Lady Gaga Reveals French Connections to Olympics Opening Ceremony and Details of Dior Ensemble

The Olympics had a thing with Lady Gaga.

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The global superstar hit the world stage on Friday night by way of the Olympics opening ceremony in Paris where she helped kick off the festivities by performing “Mon Truc en Plumes,” a Zizi Jeanmarie song that translates to “My Thing With Feathers” — and there were quite a few. The Oscar and Grammy Award-winning singer descended a set of stairs above the Seine cloaked behind a plumage of pink feathers, thanks to black-clad dancers.

Only Gaga’s legs could be seen as she made her way down to stairs and onto a stage at which time the feathered accessories were pulled back to reveal the superstar entertainer who joined the dancers in a choreographed routine as she belted out the song, which Jeanmarie once performed on The Ed Sullivan Show . Shortly after turning out the performance, Gaga took to social media to reveal details of the special French connections she shares with Jeanmarie and the song.

“I feel so completely grateful to have been asked to open the [Paris Olympics] this year. I am also humbled to be asked by the Olympics organizing committee to sing such a special French song — a song to honor the French people and their tremendous history of art, music and theatre,” she posted on Instagram and X. She went on to trace the connections to Jeanmarie — a French ballet dancer, actress and singer, whose full name is Renée Marcelle “Zizi” Jeanmaire — who starred in Cole Porter’s Anything Goes , which marked her first jazz release.

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“Although I am not a French artist, I have always felt a very special connection with French people and singing French music — I wanted nothing more than to create a performance that would warm the heart of France, celebrate French art and music, and on such a momentous occasion remind everyone of one of the most magical cities on earth — Paris.”

To prepare, Gaga’s team rented pom poms from Le Lido archive, “a real French cabaret theater,” she noted. Dior created the custom costumes including the pink feathers and both Gaga and the luxury house confirmed that they used “naturally molted feathers,” as a way of saying no birds were harmed in the making of the pieces. The Dior Haute Couture look featured a bustier and black satin panties, a Dior headdress, gloves and shoes.

“I studied French choreography that put a modern twist on a French classic. I rehearsed tirelessly to study a joyful French dance, brushing up on some old skills — I bet you didn’t know I used to dance at a 60’s French party on the lower east side when I was first starting out,” the singer shared. “I hope you love this performance as much as I do. And to everyone in France, thank you so much for welcoming me to your country to sing in honor of you — it’s a gift I’ll never forget! Congratulations to all the athletes who are competing in this year’s Olympic Games! It is my supreme honor to sing for you and cheer you on!! Watching the Olympic Games always makes me cry! Your talent is unimaginable. Let the games begin!”

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