#Thomas Jolly

[braimee]

a massive round of applause for everyone involved in the olympics opening ceremony, for all the people who worked so hard for months to make it possible, and most especially for its fucking genius of a director!! what an insane little man!! thank you Thomas Jolly!!!

[docwormie]

Stella and Sadia or le Tango de l’Amour et de la Mort

In today's episode of "Parallels in Starmania that drive me insane", let's talk about Sadia and Stella ! I've always found their connection very intriguing since they never interact in canon, except during the Tango de l'Amour et de la Mort. I really love this song and I get why the 2022 production didn't want to bring it back, but it is a missed opportunity, as the 2022 ending makes it even more relevant by making both their deaths explicit.

(long rant ahead !)

In their introduction songs, Stella and Sadia are both defined by how they are perceived.

"Travesti" isn't about who Sadia is, but it is about what she appears as. The entire song is addressed to a general "vous", an imaginary audience composed of "les hommes qui murmurent". She describes herself as both an object of desire and of fear: she is only defined by other people's reactions and perception of her. 

The song basically tells us that Sadia is everything and nothing, all at once, and that we might try but we'll never truly understand what she wants and who she is... (it's been 45 years and I don't think anybody has fully figured it out yet)

The only sentences that are about who she is – not who she isn't or who she is in relation to someone else –  are "Je suis un travesti", "Je suis le sexe démystifié" and "Je suis la violence personnifiée". 

The first one is key to understanding her character through its several possible interpretations, but it is indefinite and doesn’t tell you who she is as much as it tells you she’s pretending to be something or someone. And the last two actually elevate her to the status of allegory: it's almost like she is worshiped as a symbol of transgression and a projection of people’s “secret desires” and “suppressed hatreds”... you know who that reminds me of ?

You guessed it, it's Stella, whom Zéro calls "déesse de l'amour, déesse de la guerre" ! Beyond the recurring religious lexical field and motifs that permeate Stella's storyline, she is also introduced through an external perception, since the first time we hear her name is in a magazine article. She quite literally first appears to us as "une image de magazine" !

Much like Sadia, Stella's first song is addressed to an audience of "vous" – arguably made up of the same men Sadia mentions in hers – and it's about the dichotomy between appearances and "l'envers du décor" (the main theme of Travesti is basically the relationship between "voir" and "savoir"). The only difference is that Sadia controls her image, using it to her advantage, whereas Stella's image controls her. This image keeps eluding her, no matter how hard she tries to keep up, because it is all just smoke and mirrors, and something she was never in control of: her very first line "On m'appelait Baby Doll" is in the passive form, as if the name "Baby Doll" wasn't objectifying enough <3

The reason I'm drawing a parallel between these two (and not with Cristal or Zéro who are also obsessed with their image) is not only the Tango and their reunion in the good old eros/thanatos motif, but also because I feel like their main obstacle in the show is that at some point, people stop looking at them and they can't bear it. 

They are both personas within their world: Stella Spotlight and Sadia are names they chose for themselves and they're both trying their best to hide the truth about who they are behind carefully constructed characters. That’s why when these characters can’t sustain them anymore, they annihilate themselves, in a way.

Stella can't exist without being looked at, she was born when she rose to fame and she dies alone in the dark. There is no Stella without Spotlight ! In the Adieux she wanted to make a grand show of her death and to be an object of consumption and entertainment until the very end. In Le Rêve, her death becomes the only thing that's truly hers and for no one else to see. (Also, I can't stop thinking about the fact that, since the tower exploded, no one ever knew how Stella really died :D)

Sadia is a character created for Johnny and the Etoiles Noires. So it’s fitting that she literally ceases to exist the moment Johnny sees Cristal, and Sadia (as in, whoever she was pretending to be) disappears when she loses her hold on him. The Etoiles Noires can't exist without Sadia but she can't exist without them either. 

Stella and Sadia cross paths at Naziland, just when keeping up pretences has become useless. The Tango is a mysterious song, but it is thematically relevant to the 2022 ending as it is a memento mori sung by the only two characters who know they’re going to die. 

Both Stella and Sadia are walking lies and they die when they exit the stage, leaving their respective images behind to reveal what was underneath. At their core, they’re theatre characters, which means they can not exist without an audience. 

Oh how I hate this musical <3

[starmaniamania]

Hey. Guess who was in the Opening Ceremony, who we didn't expect to be??

That's right. Thomas Jolly put Côme and Lilya in his "Lovers" tableau... Except they didn't actually appear on the live feed 😭

But the knowledge of it is already insane!!

[transparentgentlemenmarker]

L'artiste « queer » Thomas Jolly a dirigé la cérémonie d'ouverture des Jeux olympiques de Paris. Il est à l'origine de l'idée de recréer la Cène de Jésus avec des drag-queens, qui mettait en scène un Schtroumpf bleu

presque nu et une drag-queen exposant son testicule, une histoire de kiwi quoi, face à de jeunes enfants.

Le directeur artistique a déclaré qu'il voulait que « tout le monde se sente représenté ».

Je voulais inclure tout le monde, hein ? 😂😂😂 bien sûr, bien sûr. Je me souviens d'autres cérémonies d'ouverture des Jeux olympiques et elles ont tendance à être axées sur le sport et sur une promotion pour le pays qui les accueille. Je n'ai rien vu de tout cela à l'écran. Si c'est ça Paris, alors je me sens mal pour leur futur marché du tourisme.

Les commentaires de la presse étrangère m'a guère apprécié la cérémonie de l'ouverture des jeux olympiques. En résumé c'est une promotion pour la communauté lgbtq

[rptv-drawings]

DRAWgust - Day 12: Olympic Committee

[saecookie]

No but you don't understand........ Starmania 2022 is pre premiering tonight.... They did an ig live to show the opening curtain. it was religious.... you don't understand... you don't understand....

[kaantt]

Starmania is TOMORROW

[deepjuillet]

Paris Olympics 2024: A Celebration of Unexpected Success

From the opening ceremony to all the little changes during the events— from coups de batons to bell ringing by the champions — the event screamed out that it was unique, extraordinary, and French.

Another Summer Olympics has come to an end, and what a fabulous extravaganza it was! Despite the weather trying to ruin the opening ceremony, it was a celebration of the international camaraderie, and as we recap the magical memories we will take away from the events, it’s one point I must admit: this wasn’t another Olympic Games, and Paris broke many stereotypes. I hope the trend continues, and…

[braimee]

so as my dear friend @starmaniamania pointed out earlier, Thomas Jolly invited very special guests to be part of the opening ceremony !!

can you spot them??

I’ll help you!

here is Malaika and her awesome hat

here are ( a very blurry ) Maag and her boyfriend!

aaaaaand last but not least…

Côme and Lilya :’))) They’re both pretty blurry and I can’t for the life of me figure out what Côme is wearing but Lilya looks so so so cute!!! I really hope we get some better quality pictures later but for now I’ll take anything

adding something because Malaika posted like 5sec after I made this post

loooooooook!!!

Is Côme actually wearing lipstick or am I going insane????

[docwormie]

Starmania iceberg, done in collaboration with fellow starmaniacs on our starmania discord server !! we tried to go from well-known/obvious facts to more obscure references. How many of these do you know ?

[starmaniamania]

Paris 2024 // Starmania 2022 crossovers

A probably non-exhaustive list of people who worked on the Starmania 2022 production and also on the Paris 2024 Opening Ceremony:

Thomas Jolly: Starmania director / Opening Ceremony artistic director

Victor Le Masne: Starmania musical director & additional arrangements / Opening Ceremony composer & musical director

Thomas Dechandon: Starmania lighting director / Opening Ceremony lighting director

Emmanuelle Favre: Starmania scenographer / Opening Ceremony co-scenographer

Josepha "Princess" Madoki: Starmania co-choreographer / Opening Ceremony performer

Plus assistants (Kevin Vives, Samy Zerrouki, Thomas Anduze, Remi Ikar, probably more!) and at least 2 confirmed dancers so far!

Today is The Day for all of them and I am so incredibly stressed out! I want everything to go super smoothly and for everyone to understand the extent of their talents and fall in love with their creativity & hard work the same way that I did when I discovered them through Starmania!

(📸 Anthony Dorfmann)

[transparentgentlemenmarker]

La flamme tenue par Rafael Nadal est remise à Amélie Mauresmo il est 23H17 la vasque est allumé

Simon Nogueira était l’homme masqué qui a porté la flamme olympique sur les toits de Paris

Le défilé

Thomas Jolly, l’homme de l’ombre, directeur artistique de la cérémonie des JO

Jolly est à l'origine de l'idée de recréer la Cène de Jésus avec des drag-queens, qui mettait en scène un Schtroumpf bleu presque nu et une drag-queen exposant son testicule à côté d'un jeune enfant « tout le monde dout se sentir représenté »

[wisdomfish]

Here’s What People NEED to Realize About the Olympics

Martyn Iles discusses what happened at the 2024 Olympics, the significance of what happened, and how Christians should respond to it.

[revelstein]

Gorszyć kołtuna

Thomas Jolly odpowiedzialny za część artystyczną otwarcia paryskiej olimpiady, powtarza nie wiadomo już po raz który, że nie zainspirował się wcale tak zwaną „Ostatnią Wieczerzą” (za którą nota bene do dziś nie wiadomo kto zapłacił, kto sponsorował popijawę Jezusa z kumplami), ale jest to rzucanie grochem o ścianę, bo nawiedzonych i zafiksowanych na jakimś punkcie katoli, nikt nie…

[pilgrimjim]

"This Is My Body": What is the Olympics' "Last Supper" Controversy Really About?

The Opening Ceremonies controversy was not about Leonardo vs. Jan van Bijlert, Mount Olympus vs. the Upper Room, pagan vs. Christian, Jesus vs. Apollo. It was about who gets to sit at Love’s table.

Paolo Veronese, Christ in the House of Levi (1573). “The image can be worn down to the point that it is almost invisible, it can be plunged into darkness and disfigured, it can be clear and beautiful, but it does not cease to be.” — Saint Augustine Four hundred and fifty years ago, Paolo Veronese painted his controversial version of the Last Supper for a Venetian monastery. It was hung in the…

[taekwondolifemagazine]

Paris Organizers Apologize For Disrespect with ‘Last Supper’