Paris 2024 has many highlights to recommend: a stunning backdrop; a star-studded commentary line-up, including Alex Cooper and Snoop Dogg; and competitors like Simone Biles, Sha’Carri Richardson, Katie Ledecky and Coco Gauff, making the world The audience was excited.
So it was only natural that the Olympics would open in spectacular fashion. French theater director Thomas Jolly directed an unprecedented opening ceremony that unfolded along the Seine, bringing together top performers to grace the entire route; and for the first time in history, it was not held in the official Olympic Stadium. Welcome ceremony.
Paris 2024 Opening Ceremony: The Parade Begins
After a lengthy prelude that showed famed French football coach and former player Zinedine Zidane, also known as Zizou, carrying the Olympic torch from the Stade de France to the Seine, the official ceremony began with a bang. An explosion of blue, white and red on the Austerlitz Bridge, followed by a (water) parade of delegations, headed by the Greek delegation, as is customary.
Paris 2024 Opening Ceremony: Lady Gaga turns the Seine into cabaret
“Bonsoir, bienvenue en Paris!” Lady Gaga kicked off her prestigious performance at the opening ceremony with a delightful rendition of Zizi Jeanmaire’s classic song “Mon Truc En Plume.” She was surrounded by dancers waving flamingo pink balls and wore Dior haute couture.
2024 Paris Olympics Opening Ceremony: A fusion of drama and heavy metal music
Jolly’s opening ceremony integrated various performing arts, combining French classics “Phantom of the Opera”, “Les Misérables”, Georges Bizet’s “Carmen” with the French heavy metal band Gojira, at the Conciergerie in Paris. It brought a stunning performance, which cleverly integrated the history of Queen Marie Antoinette who was guillotined during the French Revolution in an eye-catching musical form. Later, in another highlight of Paris’ cultural diversity, rapper Rim’K performed his song “King” wearing a Louis Vuitton checkerboard coat.
The vibrant world of dance is also on display: while modern dancers dance around Notre Dame, stuntmen fly above the Pont Neuf, and Guillaume Diop, the first black principal dancer of the Paris Opera, performs a lyrical solo.
Paris 2024 Opening Ceremony: Aya Nakamura dominates Place de la Concorde Bridge
French pop superstar Aya Nakamura passionately sang her 2018 hit singles “Pookie” and “Djadja” in a feathery gold Dior Haute Couture minidress, accompanied by the French Republican Guard Orchestra, with an 80s rendition Two songs, “For Me Formidable” and “La Bohème” by French singer Charles Aznavour. She was accompanied by a group of dancers, also wearing Dior, and 36 chorus members from the French Army who completed the performance.
By the way, the Pont des Arts (Pont des Arts), which serves as a performance stage, is a bridge connecting the French Academy and the Louvre Museum, symbolizing the bridge connecting the academic world and the art world.
2024 Paris Olympics Opening Ceremony: “Water Play” in the Rain
French pianist Alexandre Kantorow performed one of Ravel’s most famous piano pieces, “The Playfulness of Water” in the rain in Paris. It was a wonderful performance.
Paris 2024 Opening Ceremony: Axelle Saint-Cirel sings on the roof of the Grand Palais
2024 Paris Olympics Opening Ceremony: Fashion Show!
Farida Khelfa, Ines Rau and drag queen Nicky Doll turned a pedestrian bridge over the Seine into their catwalk as part of a ceremony inspired by the fashion industry’s deep roots in the French capital.
Paris 2024 Olympics Opening Ceremony: Moving performance of “Imagine”
Continuing the charming tradition of the Olympic Games, French singer and composer Juliette Armanet sang the classic ballad of John Lennon and his wife Yoko Ono on a boat on the Seine, accompanied by Sofian Pamart on a flaming piano. It brings out the hope that the world can let go of hatred and division and regain peace.
Paris 2024 Opening Ceremony: Scenes from the Trocadéro… and then the Tuileries Gardens
After a glowing mechanical horse flies across the Seine carrying the Olympic flag – and splices images and films from past Olympics into a moving highlight reel representing the achievements of athletes from around the world – a mysterious caped knight emerges. As they solemnly walked down Trocadéro Square in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower, the Olympic anthem sounded.
Subsequently, after speeches by Paris 2024 Organizing Committee President Tony Estanguet and International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach, the “King of Clay” Rafael Nadal, Carl Lewis, Nadia Comăneci and Serena Williams boarded a ship carrying the Olympic torch. Go in the opposite direction. Where are they going? Meet tennis legend Amélie Mauresmo, who, after running to the Louvre, passed the torch to a series of athletes, including former basketball player Tony Parker, former handball players Michaël Guigou and Allison Pineau, and 100-year-old former cyclist Charles Coste.
2024 Paris Olympics Opening Ceremony: Céline Dion Celine Dion performs on the Eiffel Tower
Wearing a sparkling Dior Haute Couture gown, Dion – who you may remember from her performance of “The Power of the Dream” at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics – performed the much-anticipated rendition of Edith Piaf’s 1950s hit “Hymne à L’Amour”. Her performance was a soulful conclusion to an unforgettable opening ceremony.
