Rapper Snoop Dogg will not only carry Olympic flame but he will also be an Olympic commentator for US television station. Picture. REUTERS/Jonathan Alcorn
American rapper Snoop Dogg will be among the carriers of the Olympic flame this Friday as it makes its final rounds before the Paris Games' opening ceremony.
He will carry it through the streets of Saint-Denis, the ethnically diverse northern Paris suburb that is home to the Olympic Stadium and Aquatics Centre, the town's mayor Mathieu Hanotin told AFP on Monday.
Other carriers in Saint-Denis Friday will include French actress Laetitia Casta, French rapper MC Solaar and Ukrainian retired pole-vaulter Sergey Bubka.
The Olympic flame has spent two months crossing France, and Friday morning it will be carried through the athletes' village which straddles Saint-Denis and neighbouring Saint-Ouen, before going to the Olympic Stadium and the Aquatics Centre a few kilometres away.
Snoop Dogg, 52, was born in greater Los Angeles, which will host the next Games in 2028.
The torch relay will not be the rapper's only appearance at the 2024 Games as he will also be an Olympic commentator for US television station NBC.
A video of Lady Gaga in Paris just days before the start of the Olympic Games has sparked rumours the US pop star could feature in Friday's opening ceremony.
The 38-year-old was seen arriving at a hotel in the French capital in videos posted on social media.
The music for the opening ceremony, to be held along the river Seine rather than in the athletics stadium for the first time in the history of the Olympics, is yet to be fully announced.
Lady Gaga in Paris tonight pic.twitter.com/0ZyDGA3TAi
— Lady Gaga News (@LGNewsFrance) July 22, 2024
Franco-Malian R&B star Aya Nakamura is widely tipped to perform despite criticism from far-right politicians, including Marine Le Pen who suggested an appearance by her would "humiliate" France.
Celine Dion has also been spotted in Paris, fuelling rumours she too could take part in either the opening or closing ceremony.
French electro superstars Daft Punk said they had turned down an invitation to play in the opening ceremony, while globe-trotting French DJ David Guetta has been overlooked -- much to his irritation.
In the ceremony, around 6,000-7,000 athletes are set to sail down a six-kilometre (four-mile) stretch of the river Seine from the Austerlitz bridge in the east to the Eiffel Tower, on 85 barges and boats.
AFP
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