SNOOP DOGG TO BE OLYMPIC TORCHBEARER IN PARIS

With a huge grin on his face, the Californian rapper delivers the good news: he has landed in Paris and will carry the flame during the opening ceremony next Friday before it is officially lit in Saint-Denis.

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Tradition

Every Olympic Games, a fire is lit in Olympia, the birthplace of the games. This is then carried by various athletes to the new location of the games. For the games in Germany in 1936, the relay tradition was born, but did you know that the Olympic Flame was invented by a Dutchman?

About a hundred years ago, architect Jan Wils, who designed the Olympic Stadium in Amsterdam, wanted all of Amsterdam to be able to see the flame day and night. This 46-meter-high Marathon Tower became a leading image for the Games, and is now indispensable at every location where they are held.

Snoop Dogg

The flame has been on its way to Paris for almost a hundred days. Several athletes have already held it in their hands and it will soon arrive in France. Somewhere in the last leg of the relay, Snoop Dogg will carry the flame.

In addition to his flame-bearing, Snoop Dogg will remain in Paris for the entire Games. He will do this for the American television channel NBC, where he will provide commentary on the Games. He already has a love for sports, as he has set up his own American Football league for young people. But he is also an incredibly charismatic and funny person, which means he will also bring a good dose of humor to his commentary.

Snoop Dogg is one of the bearers of the Olympic flame in the run-up to the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in Paris.

The American rapper will carry the torch through the streets of the Saint-Denis district, home to the Olympic stadium, Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo announced Tuesday. It is one of the final journeys of the Olympic flame before the relay ends at the Eiffel Tower. It is still a secret who will carry the torch towards the end.

The Olympic torch has traveled a long way since a ceremony on April 16 in Olympia, Greece, where the Olympic Games were originally held. The flame was carried by boat from Athens to Marseille and then crossed the whole of France.

Several world stars have carried the Olympic torch since then, including former Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger, Formula 1 driver Charles Leclerc and top actress Halle Berry.

The choice of Snoop Dogg is not entirely unexpected. The American rapper was born in Los Angeles, the city where the Olympic Games will be held in four years. He will be accompanied on the journey by French actress Laetitia Casta and French rapper MC Solaar.

The opening ceremony begins on Friday at 7:30 PM with a boat parade through the Seine, in the center of Paris. 10,500 athletes are participating in the Games, but not everyone will be present at the ceremony. Handball player Lois Abbingh and 3×3 basketball player Worthy de Jong will carry the flag on behalf of the Netherlands.

Snoop Dogg, Zorro and Craft Beer: The Opening of the Paris Olympics

Photos are already circulating that allegedly show Lady Gaga: behind a grand piano, floating on a plastic boulder in the Seine. Céline Dion has arrived in Paris, that much is certain, but what she is coming to do is still uncertain. And Snoop Dogg will be one of the bearers of the Olympic flame next Friday, that much has already been confirmed.

In France, there is a constant flow of talk and speculation about the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games, Friday night in Paris. The scenario of that ceremony is completely secret. But the press is already lifting a corner of the veil.

“There will be 3,000 dancers, musicians and actors,” writes the daily Le Figaro. “Some dancers will be seen on the roofs of monuments,” according to the newspaper Le Parisien. And those roofs: that could well be the Notre Dame or the Louvre, thinks Le Figaro.

“Who is the mysterious Zorro who will light the Olympic vase?” Midi Libre wonders. In secret consultations of the organizing committee, the last torchbearer in Paris is consistently called ‘Zorro’, in order to conceal the real identity of that person. Midi Libre mentions two options: footballer Zinedine Zidane (because of the Z) or star actor Jean Dujardin (who plays the role of Zorro in a new series).

The opening ceremony will start on Friday evening at 19:30. It is a boat trip of six kilometers, right through Paris, on the Seine, ending in front of the Eiffel Tower. About a hundred boats will participate, with most of the more than 10,000 athletes who will participate in the Olympic Games.

It is the first time in history that such an Olympic opening will take place outdoors. The city of Paris itself will play the leading role, including the monuments on the route along the Seine. “Why should I have sets made when we are in the most beautiful setting in the world?”, artistic director Thomas Jolly told the press.

“The ceremony will draw some 300,000 spectators, while billions of people around the world will watch it on TV,” Vogue wrote in an interview with Jolly. The article was accompanied by a photo taken by top photographer Annie Leibovitz of him floating in a rubber ring in the Seine, surrounded by swans. Jolly himself told Vogue: “This project is so incredibly big that I can either go into a complete panic and collapse right now, or I can step back and keep calm.”

10,000 liters of beer

There was a slight panic at least for Emilie and Xavier Poisson. They have a small brewery in the town of Chaingy, in central France. A few weeks ago they got a phone call: could they just take care of the beer for the 300,000 visitors of the opening ceremony. 10,000 liters of their craft Octopus beer were ordered.

It worked. “In four hours we will soon sell more beer than we normally produce in a month,” Xavier said in the regional press. The drink will be delivered to Paris in a special refrigerated truck, the Bière Truck. “It took us two weeks just to get all the paperwork in order. Each beer barrel had to have its own barcode and the truck is checked for explosives.”

In short: with 3,000 dancers, 300,000 visitors and 10,000 litres of beer, Paris is ready for the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games. One thing could still throw a spanner in the works: the weather. It could rain. Even that is already leading to plenty of speculation in the press. “There will be little wind, the temperature will be pleasant, but there is a 30 percent chance of rain,” predicts the newspaper La Provence.