Since L’Express revealed that Emmanuel Macron was considering having Aya Nakamura sing at the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games, the news has made the rounds of discussions and debates, arousing both approval for some and absolute rejection in others.
Enough to reach the columns of the foreign press, which observes with a certain irony the amplitude of the debates and comments on an announcement… which has nothing official. “Maybe, possibly, probably: French-Malian urban pop and R&B singer Aya Nakamura, 28, is expected to perform songs by Edith Piaf at the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in Paris on the 26 July”, quips the german newspaper Der Spiegel.
Same observation from the Swiss media Blick, which emphasizes the profile of Aya Nakamura’s detractors. “The saddest thing is that this sordid controversy, with openly racist overtones, is currently based on nothing other than confidential information published in a magazine, according to which Emmanuel Macron would have discussed this possibility with the singer. Without any official confirmation.
“Known chorus”
In recent days, Aya Nakamura has been one of the targets of the far-right Reconquest party and its head of list in the European elections Marion Maréchal. “Babies detect beauty. They don’t vote for rap, nor for banal language, nor for Aya Nakamura but for Mozart!”, railed Eric Zemmour during a meeting in Paris last weekend. while a small ultra-right group appeared on social networks carrying a banner “No way Aya – This is Paris – Not the Bamako market”. Comments denounced by certain members of the government, such as the Minister of Culture Rachida Dati or the Minister of Sports Amélie Oudéa-Castéra, as well as by the organizing committee of the Olympic Games.
For its part, the Swiss newspaper The weather charged against what he considers to be a “racist gloubi-boulga”. “It’s too much for Zemmour and his troublemakers from the Reconquest party. Don’t touch my outdated France which smells of the 40s and 50s”, continues the Swiss daily.
“For the national-populist right and for reactionaries of all stripes, the answer is no. Basta Aya! The reproaches? She doesn’t sing French and she doesn’t embody France. A familiar chorus,” the Swiss for their part scath from Journal Blickwho remind us that this opening ceremony does not aim to “celebrate the Republic or the Nation, but Olympism born in Greece and rehabilitated, a century ago, by Baron Pierre de Coubertin.”
“Aya Nakamura has things in common with Edith Piaf”
The foreign press also emphasizes the figure of Edith Piaf, “considered a national icon” in France, summarizes the British newspaper The Times. “Aya Nakamura has things in common with [Edith Piaf]who is venerated in France as a sort of national saint: both come from modest backgrounds, both managed to break through artistically at a young age”, even insists the German daily Der Spiegelwhich also points out that “hate speech against Aya Nakamura mainly comes from far-right circles.”
“With 12 million listeners per month on Spotify, Aya Nakamura is considered the most listened to French-speaking singer in the world. Her French mixes with popular expressions from Mali and the street language of the suburban neighborhood where she grew up, in Aulnay sous-Bois”, explains the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera. As long as the Olympic organizing committee (or Emmanuel Macron himself, obviously) does not decide, there is no doubt that the controversies will continue to be stirred up.