The Emmy Award-winning comedian Trevor Noah, who rose to fame as the host of the popular American satirical news programme, ‘The Daily Show’, is coming to the Principality for a one-night-only gig at the end of July. Here are all the details.
The Monte-Carlo Summer Festival is shaking up its programme this year with a new addition to the schedule: stand-up comedy. The star chosen to fill the inaugural slot for this genre of entertainment is South African comedian Trevor Noah.
The 40-year-old Johannesburg native started out in 2002 with a number of roles within the South African Broadcasting Corporation. He later became the host of a late-night talk show, ‘Tonight with Trevor Noah’, before going international.
In 2014, he landed the role of Senior International Correspondent for the hit American news programme, ‘The Daily Show’, then hosted by Jon Stewart. When Stewart left the following year, Noah stepped in as its new anchor.
He has hosted several prestigious events, including the 2021 and 2022 Grammys, as well as the White House Correspondents’ Dinner in 2022.
On top of this, Noah has won various awards, including a MTV Africa Music Award and a Primetime Emmy Award. He was named one of ‘The 35 Most Powerful People in New York Media’ by The Hollywood Reporter in 2017 and 2018, and in 2018, Time Magazine named him one of the ‘100 Most Influential People in the World’.
Most recently, this prolific funny man has taken his show on the road with a one-man stand-up comedy act that has already produced sold-out performances all over France.
He will be coming to the Principality on 29th July for a one-off performance at the Opéra Garnier. Tickets are still available and start from €120. For more information, click here.
French rapper MC Solaar will be coming to the Principality in the autumn for a one-off performance at the Espace Léo Ferré in Fontvieille.
55-year-old MC Solaar, a famous figure in French rap, is set to perform a range of his hit songs for a Monaco crowd on 4th October. The date kicks off a mini-tour of gigs that will also see the rapper take to the stage in Cannes and Marseille later in the month.
MC Solaar has released seven studio albums over the last 30 years and is celebrated in the French-speaking world for his poetic lyrics and socially conscious themes. He has sold more than five million albums worldwide, won five Victoires de la Musique awards and stands as the second highest-selling artist in the history of French rap.
His most well-known tracks include ‘Caroline’, ‘Bouge de là’ and ‘Hasta la vista’, popular tunes that he will no doubt be performing in Monaco, in addition to songs from his recent album, ‘Lueurs Célestes’, which was released in March 2024.
The concert will begin at 8.30pm. Tickets can be purchased via Fnac and Ticketmaster, and start from €44.
For further information, call +377 93 10 12 10 or click here. For details about his wider tour plans, click here.
The successful inaugural test flight of the European Space Agency’s Ariane 6 series rocket, which was made in France, has put the continent back on track in terms of space exploration and study, and marks a new chapter for the agency.
At 9pm CET on 9th July, the French-built Ariane 6 series rocket, dubbed VA262, lifted off from the Spaceport in French Guiana. Its mission was to carry into orbit a set of next-generation satellites, which were released at an altitude of 600 kilometres above Earth.
The excitement over the launch has been widespread, with the ESA’s Director General Josef Aschbacher saying, “A completely new rocket is not launched often, and success is far from guaranteed. I am privileged to have witnessed this historic moment when Europe’s new generation of the Ariane family lifted off – successfully – effectively reinstating European access to space.”
A photograph from the Ariane 6 rocket launch on 9th July. Photo credit: ESA/S.Corvaja
Built by Parisian company ArianeGroup with the support of the French Space Agency, CNES, the Ariane 6 series has the ability to launch missions from low-Earth orbits and deploy multiple payloads thanks to its auxiliary propulsion unit that is capable of restarting the rocket’s engines.
“The beginning of a long history of Ariane 6 operations”
The next Ariane 6 flight is planned for later this year and it will be the rocket’s first commercial endeavour.
“The new launcher’s order book is proof of the versatility of Ariane 6 and of its capacity to accomplish a wide range of missions into multiple orbits,” said Stéphane Israël, CEO of Arianespace. “It reflects the confidence that customers have in Ariane 6 for both their institutional and commercial missions. We are eager to begin operating our new launcher.”
This new age of European space flight is not to be underestimated, according to Martin Sion, CEO of ArianeGroup.
“With the successful first flight of Ariane 6, the European space industry has moved into a new era,” he said. “This historic launch demonstrates the unfailing commitment of our teams and partners, whom I would like to thank warmly for this success, which reflects on the entire European industry. Seeing Europe’s new launcher lift off into space marks the culmination of an outstanding technical and technological adventure, and the beginning of a long history of Ariane 6 operations.”
Just days ahead of the launch of the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris came the news that the International Olympic Committee has accepted a joint bid from the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur regions to host the 2030 Winter Olympics.
It is official. In six years’ time, a confederations of towns, cities and alpine resorts in the Haute Savoie, Savoie, Briançon and Nice areas will come together to hold the 2030 Winter Olympics. It is the fourth time that the French Alps have been honoured as the hosts of the event, with the 1992 Winter Games in Albertville being the most recent visit to les alpes françaises.
Nice is set to host all of the indoor ice events, with the exception of speed skating, and has also been chosen as the location for the Games’ Closing Ceremony, which will be held on the Promenade des Anglais. It will be the first time in history that the occasion will be held outside of an official stadium.
Other sites selected by the International Olympic Committee’s Executive Board (IOC EB) for the Games include three old Albertville sites, which will be updated and renovated ahead of the event: La Plagne’s sliding track, the Courchevel ski jump and Méribel’s Roc de Fer downhill alpine skiing course.
The other proposed venues for snow events include La Clusaz, Le Grand Bornand, Serre Chevalier and Montgenèvre.
No decision has been made yet on the location of the Opening Ceremony, but it has been indicated that there will be a grand total of five Olympic Villages for the competing athletes and their teams across the two regions, with the promise that no competition venue will be more than half an hour from the athletes’ accommodation.
The organisers of the 2030 Winter Olympics plan to take a page from the 2024 Paris Olympics handbook when it comes to sustainability, with representatives saying that they will establish a “strategy that reduces carbon emissions and covers every aspect of Games’ planning and delivery, including transport, education and procurement”.
Dates confirmed for early 2030
The dates for the 2030 Winter Games have been confirmed by the IOC EB. The Olympics will be held between 1st and 17th February, while the Paralympic Games will take place between 1st and 10th March.
“Full confidence”
IOC President Thomas Bach was given the task of announcing the winners of the bid for the 2030 Winter Games on 24th July at an event in the French capital.
“President Macron and all stakeholders in French Alps 2030 have today reiterated their full commitment to the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games 2030,” he affirmed. “We have full confidence in France to organise an outstanding edition of the Olympic Winter Games, with the same creativity, imagination and flair we are currently experiencing at Paris 2024.”
Renaud Muselier, the President of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region, later said, “We are going to show the world that the 21st century will have its Winter Games: reinvented, simpler, less costly. Exemplary sustainable Games, snow and chalets! Games that will benefit our communities and all our citizens. Long live the French Alps, long live the Games!”
Monaco’s Condamine Market has announced that it will be broadcasting all of the major events and highlights of the Paris Olympic Games for free on a number of big screens in the Halle Gourmande, including the much-awaited Opening Ceremony.
If you didn’t manage to get tickets to the 2024 Olympic Games, fear not as the Marché de la Condamine will be bringing the excitement to the Principality thanks to an array of big screens erected specially for the event inside the covered market.
Starting on 26th July at 7.30pm with the Opening Ceremony and continuing throughout the iconic sporting event, the big screens will be showing all of the main events and highlights for free and without the need for reservations.
The screens in the Halle Gourmande will be up and running every day during the event, between 7am and 3.30pm, with additional evening broadcasts from 6pm to 11pm on Tuesdays through to Saturdays.
With the Paris 2024 Olympics fast approaching, excitement is building among tennis fans and players alike. Here’s how Greek star and Monaco resident Stefanos Tsitsipas plans on bringing home a medal and achieving Olympic glory.
The Summer Olympic Games, a monumental international multi-sport event held once every four years, has a special place in the hearts of sports enthusiasts worldwide. The previous edition was held in 2021 (postponed from 2020) in Tokyo, Japan, and the upcoming Olympics will commence in just a few days in Paris.
41 countries will participate in the Paris 2024 Olympic tennis event, with 184 players registered to compete across five events (men’s and women’s singles and doubles plus mixed doubles). The limit is four singles players per gender per country. The top ATP 12 ranked players competing in the Olympics are Jannik Sinner (Italy), Carlos Alcaraz (Spain), Novak Djokovic (Serbia), Alexander Zverev (Germany), Daniil Medvedev (Russia), Alex De Minaur (Australia), Hubert Hurkacz (Poland), Casper Ruud (Norway), Taylor Fritz (USA) and Stefanos Tsitsipas (Greece).
Stefanos Tsitsipas serving on the clay courts of the MCCC, July 2024, source: Red Bull Content Pool
The 25-year-old Greek national Stefanos Tsitsipas, a Monaco resident, is leaving no stone unturned in his preparation for the upcoming Games. His unwavering determination to be in peak physical and mental condition is a source of inspiration as he strives to bring home an Olympic medal for his country and also secure a Grand Slam title.
“Greece and the Olympic Games definitely go together like bread and butter, and it has been a dream of mine since I first picked up a tennis racket to compete,” says Tsitsipas. “I have always wanted to be an athlete who gets to participate in something like that.”
His aspiration to bring pride to Greece through his performance at the Olympics is sure to evoke a sense of national pride among his fellow Greeks.
El Greco, a nickname that Tsitsipas would like to be referred to in the international headlines, had a career-high of ATP 3 and is currently ranked 12. He has some of the biggest titles in tennis under his belt, having won the ATP World Tour Finals and the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters. He is also a two-time Grand Slam Finalist (French Open 2021 and Australian Open 2023).
Stefanos Tsitsipas in the Gym at the MCCC, July 2024, source: Red Bull Content Pool
Mens sans in corpore sano (a healthy mind in a healthy body)
They say Olympians are born with a particular set of physiological gifts, but their commitment to their sport is the most important; it is the rigour with which they train to be physically and mentally fit to go against all odds.
“Preparing well before the Games begin is something I’m looking forward to,” Tsitsipas tells Monaco Life. “I had great success there a few years ago at the same stadium, playing in the finals of the Roland-Garros. Returning there with this confidence and reliving the moment at the back of my mind allows me to strive and work towards the same goal that I ended up achieving during the amazing run that I had a few years ago.”
Tsitsipas was eliminated by Frenchman Hugo Humbert in the 8th finals of the Tokyo Games in 2021, but he is determined to succeed this time around. His recipe for success in Paris is straightforward: “My strategy is to ensure my body is in the best possible condition and shape. It is about eating well, sleeping well and exercising regularly. Stretching is important for me, too. All these elements contribute to my well-being. I will also get more focused because I want a healthy mind and body, and I will be out on the court to perform at the highest levels.”
Stefanos Tsitsipas training at the MCCC, July 2024, source: Red Bull Content Pool
Tsitsipas’s mental fortitude is a force to be reckoned with. It has propelled him to success and placed him among the top tennis players in the world. He says he feels fit and ready to tackle the high demands of the fierce Olympic competition.
As Tsitsipas himself acknowledges, his mental fortitude is a significant factor in his success. His ability to handle tough situations, matches and high-pressure moments has not only defined him as an athlete but also propelled him to a great position in the tennis world. His commitment sets the stage for an exciting competition among the world’s best ranked players.
“Of course, aiming for a medal is something extraordinary,” he says. “For me, that’s the best gift that you can give to yourself, and it’s something that will live with you for the rest of your life.”