PARIS (AP) — A hot-air balloon carried the Olympic ring into a rainy sky as Paris opened its first Summer Olympics in four hours Friday, and singer Celine Dion pulled it off the Eiffel Tower. A rule-breaking opening ceremony along the Seine River.
On and off showers did not dampen the spirits of the athletes. As authorities suspected acts of vandalism targeting France’s high-speed rail network, some held umbrellas as they rowed boats down the river as a symbol of the city’s resilience.
With an ambitious celebration, the stakes are high for France. Dozens of heads of state and government are in town, and the world watches as Paris transforms itself into one giant open-air theater. Along the Seine, iconic monuments became venues for dancers, singers and other artists.
French judo champ Teddy Rainer and three-time Olympic champion runner Marie-José Perec light the Olympic torch, which is attached to a giant balloon that floats through the night – a tribute to the early French pioneers. the plane
“We didn’t stop watching the show even though it was raining, but we got out of the rain safely and it didn’t spoil our fun,” said Kelly Cheng, a beach volleyball player. “I can happily say it was one of the most magical nights of our lives.”
Despite the weather, crowds poured onto the Seine’s banks and bridges, “oohing” and “ahing” from balconies as the Olympic teams marched along the waterway.
Many of the hundreds of thousands of spectators huddled under umbrellas, plastic ponchos or jackets, while others danced and sang, while others slid out of their seats for shelter.
“The rain didn’t stop us,” told US basketball star LeBron James, sporting a plastic poncho alongside the other American flag bearer, tennis player Coco Goff.
The combination of pre-recorded and live performances created some of the strangest scenes at the show: A pianist played with a stiff upper lip despite small puddles forming on his grand piano. The breakdancer performs his amazing moves on the same platform even though the platform is wet with rain. Some athletes wear colorful Bermuda-style shirts for the beach, not the floods.
Organizers said some aspects of the show had to be canceled due to slippery conditions due to the weather.
Still, with a global audience tuning in, Paris put its best foot forward – quite literally, with a spectacular Olympic opening that pumped up the excitement and spirited French Cancan dancers early on. The humorous short film features soccer icon Zinedine Zidane. French filled with blue, white and red smoke.
Lady Gaga sang a pre-recorded bit in French while dancers shook pink plumed pompoms to create a cabaret feel. Celine Dion performed at the opening ceremony of the 2024 Paris Olympics, her first live performance since her diagnosis of Stiff-Persons Syndrome in 2022.
More than three hours into the show, French President Emmanuel Macron announced the opening of the games. Earlier, the five-ringed Olympic flag was flown upside down at the Trocadero opposite the Eiffel Tower.
In some memorable moments, French-Malian pop star Aya Nakamura emerges from a pyrotechnic display at the All-Gold Outing to sing her hit “Djadja” with the Republican Guard Band.
Women celebrated, including 10 golden statues of female pioneers rising from large pedestals along the river. Among them was Olympe de Gouges, who fought a lot during the French Revolution, drafted the Declaration of the Rights of Women and Female Citizens in 1791 and campaigned for the abolition of slavery, and was hanged in 1793.
The Paris Games aim to be the first with an equal number of men and women competing.
It has to be said that the arrangements for this ceremony are much better than the previous Olympic celebrations because the Olympic ceremony is a wide event in the world and people come from all corners of the world, so they need transport and protection. It has to be said that there were no shortcomings in the arrangements this time.
Thousands of athletes on 85 boats began a 6-kilometer (nearly 4-mile) march across the Seine, breaking through the water curtains below the Austerlitz bridge. Jetting waters wink at the fountains of the Palace of Versailles, site of the Olympic equestrian competitions.
“Paris is great, the association with the Olympics and the publicity is terrible,” said Tony Gawne, a 54-year-old Texan who arrived six hours early with his wife.
He revealed that the ticket prices were a bit disappointing. That said, spending $6,000 for two tickets was disappointing.
But Paris has a lot of aces. The Eiffel Tower, its head visible under the clouds, the Notre Dame Cathedral – restored from the ashes of its 2019 fire – the Louvre Museum and other iconic monuments star in the celebration. Award-winning theater director Thomas Jolly, the show’s creative mind, used the signature Parisian cityscape of zinc-grey rooftops as a playground for his imagination.
His task: tell the glory of France, the history of its people and the story of the essence in a way that leaves an indelible impression on the Olympic audience. Refresh the image and confidence of the French capital, which has been hit repeatedly by deadly terrorist attacks in 2015. Capture how Paris rebooted the Olympics with AIIMS, making the Summer Games more engaging and sustainable with Striving.
This is a big question. So, Paris is big, very big. This also applies to security. Large, fenced areas of central Paris are locked to those without passes, and a no-fly zone for 150 kilometers (93 miles) around the skies during the ceremony.
During the athletes’ submarine adventure, they pass historical landmarks that have been temporarily transformed into venues for the Olympic Games.
Concorde Plaza, where French revolutionaries guillotined King Louis XVI and other royals, now hosts skateboarding and other sports. Napoleon Bonaparte’s golden-domed resting place, the backdrop for Olympic archery and the Eiffel Tower, which donated the iron pieces embedded in the gold, silver and bronze Olympic medals. They win 329 medal events in 32 sports.
The goal of Paris, said Tony Estanguet, the main Paris Games organizer, “is to show the whole world and all the French that, in this country, we can do extraordinary things.”
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