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Paris Olympics closing ceremony review – Gallic cool upstaged by LA glitz

Alt-rock hipsters Phoenix put on a likably chaotic closing show, but Tom Cruise and Los Angeles stole the spotlight

Reboul, understandably sounding like a man who was fed up with the whole business and just wished it was over, pre-emptively suggested not: he had revised the script for “the umpteenth time” and promised a “moment of tolerance, sharing and community” but added that, however good it was, it would not “[change] the perception of the opening ceremony”. In their absence, it was down to Phoenix to do the heavy lifting: the Versailles quartet’s slightly ironic take on soft rock is both impressively done and something of a hip cause célèbre, but they hardly constitute a household name outside France, as evidenced by the BBC announcer feeling obliged to explain who they were to the baffled multitudes. Red Hot Chili Peppers were there in person, performing on a beach: they looked ridiculous – bassist Flea in a voluminous pair of yellow shorts, frontman Anthony Kiedis in a string vest – and sounded substantially less cool than Phoenix.

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