Rain can't dampen Lady Gaga's electrifying Olympic opener
Lady Gaga captivated the audience at the Olympic Games opening ceremony with her rendition of Zizi Jeanmaire's "Mon Truc en Plumes." However, choreographer Maud le Pladec, who worked on the ceremony, confessed that the show was almost canceled due to rain. Ultimately, the performance was recorded just before the ceremony and played back.
Maud le Pladec confessed that for safety reasons Lady Gaga's performance had to be filmed a few hours before the official start of the ceremony, but she herself sang live, without any playback support.
For the first time in modern Olympic history, the opening ceremony took place outside the stadium. The action occurred along the Seine. Gaga's performance was one of 12 created for the occasion, and although it lasted only 4 minutes, according to Le Pladec, it was the "most artistically demanding" performance of all.
Unfortunately, it was the only performance that for safety reasons we had to record earlier in the late afternoon when we already knew it would rain. I have never followed the weather forecast so closely in my life… We assessed that it would be too dangerous for the performers, even with a few drops of rain. Lady Gaga really wanted to do it, so we decided it was better to record the whole show earlier than to cancel - emphasised the choreographer.
She added that there were many reasons why the show could not be performed during bad weather. A slippery surface alone would suffice. Gaga was wearing high heels, and her performance took place right next to the water. Therefore, the organisers decided to take special precautions.
Lady Gaga's manager declined to comment.
And although she couldn't personally participate in the opening ceremony, Lady Gaga was there and watched her performance on the screen in the dressing room.
I feel immense gratitude for being asked to participate in the inauguration of the Olympics in Paris this year. I am also honoured that the Olympic Games Organising Committee asked me to sing such a special French song—a song aimed at honouring the French nation and its wonderful history of art, music, and theatre - wrote Lady Gaga on her profile on platform X.
Lady Gaga at the Olympic Games inauguration in Paris. They called her a work titan
Lady Gaga wanted to create a spectacle that would pay homage to the French revue. And that meant her performance had to be a cabaret, combining singing, dancing, a bit of humour, and a bit of splendour. Moreover, Gaga really wanted to have a costume from years ago. The black, tight corset was created for her by Dior, while the feathers and pom-poms were borrowed for the performance from the now-defunct French cabaret Lido.
As choreographer Maud le Pladec emphasises, Gaga is a perfectionist, as was evident when she polished her vocal and choreographic arrangement until the last moment. She had been training weeks earlier in Los Angeles with several dancers who flew in from Paris.
She wanted to create a show à la Française. She puts a lot of effort and thought into everything she does - confessed le Pladec.
Similar to Zizi Jeanmaire's original programme, Le Pladec describes that Gaga's performance had a feminist tone as "feathers have historically been a symbol of women's empowerment."
