New leaked documents have reportedly revealed that Lady Gaga was set to perform at the opening ceremony of the Tokyo Olympic Games.
The games, delayed since last year due to COVID-19 restrictions, began last week (July 23) and will run until August 8.
New documents viewed by Bunshun have now shed light on initial plans for the opening ceremony.
As part of the planned performance, Gaga was set to appear remotely wearing Mario’s signature red hat. She would then disappear into a warp pipe, before reappearing in the arena itself, though the person dressed up as Gaga would be Japanese comedian Naomi Watanabe.
As Bunshun report, the Mario stunt was intended as an homage to former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe’s appearance as the character disappearing down a warp pipe at the closing ceremony for the 2016 Olympics in Rio De Janeiro.
The plans, which were drawn up last October, removed any mention of Gaga by spring 2021.
what might be the most noteworthy cut for non-J-pop followers….the Mario pipe thing from the Rio handover ceremony was set to appear again…but this time Lady Gaga would deliver a remote message, put on a Mario hat and go in the pipe…with Naomi Watanabe coming out in Tokyo pic.twitter.com/PUQRKYZHdP
— Patrick St. Michel (@mbmelodies) July 28, 2021
At the opening ceremony itself, a number of drones formed a globe above the stadium, after which John Legend and Keith Urban joined Spanish performer Alejandro Sanz, Beninese singer-songwriter Angelique Kidjo and the Suginami Children’s Choir for a moving virtual rendition of Lennon and Ono’s ‘Imagine’.
Ahead of the ceremony, Cornelius, the Japanese composer working on the music for the event, stepped down after reports of past bullying of classmates were shared online.
“I sincerely accept the opinions and advice I have received, express my gratitude, and will keep them in mind for my future actions and thoughts,” the musician wrote on social media. “I apologise from the bottom of my heart.”
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