Paris has hosted the 2024 Olympic Games its own way – and the final moments of the Olympics closing ceremony were no exception.
French singer and model Yseult took the stage in a custom-made black Dior dress adorned with jewels by Chopard and delivered an unforgettably beautiful rendition of the Frank Sinatra classic “My Way”.
As she sang the final high notes of the empowering song, fireworks exploded over the stadium, signaling a dramatic and moving end to a successful Olympic Games.
RELATED: Here are All the US medalists at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris
“It’s fitting because Paris really did it his way,” noted NBC host Terry Gannon in a clip of the impressive performance posted by NBC Sports on YouTube.
Who is Yseult?
A popular Parisian entertainer, Yseult is known for her music and her status in the fashion world, where she has walked runway shows for major designers such as Balmain, McQueen and Balenciaga and serves as a global ambassador for L’Oreal, according to The Associated Press.
She rose to fame after participating in the singing competition show in 2013. New Starthe French version of American Idol. Although Yseult did not emerge as the winner of the show, she secured a contract with Polydor Records, which enabled her to launch her singing career, so USA Today.
Throughout her career, Yseult has always strived to do things her own way, much like the lyrics of Sunday’s song at the closing ceremony.
RELATED: HER singing of the national anthem at the Olympic closing ceremony will blow your mind
In fact, Isolde—who, according to fashion also serves as her own manager and producer – chose to sing Frank Sinatra’s version of the song rather than the French-inspired version “Comme d’habitude” because of its empowering message.
“I like the fact that I am who I am,” she told AP. “I’m not perfect. But I do things my way. The Frank Sinatra version is wilder and more powerful. The French version is more like a sad love song.”
Yseult told Vogue it was “an honor” to represent her country and sing at the closing ceremony.
“I am touched and proud,” she said. “Proud of myself and my team.”
Although all her albums were released in French, Yseult is about to break into the American music scene with her first English-language album, “Mental,” out September 20.
Who wrote in my way?
Many people may not be aware that “My Way” actually has French roots.
The music was written by composer Jacques Revaux. Lyricists Gilles Thibaut and Claude Francois wrote the lyrics to the French version “Comme d’habitude”, but after Paul Anka acquired the rights to the music, he rewrote the lyrics for Sinatra using the same melody.
Anka told The Arizona Republic in 2022 that the lyrics were inspired by a dinner table conversation he once had with the legend in Miami.
RELATED TOPICS: All about Phoenix and her performance at the closing ceremony of the Olympic Games in Paris
“We went to dinner and he told me he was retiring,” Anka recalled. “The Rat Pack was over. He was tired. He was being harassed by the FBI and all that stuff. And at that moment I was motivated to write a song for him.”
Back in New York, Anka sat down at his typewriter and spent a night writing, trying to imagine words that Sinatra himself might have used.
“So a lot depends on the way he spoke,” he said.
Five hours later, Anka had finished the song and flew to Vegas the next day to play it for Sinatra.
“Fade out, fade in, two months later he calls me from a studio in Los Angeles and plays it for the first time. That’s it,” Anka said.
Frank Sinatra’s version
Sinatra released the song in 1969 and it later became one of his signature songs and remained on the charts for years.
Sinatra’s daughter Tina told NPR She still remembers the first time she heard her father sing the song
“You could feel the energy, the electricity in the room. That song became his on that first night,” she said. “I think it was a song that was waiting for him to do it.”
Decades later, the song, covered by artists as diverse as Elvis Presley and Sid Vicious of the Sex Pistols, has become an anthem for those who have chosen to follow their own path.
