Celine Dion and Lady Gaga are eagerly awaited in Paris this Friday for the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games. In the past, other artists have shown that there is more to this global event than just sport. Here are six performances that have captured the imagination of Olympians.
Lionel Richie
Los Angeles, 1984
Four years after the Americans boycotted the Moscow Games, the Los Angeles Games were taking place without the presence of athletes from around fifteen countries of the communist bloc. The war between East and West was raging… but not only that: the war between the soft drinks Pepsi and Coca-Cola too! “This is not Pepsi,” shouted the main sponsor of the 1984 Olympics loudly when he learned that Michael Jackson, spokesman for the blue can, was expected to perform at the festivities. David L. Wolper, responsible for the closing show, then put his plan B into motion: to bet on Lionel Richie, who had just left the Commodores. A bet that paid off, as the artist’s solo career really took off worldwide after his performance – lasting more than nine minutes! – ofAll Night Long.
Freddie Mercury and Montserrat Caballé
Barcelona, 1992
A ghostly aura hangs over this rendition of the song. Barcelonawhile Freddie Mercury sings it with force… he who had died a few months earlier. Explanation: the images broadcast during the opening ceremony are those of a previous collaboration between the leader of Queen and Montserrat Caballé (“the most beautiful voice on the planet”, as he had said many times) recorded a few years earlier – on October 8, 1988, at the La Nit festival in Barcelona, during the passage of the Olympic flame –, when the singer knew he was condemned by AIDS. Nevertheless, on July 25, 1992, for the time of one song, Freddie Mercury came back from the dead, to the delight of millions of spectators.
Celine Dion
Atlanta, 1996
A song written especially for the Olympic Games and performed for the first time at the opening ceremony: who could overcome this great moment of stress and offer a moment of grace? None other than Celine Dion! Written a few months before the 1996 Olympics by David Foster, Linda Thompson and Babyface, The Power of the Dream remained in the boxes until Celine, dressed all in white, performed it on July 19, 1996 in front of more than 100,000 spectators and athletes present at the Olympic Stadium in Atlanta and in front of more than three and a half billion television viewers. Home run! The song took the top radio requests all over the world… but it was not offered to fans of the singer from Charlemagne until the year 2000 – it can be found on the compilation Celine Dion: The Collector’s Series, Volume One.
Kylie Minogue
Sydney, 2000
“Let’s party!” ” was heard in the acoustic speakers of the Olympic Stadium on the evening of 1er October 2000, at the start of the closing ceremony of the Sydney Games. The place quickly transformed into dance floorthe athletes swayed all evening to samba, rock and disco tunes, while Australian singers and musicians took to the stage one after the other. The presence of the national queen of pop Kylie Minogue didn’t surprise anyone, of course, but her costume did! The crown of pink feathers on her head, the French cancan look… That night, she was the Dancing Queena legendary ABBA song brilliantly covered.
Kiss
Salt Lake City, 2002
Let’s be honest: we wish we had forgotten Kiss’ presence at the Olympics. But the glam rock group did indeed set the Salt Lake City stadium on fire on February 24, 2002, at the closing ceremony of the event. On a mobile stage placed in the center of an ice rink, boots on their feet and iconic makeup on their faces, the group, led by Gene Simmons, performed their classic Rock and Roll All Niteas figure skaters twirled around the stage. A moment, let’s say… unique.
Luciano Pavarotti
Turin, 2006
Italy, opera and the presence of the greatest tenor in modern history. Everything was in place for this great… last night. Because, at the opening ceremony of the Turin Games on February 10, 2006, Luciano Pavarotti gave what would be his last performance in front of an audience. He performed the aria “Nessun dorma,” from the opera Turandot by Puccini. But does he really perform it? No! The cold weather combined with poor health – Pavarotti had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer a few weeks earlier – convinced the ceremony organizers to use a recording in the background (play back). Nevertheless, the successful exit from the stage of this great singer remains rich in emotions.
The opening ceremony of the Paris Olympic Games will be broadcast live starting at 1 p.m. Eastern time on ICI TÉLÉ, ICI TOU.TV, Radio-Canada.ca and RDS.