Olympics-Macron wants Nakamura to sing at Games despite 'racist' backlash

FILE PHOTO: The 75th Cannes Film Festival - Screening of the film "Armageddon Time" in competition - Red Carpet Arrivals - Cannes, France, May 19, 2022. Aya Nakamura poses. REUTERS/Stephane Mahe/File Photo

PARIS (Reuters) - French President Emmanuel Macron expressed shock on Monday at a "racist" backlash to the possibility of Franco-Malian pop star Aya Nakamura singing at the Paris Olympics opening.

Macron said he very much hoped Nakamura, the most listened to French female singer in the world, would be chosen as part of the July 26 ceremony beside the river Seine.