A photograph taken from an helicopter on July 26, 2024 shows an aerial view of the Eiffel Tower and the Olympics Rings lightened up during the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in Paris Tom Cruise may play a part in the closing ceremony of the Paris Olympics on Sunday. Picture: Lionel Bonaventure/POOL/AFP
With Tom Cruise widely predicted to engage in a death-defying stunt on the roof of the Stade de France, Sunday's Paris Olympics closing ceremony promises a memorable passing of the five rings flag to Los Angeles.
Two weeks after the unprecedented complexity of the opening ceremony along the River Seine, there are big expectations for the show to wrap up the Games.
The closing ceremony will be a much shorter affair and will take place -- in more traditional fashion -- at France's national stadium.
Artistic director Thomas Jolly has revealed it will combine "wonder" with "dystopia", suggesting some darker elements than the joyful and impertinent tone of the opening ceremony that drew a record audience of more than a billion worldwide.
Offering a sneak peak to journalists recently, Jolly said he saw the Games as a "fragile monument" and wanted to imagine what would happen if they "disappeared and someone was rebuilding them in a distant future”.
One sequence features "travellers from another space-time who arrive on Earth and discover vestiges from the history of the Olympics", with acrobats restoring the famous five rings of the Games.
It will reportedly feature more than 100 dancers, circus artists and other performers, with the promise of aerial displays, giant sets and spectacular lighting.
The Champions Park, at the foot of the Eiffel Tower is the place to be! What a party! 🎉
— The Olympic Games (@Olympics) August 7, 2024
For the first time at the Olympics, the public is invited to meet and celebrate the medallists of the Games in a space accessible to everyone, and absolutely free!#Paris2024 #Olympics pic.twitter.com/Q70FVRr46G
The opening ceremony featured some huge stars including Lady Gaga, Celine Dion and Aya Nakamura, but some big celebrities are also expected Sunday.
Cruise has been at several Olympic events and the most daredevil of Hollywood stars would be a natural connection between Paris and the 2028 Los Angeles Games.
US media have reported that Cruise has been preparing a spectacular stunt to pick up the Olympic flag and transfer it to LA, with video sequences already filmed on both sides of the Atlantic.
There have been no shortage of Hollywood stars in attendance for the Games who might also play a role, including Snoop Dogg, Eva Mendes, Ryan Gosling and Sharon Stone.
There are unconfirmed rumours that Beyonce -- a fervent supporter of the US team on social media -- may perform.
Two of France's biggest musical exports -- Air and Phoenix -- are already lined up to play, according to Le Parisien newspaper.
Organisers will be anxious to avoid a repeat of the controversy sparked by the opening ceremony, which featured drag queens in a sequence that some Christians and conservatives thought mocked the Biblical story of The Last Supper.
Organisers insisted it was a reference to Greek gods> But Jolly and other members of the team have since been victims of social media harassment, triggering police investigations and condemnation from French President Emmanuel Macron.
AFP