Lady Gaga joined dancers, an opera diva and even a heavy metal band in an opening ceremony for the Paris Olympics that sought to proudly showcase French culture with a modern twist.
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The first-ever opening ceremony held outside a stadium – on the River Seine – had to battle driving rain that cast a pallid gloom over the City of Light.
The fast-moving and multi-location ceremony masterminded by acclaimed French theatre director Thomas Jolly was aimed at impressing the global TV audience as much as those who braved the weather and intense security to watch live.
SOUTH AFRICAN CONNECTION TO LADY GAGA’S PERFORMANCE
In a nod to her passion for French culture, US pop star Lady Gaga appeared from behind a fan of pom-poms held by her dancing troupe to sing “Mon truc en plumes” (“My Thing With Feathers”), an iconic French music hall hit by the legendary Zizi Jeanmaire.
“It is my supreme honor to sing for you and cheer you on,” Gaga wrote on her social media channels after the performance, saying she always “felt a very special connection with French people and singing French music.”
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But how many The South African readers were aware that there was a South African connection to Lady Gaga’s performance?
John Steenhuisen, leader of the Democratic Alliance (DA) and the new Minister of Agriculture in the National Assembly, took to social media to write: “I received an exciting letter from the MD of Cape Karoo International, informing me that the pink ostrich plumes and black ostrich feather outfit used during Lady Gaga’s Olympic Games performance were sourced from South Africa’s ostrich farms and are proudly South African. 🇿🇦“