From Joe Dassin to Edith Piaf to Daft Punk, the various DJs recruited to host the Paris 2024 Olympics can “pick” from a playlist of 4,000 tracks. They adapt each time to the audience and the event, without ever forgetting to respect the “coherence” sought by the organizing committee.
It is almost 11 p.m. on Wednesday, July 31, when the song That I love you Johnny Hallyday’s song resounds around the La Défense Arena basin in Nanterre (Hauts-de-Seine). The spectators then rise to salute the third gold medal obtained by the young French prodigy Léon Marchand, thanks to a historic double in the 200m butterfly and the 200m breaststroke. “At that moment, almost a cappella even though there was music behind, the audience really sang for Léon Marchand, it was very, very beautiful”says Flore Maréchal, a journalist at franceinfo, who was there.
Behind Johnny’s voice, there is a whole thought process by the organizers to raise the atmosphere within Olympic stadiums. Two “signature” pieces have thus been chosen, starting with That I love you for the entry of the French teams onto the field and to celebrate the French Olympic titles. “We really wanted to try to get the audience singing and to allow them to declare their love for the athletes.”explains Leslie Dufaux, head of sports presentation at the Olympic and Paralympic Games Organizing Committee. The other piece is the official theme, titled Paradecomposed by Victor Le Masne, and which accompanies the athletes to the podiums during the medal ceremony. “We thought of all this to have consistency across the sites and to ensure that a certain DNA of these Games stands out.”explains Leslie Dufaux.
At each Olympic site, the DJ then composes his playlist from a large catalog of “4,000 pieces including 60% French-language music”Leslie Dufaux explains. To obtain the rights to the songs, a global contract was signed with Sacem. Within this specific framework, each DJ then tries to find a little freedom. “It’s up to them to pick, to feel the moment and to feel the atmosphere”continues Leslie Dufaux. In each stadium, a “topeur”, a sort of conductor of the animation, is also responsible for sending instructions to the DJ.
“I made a ‘Chill’ playlist for the morning, a ‘Move Your Feet’ playlist [bouge tes pieds] for half the morning, and a ‘Shake Your Ass’ playlist [secoue tes fesses] for the big moments”laughs Manu*, one of the hosts of the Arena du Champ-de-Mars, which hosts the wrestling and judo events. “Then, it’s very structuredhe confirms. We choose the titles directly on servers, which allows us to count them to pay the artists.”
The teams of the different sites cannot add fantasies, but they can make requests as long as they do not venture into tubes containing lyrics that could offend the public. “I asked for Dalida because there wasn’t any”smiles the dojo facilitator.
“We also had playlists with key titles. In particular, we had the little trumpets to encourage the French athletes.”
Manu, DJ for the Olympic Gamesto franceinfo
“Johnny works very well with the public, ‘Alexandrie Alexandra’ by Claude François too”REMARK the DJ. As the audience at the Arena du Champ-de-Mars prepares to return to the stands for a new judo session, Manu is still hesitant about his program. “I think I’ll start with French songs or maybe I also have a bit of gypsy jazz, maybe I’ll go with that.”he thinks.
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The shidos and ippons follow one another on the Olympic tatami and the DJ gets the atmosphere going with Wonderful Flowerthe remix of the group Bon entendeur of Nicoletta’s title. Then when the French Maxime-Gaël Ngayap Hambou appears on the giant screen to play his semi-final, the sound system sets the rhythm with Then we dance by Stromae. The judoka finally lost to the Japanese Sanshiro Murao, but he quickly turned his attention to his match for the bronze medal. The musical atmosphere encouraged him with One More Time Daft Punk.
“I found it very nicerejoices Théo, 26 years old. There is a mix of classic French songs, to set the mood for a very French audience, and then sometimes more dynamic stuff. But between Edith Piaf and Joe Dassin, foreign tourists will leave with lots of French songs stuck in their heads.” This is precisely the whole objective of the organizers. “The vision of Paris 2024 is to take sport out of the stadiums and into the city, and to combine art, culture and sport everywhere”confirms Leslie Dufaux.
“We want foreign and even French spectators to be able to have access to a piece of French culture and leave with it.”
Leslie Dufaux, responsible for the sports presentation of Paris 2024to franceinfo
The public seems won over. “This mix of French and international works very well, it creates a good atmosphere and people respond”judge Julien, 43, who has just completed four different sessions. “It’s pretty classic. Some say it’s always a bit the same thing, but we think it’s not bad.”add Alexandre and Colline, two 28-year-old friends. Karaoke sessions are also planned on all the sites. “And there, we really tinged them with the great chestnuts of French song”confides Leslie Dufaux. On the program in particular: To the Champs Elysees by Joe Dassin, Light the fire of Johnny or even The crowd by Edith Piaf.
“When you have 60,000 people at the Stade de France singing ‘Emmenez-moi’, it gives you chills.”
Leslie Dufaux, responsible for the sports presentation of Paris 2024to franceinfo
On the other side of the Champ-de-Mars, in front of the Eiffel Tower, DJ Tony spins a series of songs under a blazing sun to get the atmosphere going before the beach volleyball match between French players Aline Chamereau and Clémence Vieira. To accompany the spectators to their seats, the host plays Style from the American group Dangers Twins, LaLaLife German DJ David Puentez or Getting Thiz Money from LOC, before giving a musical nod to Snoop Dogg seen in the aisles. “There are sports that have an extremely strong musical identity, like volleyball and beach volleyball. We don’t want to betray that at all.”comments Leslie Dufaux.
In each stadium, producers are therefore free to make choices to match the atmosphere. On Monday, to accompany the tricks of the skateboard competitors, the host did not hesitate to turn to the Red Hot Chili Peppers or Limp Bizkit. On the other hand, in Versailles for horse riding, the atmosphere is often closer to the lounge of a grand hotel than a Beyoncé concert at the Stade de France. “Obviously we don’t welcome people in the same way at golf or tennis, at Versailles or at the Grand Palais. We try as much as possible to respect the identity of the sports.”explains Leslie Dufaux. “We adapt according to the public”confirms a DJ operating Thursday in Versailles during the team show jumping event.
“Translating Johnny to horse riding won’t happen in the same conditions as rugby or swimming. It’s more subdued.”
It also depends on the people behind the management. “When you have English teams, it’s more difficult to have French musical knowledge. For example, in badminton, you have two Anglo-Saxon producers”confides a production manager. In the magnificent setting of the Grand Palais, which hosts the fencing and taekwondo events, the teams have for their part thought long and hard about the staging, in particular for the spectacular entrance of the athletes from the balcony. “We were able to make additional requests, including Schubert’s ‘Allegro vivace’ and ‘Mysterious’ by Offenbachexplains a member of the production team. We wanted to put in some classics to differentiate what happens in fencing from what will happen in taekwondo.”
The teams also turned to the world of cinema, with groups like Audiomachine, Two Steps From Hell or ES Posthumus. “We wanted to play on something more cinematic, more epic, to stick to the drama of fencing”the production further explains. The latter has also slightly adapted the instructions of the That I love you expected during the French gold medals. “In our musical set-up, we decided to put a French cancan to give a standing ovation to our athletes. It’s so powerful for everyone. So the That I love you comes after to bring emotion and tears.”
* The first name has been changed.