The Olympic summer is over. Paris closed a “historic” Olympic summer on Sunday, September 8, with a final party with electro sounds at the Stade de France to end the Paralympic Games. With a single breath, boccia gold medalist Aurélie Aubert, surrounded by several French athletes who left their mark on the Games, extinguished the Paralympic flame at the Stade de France, symbolizing the end of an unprecedented season in France.
A few kilometres away, the now famous cauldron, the illuminated ball installed in the Tuileries Gardens, in the heart of the French capital, has also darkened. “France had a date with History, and it has answered the call,” declared Tony Estanguet, president of the Paris 2024 Games organising committee, in his closing ceremony speech. “And if these emotions were fleeting, the memory of this historic summer will remain etched in our minds.” Here are five moments to remember from this ceremony, four highlights… and one failure.
Electro music given pride of place
No fewer than 24 DJs from all generations embodied the “French Touch” on Sunday evening. In Saint-Denis, the necropolis of the kings of France, 24 DJs, in “back to back”, played a medley of their greatest hits for about an hour, with lighting effects, pyrotechnics and Phryges disco balls as support.
As at the closing ceremony of the Olympic Games, Kavinsky was once again on stage, alongside a panel of renowned DJs, such as Martin Solveig (who concluded the show, after his hits, with the entirety of One More Time from the great absentee Daft Punk, a duo that has now split up), Cassius, or, more confidential, Chloé Caillet and Tatyana Jane. All introduced by Jean-Michel Jarre, maestro of electro and at the same time its living memory.
Johnny Hallyday in the spotlight “to bring hearts together”
The closing ceremony of the Paris Paralympic Games opened with a tribute to Johnny Hallyday, a fixture in stadiums throughout the Olympic summer, with a symphonic version of his song Live for the best performed by rising French star Santa. The 31-year-old singer made this rock hymn to life resonate in the Stade de France.
The tube That I love you 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 piece 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.
The Republican Guard performs great pop hits
From Aya Nakamura to Oasis, Daft Punk and Jacques Martin, the military musicians of the Republican Guard have multiplied their incursions into pop in recent weeks, such as during the closing of the Paralympics. Forming a guard of honor, around sixty of them (out of 90) accompanied the para-athletes’ entry into the Stade de France to the sound of great pop hits, Champs-Elysees from Joe Dassin to I will survive by Gloria Gaynor.
During the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games, we had already seen these soldiers in charge of the protocol of the Republic, military ceremonies and major commemorations alongside Aya Nakamura on the Pont des Arts. Then, take a crowd bath in front of the Sacré-Coeur for a reprise of Freed from desire Gala, a title popular with supporters from all countries.
Breaking still in the spotlight
Figures, jumps, balances: breaking, a discipline that was making its Olympic debut at the Paris 2024 Games, was once again celebrated at the closing ceremony of the Paralympic Games. On a podium in the center of the Stade de France, eight dancers, including four with disabilities, performed spectacular figures, solo or in groups – including “power moves” (rotations on the head or shoulder), in front of a captivated crowd, to the sound of a set by Cut Killer.
This one, a pioneering DJ of hip-hop in France, helped to popularize this movement in France. A clear spotlight, while breaking was not selected for the next Games in Los Angeles in 2028.
Final flight of the cauldron cancelled due to weather conditions
The only false note of this ceremony: the last flight on Sunday evening of the Olympic cauldron above the Tuileries Gardens in Paris, which was to coincide with the start of the closing ceremony of the Paralympic Games, was cancelled due to weather conditions, rain and wind.
Since the end of July, some 270,000 people have booked a free ticket to admire up close what will remain a symbol of the Paris Games, not to mention the crowds that gathered every evening beyond the barriers protecting the illuminated ball.