PARIS (AP) — Yseult had two goals when she appeared on stage as the final act for the closing ceremony of the Paris Olympics on Sunday: Turn the world’s biggest spotlight into her megaphone and shine a light on France while boosting her music and modeling career in the U.S. and around the globe.
The Parisian entertainer performed live, standing centerstage at the Stade de France then calmly strutted on the platform like she famously does during major fashion runway shows such as Balmain and Balenciaga. It was a big moment for the singer, who sang the rendition of Frank Sinatra’s classic “My Way,” which derives from the French song “Comme d’habitude,” composed by Jacques Revaux and Claude François.
“The lyrics match perfectly with my career,” Yseult told The Associated Press in an interview on the rooftop of a luxury hotel in Paris. The singer said she choose Sinatra’s popular 1969 ballad over the French version because it’s more “bold, fierce and strong” like herself.
“I like the fact that this is me, this is who I am,” she said. “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.”
After Yseult’s performance, her next goal is winning over hearts in the U.S., starting with her new album “Mental,” which releases Sept. 20. Her upcoming project is all a part of her plans for global dominance within entertainment and fashion.
Yseult spoke with the AP about her new album, flourishing modeling career and maintaining her mental health through online bullying.
In France, Yseult is known for her unapologetically candid lyrics, fearlessly speaking out about her experiences as a Black woman and openly addressing issues like racism and discrimination.
However, Yseult’s honest nature was met with some online trolls who targeted her plus-sized body shape. She said the comments rocked her mental health, but declined to say what — if any — help she sought or received.
“To be bullied publicly is very painful as a human,” she said. “It's painful as an artist. ... Everyone having negative thoughts about you. It's very tricky because people already have a stereotype about Black women, and a woman who has curves. It's more and more hate on me.
"But I'm proud of myself because I stand tall and have resilience, so I don't care."
Instead of clapping back on social media, she chose to open up about how it affected her mental health and let friends speak for her on “Mental," a 12-track album led by the single “B(asterisk)(asterisk)(asterisk) You Could Never.” Her new project will feature English lyrics for the first time.
“On my last project, I talk about my skin, hair, family and struggle. My vulnerability,” Yseult said about her extended play album, “Brut” in 2020. “On this project, it was important for me to talk about my mental health and share where I am right now."
Yseult has soaring vocals, but she's also a top-notched fashionista. She's well respected in the modeling industry, performing on major runways from Balmain, Mugler, McQueen and Balenciaga.
The singer is a global ambassador for L'Oreal and was a sensation on the red carpet at the Cannes Film Festival this year.
As Yseult grows more into her stardom, she knows more pressure will be placed on her. But she feels ready to take on the challenge of inspiring Black curvy women like herself.
“I just embrace my fears, and I embrace the fact that I’m not perfect,” she said. “I’m kind of happy if I’m inspiring some women. It’s cool, but it’s a lot of pressure.”
Yseult, who performed in a Dior Haute Couture ensemble, wants to create her own unisex brand. It certainly can happen with the connections she's made within the fashion industry.
Yseult believes French artists are as talented as anyone the world.
During the opening ceremony, the country's top performers from different musical genres — including Aya Nakamura to Gojira — put on a show.
For closing festivities, it was Yseult's turn.
“Here is the face of France,” she said. “It's diverse. Let's be proud of our inclusivity. Our diversity. Even if behind each fight, you can feel some resistance. We always win. So, I'm here. I'm going to stand. I'm going to sing. It's already a win. This is France.”
Even if the French lyrics aren't fully understood, Yseult believes the emotions in the song speak for themselves.
“You can feel the vibe, the attitude, the personality,” she said.
AP Summer Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games
Yseult performs during the 2024 Summer Olympics closing ceremony at the Stade de France, Monday, Aug. 12, 2024, in Saint-Denis, France. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)
Yseult performs during the 2024 Summer Olympics closing ceremony at the Stade de France, Monday, Aug. 12, 2024, in Saint-Denis, France. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
Yseult performs during the 2024 Summer Olympics closing ceremony at the Stade de France, Monday, Aug. 12, 2024, in Saint-Denis, France. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)
What's in a name change, after all?
The water bordered by the Southern United States, Mexico and Cuba will be critical to shipping lanes and vacationers whether it’s called the Gulf of Mexico, as it has been for four centuries, or the Gulf of America, as President Donald Trump ordered this week. North America’s highest mountain peak will still loom above Alaska whether it’s called Mt. Denali, as ordered by former President Barack Obama in 2015, or changed back to Mt. McKinley as Trump also decreed.
But Trump's territorial assertions, in line with his “America First” worldview, sparked a round of rethinking by mapmakers and teachers, snark on social media and sarcasm by at least one other world leader. And though Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis put the Trumpian “Gulf of America” on an official document and some other gulf-adjacent states were considering doing the same, it was not clear how many others would follow Trump's lead.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum joked that if Trump went ahead with the renaming, her country would rename North America “Mexican America.” On Tuesday, she toned it down: “For us and for the entire world it will continue to be called the Gulf of Mexico.”
Map lines are inherently political. After all, they're representations of the places that are important to human beings — and those priorities can be delicate and contentious, even more so in a globalized world.
There’s no agreed-upon scheme to name boundaries and features across the Earth.
“Denali” is the mountain's preferred name for Alaska Natives, while “McKinley" is a tribute to President William McKinley, designated in the late 19th century by a gold prospector. China sees Taiwan as its own territory, and the countries surrounding what the United States calls the South China Sea have multiple names for the same body of water.
The Persian Gulf has been widely known by that name since the 16th century, although usage of “Gulf” and “Arabian Gulf” is dominant in many countries in the Middle East. The government of Iran — formerly Persia — threatened to sue Google in 2012 over the company’s decision not to label the body of water at all on its maps. Many Arab countries don’t recognize Israel and instead call it Palestine. And in many official releases, Israel calls the occupied West Bank by its biblical name, “Judea and Samaria.”
Americans and Mexicans diverge on what to call another key body of water, the river that forms the border between Texas and the Mexican states of Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo Leon and Tamaulipas. Americans call it the Rio Grande; Mexicans call it the Rio Bravo.
Trump's executive order — titled “Restoring Names That Honor American Greatness” — concludes thusly: “It is in the national interest to promote the extraordinary heritage of our Nation and ensure future generations of American citizens celebrate the legacy of our American heroes. The naming of our national treasures, including breathtaking natural wonders and historic works of art, should honor the contributions of visionary and patriotic Americans in our Nation’s rich past.”
But what to call the gulf with the 3,700-mile coastline?
“It is, I suppose, an internationally recognized sea, but (to be honest), a situation like this has never come up before so I need to confirm the appropriate convention,” said Peter Bellerby, who said he was talking over the issue with the cartographers at his London company, Bellerby & Co. Globemakers. “If, for instance, he wanted to change the Atlantic Ocean to the American Ocean, we would probably just ignore it."
As of Wednesday night, map applications for Google and Apple still called the mountain and the gulf by their old names. Spokespersons for those platforms did not immediately respond to emailed questions.
A spokesperson for National Geographic, one of the most prominent map makers in the U.S., said this week that the company does not comment on individual cases and referred questions to a statement on its web site, which reads in part that it "strives to be apolitical, to consult multiple authoritative sources, and to make independent decisions based on extensive research.” National Geographic also has a policy of including explanatory notes for place names in dispute, citing as an example a body of water between Japan and the Korean peninsula, referred to as the Sea of Japan by the Japanese and the East Sea by Koreans.
In discussion on social media, one thread noted that the Sears Tower in Chicago was renamed the Willis Tower in 2009, though it's still commonly known by its original moniker. Pennsylvania's capital, Harrisburg, renamed its Market Street to Martin Luther King Boulevard and then switched back to Market Street several years later — with loud complaints both times. In 2017, New York's Tappan Zee Bridge was renamed for the late Gov. Mario Cuomo to great controversy. The new name appears on maps, but “no one calls it that,” noted another user.
“Are we going to start teaching this as the name of the body of water?” asked one Reddit poster on Tuesday.
“I guess you can tell students that SOME PEOPLE want to rename this body of water the Gulf of America, but everyone else in the world calls it the Gulf of Mexico,” came one answer. “Cover all your bases — they know the reality-based name, but also the wannabe name as well.”
Wrote another user: “I'll call it the Gulf of America when I'm forced to call the Tappan Zee the Mario Cuomo Bridge, which is to say never.”
FILE - President Donald Trump speaks in the Roosevelt Room of the White House, Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson, File)
FILE - Peter Bellerby, the founder of Bellerby & Co. Globemakers, holds a globe at a studio in London, Tuesday, Feb. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung, File)
FILE - A boat is seen on the Susitna River near Talkeetna, Alaska, on Sunday, June 13, 2021, with Denali in the background. Denali, the tallest mountain on the North American continent, is located about 60 miles northwest of Talkeetna. (AP Photo/Mark Thiessen, File)
FILE - The water in the Gulf of Mexico appears bluer than usual off of East Beach, Saturday, June 24, 2023, in Galveston, Texas. (Jill Karnicki/Houston Chronicle via AP, File)