The Paris Olympic Games are off to a great start now that the opening ceremony is over. Olympic Games“People are cautiously wondering what the host city will offer audiences around the world, whether it is embarrassing and disgusting or absolutely amazing. So how did Paris fare in 2024?”The opening ceremony wasn't great at all,“It’s basically a mature tourism ad for the City of Lights,” wrote Deadline’s Dominic Patten. Meanwhile, iNews’ Emily Watkins called it “a crazy cabaret of clichés.” What opening ceremony did they see? I thought it was a wonderful love letter to Paris, the history of the Olympics, and humanity in general. I cried so hard at the moments I thought I would roll my eyes in mockery.. I did well.
It all depends on what kind of person you are and what kind of expectations you have. At the end of the day, this is just a four-hour show meant to introduce and welcome 6,800 athletes. Of course, it will be exhausting for some people, but what head coach Thomas Joly has woven here is beyond amazing. More stimulating and diverse than almost any other opening ceremony I've seen.Opera, heavy metal, techno; Lady Gaga, Aya Nakamura, Celine Dion; a surreal fashion show, a mechanical horse traveling across the Seine, a giant hot air balloon on fire. And French creatures too! This was huge, daring, and in many ways crazy, but also beautiful.
Celine Dion sings at the top of her lungs on the Eiffel Tower
Let's start at the end, with what people probably discuss the most – victory. Celine Dion performs inside the Eiffel Tower as it launches a laser light show. This is what makes a Pink Floyd night at the local planetarium look like a flashing digital clock. It was amazing, This caused NBC sports commentator Kelly Clarkson to cry (twice).largely due to the tragic but inspiring story surrounding Dion's health struggles. Watch her performance above.
“Céline Dion electrified the audience in Paris with her interpretation of “L’Hymne à l’amour,” a tribute to Edith Piaf’s masterpiece,” reads the official Olympic Games press release. “This irresistible artistic choice celebrated the power and emotion of a timeless classic, the extraordinary careers of two of the greatest singers of all time, and finally, Paris, and all the most beautiful things that France stands for.” When they’re right, they’re right.
1:38
Related
The 2024 Olympics will get 5,000 hours of live coverage on Peacock in a radical way
Peacock is gearing up for something completely new for the 2024 Paris Olympics. Here's the full schedule for the Games from July 26 to August 11.
Olympic cauldron turns into a fiery balloon in the sky
International Olympic Committee
This was preceded by the lighting of arguably the most unique Olympic cauldron in history. Paris 2024 did things quite differently, being the first Olympics to feature a cauldron that wasn’t in the stadium (and the first Opening Ceremony to be held outside the stadium, despite heavy rain). It’s also the first floating cauldron I’ve seen – A giant, simple hot air balloon with a flaming cauldron at its base.
“The Paris 2024 cauldron is located in the heart of the city, in the Tuileries Gardens at the Louvre Museum, in the middle of one of the most beautiful views of the capital, on the steps of the Louvre Palace and its pyramid, the obelisk of the Place de la Concorde and the Champs-Élysées with the Arc de Triomphe and the Paralympic Games at the end.”
“The lighting of the cauldron was one of the most eagerly awaited moments of this opening ceremony.
After the final group relay, Marie-José Perec and Teddy Renner step forward over the garden's great fountain to light this unexpected and unprecedented cauldron. Designed by French designer Mathieu Lehanneur, A giant ring of fire was crowned with a large hot air balloon.creating one of the most memorable images of the ceremony: once lit and freed from its bonds, the cauldron shot into the sky to shine in the Parisian sky.
“The puncture-resistant flying cauldron breaks traditionThanks to great technological ingenuity, the Olympic flame shines with electricity: a beam of light illuminates a fine mist. The cauldron will soar through the Paris sky tonight and every night during the Games, and will come down to earth every day for the public to come and admire. From 27 July, everyone will be able to get up close to the Olympic flame through a free ticket programme.
Related
Everything you need to know about the 2024 Olympics opening ceremony
There are only a few days left until the opening ceremony of the 2024 Olympic Games. Here's everything it has to offer.
The journey to light the balloon boiler was nearly four miles across the River Seine, where much of the action took place during the opening ceremony. Beautifully filmed and pre-recorded clips were distributed throughout the ceremony, following the bizarre parkour adventures of the Mysterious torch bearer with hood (who looked like they grew up in Assassin's CreedThe masked torchbearer's adventures, from ziplining across the Seine, jumping from rooftop to rooftop, sneaking into the Louvre, and riding a metal horse down the river, were exhilarating and interspersed with a variety of epic musical performances and time-lapse footage.
The spectacular musical performances (under the supervision of the brilliant musical director Victor Le Masne) were held in some of the most historically important Parisian locations. Lady Gaga appeared in the Bari square to launch the artistic part of the opening ceremony. In a nod to French music hall traditions, Lady Gaga reinterpreted the classic “Mon truc en plume” by Zizi Jeanmaire, an icon of French rave.
Related
Snoop Dogg on His Paris 2024 Olympics Bid: 'I Always Represent Peace'
Snoop Dogg spoke at length at a press conference with Rudy Gaines and Molly Solomon, president of Olympic Productions.
maybe Best musical moment of the nightThis show was a spectacular mash-up of French heavy metal band Gojira and French-Swiss opera singer Marina Viotti. The various members of Gojira sat with their instruments in an epic palace, with headless aristocratic women in red dresses (and holding their heads) in the windows. They performed a song based on the anthem of the French Revolution while Viotti sailed in a boat past the palace, with flames erupting from the palace and the streets below. It all ended in explosions of red smoke and paper, First metal song performed at the Olympics(See above.)
My god, just listing these details is enough to make me want to watch it again. I haven’t even gotten to half of the best moments of the opening ceremony. I can’t believe people were bored or found the slightest bit vulgar in all of this. If the videos above appeal to you in any way, you should definitely check out more of the opening ceremony (especially the French ones), which you can do by Peacock Olympic Games Center below.
Watch the Olympic Games
