Paris shed its famous aversion for the English language through the Olympic Games, and at the closing ceremony, the singer Yseult, discovered on Nouvelle Star, a French reality TV contest, performed ‘My Way’, the song made famous by Frank Sinatra.
The closing ceremony of the Paris Olympics at the magnificent Stade de France had a decided American twist to it, for the 2028 Olympic Games are going to be held in Los Angeles. So we had Tom Cruise, the Mission Impossible star, rappel down into the stadium and was handed over the flag for the next Summer Games. Cruise, 62, took the flag and hopped on a motorcycle and actually drove out of the stadium — into pre-recorded footage! Thus we had the occasion, if not pleasure, of watching French aesthetics blending with American glitz and showmanship, and the mood shifted from the arty Frenchness of the event to American braggadocio.
