Closing Ceremony: a sombre spectacle, a "cheap" LA2028 sequence... and already a hangover!
After the Paris Games, hailed by all for their beauty and fervor, the closing ceremony seemed sombre and, above all, too long, despite some fine moments. The hangover effect is already here.
"Disappointing" with "lengthy" or "extraordinary": after the spectacular opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics on the Seine, the closing show, back in a stadium, left a more mixed impression, mainly due to its very sombre tone.
For the Records show itself, which was only part of the evening, emotion struggled to get past the screen during the silent, metaphorical performance. It was a dystopia, in which the Games have disappeared and futuristic travelers set about rebuilding them, "in a rather distant future". The Hymne d'Apollon played by Alain Roche on his upright piano and intoned by tenor Benjamin Bernheim offered a welcome moment of clarity.
"The first part was too dark and too slow", lamented Quebec journalist Katherine Verebely, referring to the sequence starting with the extinguishing of the Olympic cauldron in the Tuileries Gardens and ending with the festive concert concocted by electro-rock group Phoenix.
The "happy ending" prepared by the organizers of the future Los Angeles Games in 2028, with Tom Cruise's performance as he descended from the roof of the Stade de France - even if he failed to open the American flag in flight - also failed to win unanimous approval. Above all, it lacked surprise, since the name of the American actor had been circulating for weeks.