Aya Nakamura, Philippe Katerine, the French Touch… Who are the big winning artists of the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games?

From Aya Nakamura to the French Touch, the Olympic ceremony still resonates and makes the listeners of certain artists who performed along the Seine on Friday evening jump.

TikTok flooded by Aya Nakamura’s choreography replayed on a famous Parisian bridge, Philippe Katerine star of Chinese social networks, old French Touch songs resurrected: the playlist for the Olympic opening ceremony can still be heard.

The show on Friday, July 26, along the six kilometers of the Seine, gave a real boost to the previous parades in stadiums, ideally combining the heritage of a capital and pop culture.

Aya Nakamura’s performance replayed worldwide

One of the highlights of the ceremony was the medley by Franco-Malian Aya Nakamura – her hits Pookie, Djadja and a standard by Charles Aznavour, For me formidable – accompanied by the Republican Guard, is enjoying a new life on TikTok. Fans are taking over the Pont des Arts to reproduce the French star’s choreography at the opening ceremony on this bridge, one of the most romantic in the “City of Lights”, known for the lovers’ padlocks attached to it.

These short videos are captioned In the footsteps of the Queenin reference to the most listened to French-speaking singer in the world. We see anonymous people, day and night, trying to shake their hips like her. But also familiar faces, like Mathieu Maucort, interministerial delegate for youth of the resigning French government, familiar with TikTok, in a sequence called On the Aya Bridge.

Listening to Aya Nakamura’s tracks has only increased by 36% in France and 40% internationally, according to the latest figures from the Spotify platform, the world leader in music streaming.

Piaf’s “Hymn to Love” explodes thanks to Celine Dion’s moving interpretation

Another title whose listening has soared: The Hymn to Love, with +285% in France and +317% worldwide on Spotify. The classic by Edith Piaf was performed during the grandiose finale by Celine Dion from the Eiffel Tower. If Aya Nakamura’s repertoire is currently one of the most famous on the planet, the 1950 song by the one nicknamed “La Môme” had never had such exposure.

And noCeline Dion did not sing playback from the top of the Eiffel Tower. “We had planned for this possibility, but she actually sang”assured Victor Le Masne, musical director, in the columns of the regional daily West FranceSaturday July 27.

Celine Dion’s version of The Hymn to Love could be released as a single, revealed Victor Le Masne, “It’s a very strong possibility, as is everything else on the soundtrack that we’ve heard.”

Gojira racks up the listens after its “Ah! Ça ira”

Another big winner of the ceremony (+282% in France, +129% internationally on Spotify) is the French metal group Gojira, who sang a song from the French Revolution, Ah! It will be fineaccompanied by the French-Swiss opera singer Marina Viotti.

Gojira benefited from a big surprise effect and dynamited the start of this ceremony of nearly 4 hours along the Seine, among the monuments of Paris, the first show of this kind outside of a stadium.

Philippe Katerine, the “Smurf artist”, the new darling of the Chinese

We must also mention Philippe Katerine, troublemaker of French song, who performed his new song, Nakedhimself almost in his simplest attire, his body painted blue. This painting, which was intended to celebrate Dionysus, was poorly received around the world by conservatives, far-right parties and certain Catholic circles who saw it as an inappropriate reference to the Last Supper.

But here is above all Philippe Katerine, renamed “the Smurf artist”, popularized on Chinese social networks, with drawings or figurines in marzipan inspired by his performance. The clip of Nakedseparate from the Olympic ceremony, with a naturist orchestra playing for the artist, was put online immediately afterwards and is slowly approaching a million views on YouTube.

Among the sound architects who worked on this piece is Victor Le Masne, custodian of the musical signature of the Paris Olympics.

The French Touch : “I Love You So”

During the four hours of the ceremony broadcast worldwide – more than a billion viewers –, pieces marking the history of French Touch have also been played and are resurfacing on streaming platforms.

Firstly there is Supernature (1977) by Cerrone, an electro-disco hit played at a key moment, in its length, almost ten minutes. The song has sent the Shazam app, which allows you to identify a title, into a frenzy, and has seen a jump of +1,200% of listenings on all platforms combined, according to the artist’s press service.

The Because label mentions for its part a six-fold increase in listens, in each case, of Cassius’ electro tracks. I (“I Love You So”, released in 2011) and DJ Mehdi Signature (2006). Electro fans have a little pang in their hearts: DJ Mehdi died accidentally at the age of 34 in 2011, as did Philippe Zdar, half of Cassius, at the age of 52 in 2019.