Paris did the 2024 Olympics their way—and the final moments of the Olympics' Closing Ceremony were no exception.
French singer and model Yseult took the stage in a custom black Dior dress, drenched in Chopard jewels, and delivered a hauntingly beautiful rendition of the Frank Sinatra classic “My Way.”
When she hit the empowering song’s final high notes, fireworks erupted over the stadium signaling a dramatic and moving end to a successful Olympic Games.
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“Fitting close because Paris did indeed do it their way,” NBC broadcaster Terry Gannon remarked in a clip of the powerful performance posted on Youtube by NBC Sports.
Who is Yseult?
Yseult performs “My Way” during the Closing Ceremony of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at Stade de France on August 11, 2024 in Paris, France. Photo: Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images
As a beloved Paris entertainer, Yseult is known for her music and status within the fashion world, where she’s walked in runway shows for major designers like Balmain, McQueen and Balenciaga and serves as a global ambassador for L’Oreal, according to The Associated Press.
She rose to fame after appearing in the 2013 singing competition show, Nouvelle Star, the French version of American Idol. Although Yseult didn’t walk away as the winner on the show, she did secure a contract with Polydor Records that helped launch her singing career,according to USA Today.
Throughout her career, Yseult has always strived to do things her own way, much like the lyrics to Sunday’s song in the Closing Ceremony.
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In fact Yseult—who according to Vogue also serves as her own manager and producer— opted to sing the Frank Sinatra version of the song rather than the song’s French inspiration “Comme d’habitude” because of its empowering message.
“I like the fact that this is me, this is who I am,” she told the AP. “I’m not perfect. But I’m doing things my way. The version of Frank Sinatra is more fierce and empowering. The French version is more like a love sad song.”
Yseult told Vogue it was “an honor” to represent her country and sing in the Closing Ceremony.
“I feel emotional and I feel proud,” she said. “Proud of myself and my team.”
Although all of her albums have been released in French, Yseult is poised to break into the American music scene with her first album in English “Mental,” which will be released Sept. 20.
Yseult performs during the closing ceremony of the 2024 Paris Olympics at Stade de France on Sunday, August 11, 2024 in Paris, France. Photo: Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times
Who Wrote My Way?
Many may not realize 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 buying the rights to the music, Paul Anka rewrote lyrics for Sinatra using the same melody.
Anka told The Arizona Republic in 2022 that the lyrics were inspired by a dinner conversation he once had with the legend in Miami.
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“We went to dinner and he told me that he was retiring,” Anka remembered. “The Rat Pack was over. He was tired. He was being hassled by the FBI and all that kind of stuff. And I was motivated at that moment to write a song for him.”
Back in New York, Anka sat down in front of his typewriter and had an all-night writing session where he tried to imagine words that Sinatra may have used himself.
“So there’s a lot in there that is the way he spoke,” he said.
Five hours later, Anka finished the song, then flew out to Vegas the next day to play it for Sinatra.
“Fade out, fade in, he calls me two months later from a studio in Los Angeles and plays it for the first time. That was it,” Anka said.
Frank Sinatra performs during the United Cerebral Palsy telethon, at the studios of KECA-TV in Los Angeles, California, 16th June 1952. Photo: Graphic House/Archive Photos/Getty Images
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 ever heard her father sing the song
"You could feel the energy, electricity, in the room. That song became his that first night," she said. "I think it was a song waiting for him to happen."
Decades later, the song, which has been covered by artists as varied as Elvis Presley to the Sex Pistols’ Sid Vicious, has become an anthem for those who've chosen to pave their own path.
