The opening ceremony of the Paris Olympic Games began Friday evening on the Seine, with an unprecedented nautical parade preceded by tense hours of rain and sabotage of the French railway network.
This is the first time that a Games opening ceremony has taken place outside an Olympic stadium. An extraordinary gamble, logistically, artistically and in terms of security, for the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and for France, which has been waiting a century to organize the Summer Games.
This challenge will have to be met with an unwelcome guest: the rain, which is expected to intensify in the second part of the evening, when night falls on the river procession.
The show began with a short film showing comedian Jamel Debbouze entering the empty Stade de France with a torch in hand before passing it to French icon Zinedine Zidane. The former no 10 of the Blues embarks on a race that takes him into the metro, the catacombs to pass the torch to a trio of children. They reappear in the flesh in a boat on the Seine.
A mixture of live entertainment along the Seine and broadcast images, the show begins in parallel with the parade of delegations.
It traces the journey of a mysterious masked flame-bearer across the rooftops and bridges of Paris, on a zip line, in Notre-Dame, and in artisans’ workshops.
Magical travel
From the Pont d’Austerlitz to the Trocadéro, an announced figure of 6,800 athletes from 205 delegations, embarked on 85 boats, must now descend the river during an unprecedented parade, during a ceremony lasting nearly four hours, a prelude to two weeks of competitions until August 11.
Greece, the country of ancient Olympism, opened the parade which will be closed, as is traditional, by the delegation of the host country, in front of 320,000 spectators who were expected on the quays and bridges of Paris.
Between the two, on their countries’ boats, Americans Sha’carri Richardson and Simone Biles, Serbian Novak Djokovic and Swede Mondo Duplantis have the opportunity to enjoy a six-kilometer journey, at the foot of the most emblematic monuments of the City of Light: Notre-Dame and its spire restored after the 2019 fire, the Louvre, the Tuileries, the Concorde, the Grand-Palais and then the Eiffel Tower.
Sites which will also host events from Saturday, judo, beach volleyball, archery…
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The director, Thomas Jolly, who has been working on the subject for 18 months, had to pull off a feat: to include in this odyssey all the Olympic rituals, right down to the lighting of the cauldron, including the proclamation of the opening of the Games by Emmanuel Macron shortly after 10:30 p.m.
Called Ça ira, the show will offer twelve tableaux, animated by around 2000 artists – actors, dancers, jugglers, musicians – who will celebrate the history of France, its culture, but also universalism and diversity.
Parade of stars
American Lady Gaga, who covered a standard by Zizi Jeanmaire, a music hall star and embodiment of 1950s Paris, opened the parade of stars who will take part in this show.
A surprising association followed: Gojira, a French metal band with an international aura, teamed up with the Franco-Swiss opera singer Marina Viotti to perform Ah! It will be fineFrench revolutionary song.
The Franco-Malian Aya Nakamura, the most listened to French-speaking singer in the world, followed with a standard by Charles Aznavour, For me Formidablefollowed by a medley with two of his hits Pookie And Djadja.
Quebecer Celine Dion could follow, according to the predictions.
Ultra-secure Paris
For several days, the hypercentre of Paris has been closed off, accessible only to those with their sesame, accreditation or QR code. Admitted with an umbrella if they wished, provided that it was retractable or foldable for security reasons, the spectators had all entered the perimeter before 8:00 p.m., according to the police headquarters.
Armelle Lanci, 54, a school principal who arrived early and slipped a parka into her bag, is happy to be there: “There’s a great atmosphere, you can hear all the languages being spoken, it’s great,” she says.
A tourist couple from Mexico City got two front-row seats on the Carousel Bridge. “We’re privileged,” says Selene Martinez, 42, alongside her partner Israel Tejada.
Around a hundred dignitaries, including 85 heads of state and government, welcomed in the afternoon at the Élysée, are present, some of whom will face the elements due to the lack of coverage of the entire official tribune.
Never before have so many law enforcement forces been mobilized, with 45,000 police officers and gendarmes, and 10,000 soldiers.
While local residents watched the parade from their balconies, 100,000 spectators paid for their tickets, at prices of up to 2,700 euros; around 220,000 were invited to take a seat on the upper quays of the river. Provided they had not given up, discouraged by the weather forecast or the railway chaos.
During the night from Thursday to Friday, network infrastructure was indeed the target of damage in several regions, including arson attacks. “A massive attack to paralyze the network,” according to the SNCF. Among the 800,000 passengers affected according to the SNCF, the British Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, had to change his plans and flew to Paris. The perpetrators and sponsors of this attack are not known at this time.
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