A Concert for the Planet in Paris more political than musical, with Billie Eilish and Lula as stars and Macron booed

2023-06-23 10:31:57

The Concert for the Planet in Paris brought together 20,000 people, with Billie Eilish as the super headliner, Lula acclaimed as a rock star and the name of Emmanuel Macron whistled.

It was not Billie Eilish as the super-headliner, Lenny Kravitz, Jon Batiste, HER or even Finneas, the brother and collaborator of Billie Eilish, who were the most applauded, Thursday evening at the Concert for the Planet at the foot of the Eiffel Tower in Paris, but the Brazilian President Lula. He stole the show from the artists on display during a speech in favor of the planet, among the speakers scheduled between songs to defend the environment.

“Zero deforestation”

The concert-event for the planet took on unexpected political overtones. Given the number of T-shirts bearing the image of Billie Eilish, in the young audience, she was the attraction of the evening. But the most applauded participant is not to be found among the artists on stage, it is Brazilian President Lula, invited to the summit for a new global financial pact to face the climate challenge, organized in the French capital on the initiative of the President Macron.

Lula went on stage at this “Power our planet (feeds our planet): live in Paris”, the Parisian event on the sidelines of the summit. Dark suit and blue shirt, as a pugnacious tribune, he reiterated his objective of “zero deforestation” of the Amazon, to a standing ovation by the crowd. The public was able to come to this concert-event for free by registering in advance to obtain a ticket on the site of the NGO Global Citizen, by committing to relay on the social networks actions for the planet.

1,000 billion for the planet

Another speaker, Mia Mottley, Prime Minister of Barbados, had the misfortune to mention the Paris political summit organized by “M. Macron“. The name of the French president (not present) was then booed, before a “Macron resignation“is not chanted several times by the public. Another political turn of the evening, Camille Etienne, French environmental activist, had Les Uprisings of the Earth (SLT), a collective dissolved on Wednesday in the French Council of Ministers, applauded, accused of”to call” and of “participate“to violence, a decision challenged before the Council of State by the environmental group.

The actress Aïssa Maïga, who also made a documentary on the victims of global warming in the Sahel pleaded for “in-depth reform of the World Bank (Who) could release 1,000 billion dollars and we could use this sum for the climate“.

Musically, the first good note came from Common, a figure of erudite American rap, surprise guest of Jon Batiste’s set, who improvised on the words “Paris“, “France” et “Power our planet“, accompanied on keyboard and saxophone.

Climate anxiety

Then Billie Eilish set the crowd ablaze on the Champ de Mars, a place that in 2021 hosted a host of stars, including Elton John, under the aegis of the NGO Global Citizen… The planetary star performed in a short format, three songs, in a folk setting, acoustic guitar and keyboard, alongside his brother Finneas. Fans, in tears in the front row, took back his titles, including Happier than everwith full lungs.

Dressed in slacks, shirt and tie, Billie Eilish also asked “a complete system change for the planet, now“. “I mostly came for Billie Eilish, entrusts to the AFP Sabrina, 17 years old. This is the opportunity to see it, because it’s free, all you had to do was sign up on the Global Citizen site for actions for the environment to get your ticket.“Only Leandro, 17, assures AFP that he is there first”for the environmental cause“. “I relayed tweets for Global Citizen in relation to the climate, it worries me the climate, it’s nonsense how it’s managed“.

Organized in partnership with the city of Paris, produced by Live Nation, the largest concert organizer in the world, the Parisian show was also broadcast online on several media.