa, from the group Hyphen Hyphen, has been going solo since she returned to the forefront with “Pop corn salé”, a nostalgic and powerful ballad that resonated with success during the summer of 2022. The video was shot in a square in Brussels where Santa played the piano 40m high, suspended by a crane. She embodies one of the new faces of French song like Zaho de Sagazan, invited to close the Olympic Games, or Juliette Armanet, who performed at the Olympic opening.
