Billie Eilish set to perform at Olympics closing ceremony – are this year’s Games officially the gayest yet?
Billie Eilish is reportedly set to perform at the Paris 2024 Olympics closing ceremony. (Getty/Canva)
There’s no need to “Guess” which pop superstar is set to perform at the Paris Olympics closing ceremony, it’s reported to be Billie Eilish.
The 2024 Paris Olympics will officially come to a close on Sunday (11 August), a little more than two weeks on from the lavish opening ceremony. According to Variety, “Lunch” hit-maker and sapphic songstress Eilish will be one of the superstar names making an appearance.
“Drop It Like It’s Hot” rapper Snoop Dogg and “Californication” rockers Red Hot Chilli Peppers are also reportedly set to perform.
The closing ceremony will act as a handover between this year’s host Paris, and Los Angeles, where the Games will be staged four years from now.
All three rumoured artists have close connections to the City of Angels, with Eilish and Snoop Dogg being born in the area, and the Red Hot Chilli Peppers having formed there.
All three artists will be performing in Los Angeles live or in pre-recorded videos.
Representatives for the Olympics and the artists in question declined to comment when approached by Variety.
After the news broke, fellow pop superstar and Brat Summer originator Charli XCX briefly sent the gays of the internet into a spiral, seemingly teasing that she would be performing her Eilish collaboration “Guess” in Paris.
However, she swiftly clarified that she had been joking.
If Eilish does end up taking to the stage, she will go some way to making Paris 2024 the gayest Games in Olympic history. Well, apart from the original ones in Ancient Greece, that is.
At the opening ceremony in July, bisexual superstar Lady Gaga and LGBTQ+ fan favourite Celine Dion delivered separate but equally mind-blowing performances, with the former performing French cabaret song “Mon Truc en Plumes” (My Feather Thing) and Dion taking to the Eiffel Tower to sing “L’hymne à l’amour” (Hymn to Love), made famous by Edith Piaf.
It marked Dion’s first public performance since she was diagnosed with the rare neurological disorder, stiff person syndrome, in 2022.
The opening ceremony also featured a recreation of a bacchanalian feast, featuring Drag Race France host Nicky Doll, and several other drag stars, including Paloma, and lesbian French DJ Barbara Butch.
The sporting spectacular followed in the opening ceremony’s footsteps, providing some super queer moments.
One of our favourites was when Team GB’s Noah Williams kissed his diving partner Tom Daley, who is gay and married with a husband and two sons, after they had won silver in the men’s 10m platform synchronised event, with the latter taking to the podium with a rainbow towel in hand.
Then there was Italy’s Alice Bellandi grabbing her girlfriend Jasmine Martin and going in for kiss after winning judo gold in the 78kg division.
And lesbian Cindy Ngamba made history by winning the Refugee Olympic Team’s first-ever medal, a bronze in the 75kg boxing.
Overall, a record-breaking 193 out queer Olympians took part in the Paris Games, while Team LGBTQ+ is currently in 7th place on the leader board.
The executive director of the closing ceremony, Thierry Reboul, has said he has had to revise the script “umpteen times” for the event at the Stade de France, to avoid any repeat of the misunderstanding that surrounded the opening extravaganza, The Guardian reported.
The Paris Olympics closing ceremony is scheduled for 8pm (UK time) on Sunday (11 August), with BBC1’s coverage beginning at 7pm.
You can read all of our Paris Olympics 2024 coverage here.
