Aya Nakamura and the Republican Guard: the far right is rebelling

The sequence will not have left anyone indifferent. In the middle of an opening ceremony of the Olympic Games which will be a landmark, the French international star Aya Nakamura emerged from the prestigious Académie française, dressed in gold, to perform excerpts from his most famous hits, “Pookie” and “Djadja”, skillfully mixed with a cover of “For me, formidable” by Charles Aznavour. All this, accompanied by the Republican Guard, who notably sang the chorus of “Djadja” with the singer. “This moment celebrates the unifying power of the French language, influenced by various communities throughout time,” applauded the Olympic Committee on X. But this enthusiasm is far from unanimous.

On the far right, the show by Aya Nakamura and the Republican Guard did not go down well. “What a disgrace!” protested the spokesperson for the National Rally Julien Odoul, before making ironic comments about the singer’s words: “Aya Nakamuraa there’s no way! The opening of the Olympic Games is a devastation of French culture.” At the same time, MEP Marion Maréchal deplored “the humiliation of the Republican Guard forced to dance to Aya Nakamura.”

This is not the first time that Aya Nakamura has been attacked by the far right. In March, the rumor of a possible interpretation of Edith Piaf by the star during the ceremony of the 2024 Olympic Games had sparked an outcry. The far-right group Les Natifs had even written on a banner: “There’s no way Aya, this is Paris, not the Bamako market!”