The 2024 Summer Olympics Opening Ceremony took place along the River Seine. See how you can keep up with our Filipino athletes below.
Around 6,800 athletes from 205 delegations cruised along the River Seine during the Paris Olympics’ Opening Ceremony.
The event was a spectacle taking over the whole city, as performers appeared both by the riverside and floating on the water, on bridges, on the street, and even on the rooftops.
Here are some of the key highlights from the Opening Ceremony.
READ ALSO: National Pride: Get To Know The Filipino Athletes Headed To The Paris Olympics
Setting The Stage
In a unique take on the Opening Ceremony, headed by artistic director Thomas Jolly, this year’s event took place along a river instead of inside a single stadium.
This allowed over 300,000 spectators to view the floating parade, with around 3,000 artists taking part in the show despite the rain.
According to the organizers, 80 giant screens were also set up around Paris to serve as remote viewing locations.
The athletes arrived on the river in a parade of 85 boats of varying sizes. They jumped, cheered, and waved to spectators even in the pouring rain.
Superstar Performers
Lady Gaga kicked off the event with her rendition of Zizi Jeanmaire’s “Mon Truc En Plumes.” Descending down the steps along the Seine, the singer also danced with a chorus line and played the piano.
On Instagram, Lady Gaga paid tribute to Jeanmaire and French culture. “Although I am not a French artist, I have always felt a very special connection with French people and singing French music,” she wrote.
“I wanted nothing more than to create a performance that would warm the heart of France, celebrate French art and music, and on such a momentous occasion remind everyone of one of the most magical cities on earth—Paris.”
French-Malian pop star Aya Nakamura, one of France’s most popular contemporary artists, performed a mashup of her songs “Pookie” and “Djadja.” The singer went for gold from head to toe, sporting platinum blonde hair, a metallic minidress, and gladiator sandals.
Then, in a highly anticipated comeback, Céline Dion closed out the ceremony. The singer performed “L’Hymne à l’amour” by the French singer Édith Piaf from the base of the Eiffel Tower. Dion has been openly dealing with stiff-person syndrome, which affects her ability to control her vocal cords.
“I’m honored to have performed tonight, for the Paris 2024 Opening Ceremony, and so full of joy to be back in one of my very favorite cities,” she wrote on Instagram.
“Most of all, I’m so happy to be celebrating these amazing athletes, with all their stories of sacrifice and determination, pain and perseverance. All of you have been so focused on your dream, and whether or not you take home a medal, I hope that being here means that it has come true for you!”
Celebrating French Culture
As the Opening Ceremony showed off the city of Paris, much of French culture was on display. From the aerial views of popular landmarks to a tour of the Louvre’s masterpieces, the event was an homage to the City of Light.
In an amusing section of the event, Paris-based animation studio Illumination’s Minions characters were seen with the Mona Lisa. Earlier in the show, the painting was notably missing from the Louvre.
The bright yellow characters were in a submarine under the Seine, making nods to French writer Jules Verne’s Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas and Georges Méliès’ short film A Trip to the Moon.
A wide range of French music was also featured, from a rousing performance of “Do You Hear the People Sing?” from Les Misérables to heavy metal band Gojira collaborating with opera singer Marina Viotti.
As a city known for a multitude of fashion brands, of course this was going to be a stylish affair. The Olympics itself has partnered with LVMH, with its labels having a hand in designing the medals, the French athletes’ uniforms, and the performers’ costumes—including Lady Gaga, Nakamura, and Dion.
Independent Paris-based designers such as Jeanne Friot, Charles de Vilmorin, Victor Weinsanto, Alphonse Maitrepierre, and Kevin Germanier were also featured at the event. They dressed performers scattered across popular landmarks and models who walked on a runway on the Passerelle Debilly.
Liberté, Egalité, Sororité
In a segment of the show, the ceremony paid tribute to influential French women throughout history. Ten gold-colored statues rose up from their podiums on the Seine as opera singer Axelle Saint-Cirel sang France’s national anthem “La Marseillaise.”
The first statue was of Olympe de Gouges, a French playwright and activist who wrote the Declaration of the Rights of Woman and of the Female Citizen in 1791.
The other important figures were Simone de Beauvoir (philosopher and writer), Gisèle Halimi (lawyer and activist), Paulette Nardal (writer), Jeanne Barret (explorer and botanist), Christine de Pizan (writer), Louise Michel (feminist activist), Alice Guy (movie director and producer), Alice Milliat (organizer of the first Women’s World Games), and Simone Veil (politician and magistrate).
Let The Games Begin!
The final leg of the Olympic torch relay involved football star Zinedine Zidane, tennis champions Rafael Nadal and Serena Williams, track star Carl Lewis, and gymnast Nadia Comaneci.
When it reached land, tennis player Amelie Mauresmo and NBA player Tony Parker carried the torch towards the Louvre. The torch passed over a dozen more French athletes and para-athletes before reaching the cauldron.
Charles Coste, the oldest French Olympic champion at 100, handed the torch to judoka Teddy Riner and sprinter Marie-José Pérec. Together, they lit the Olympic cauldron attached to a giant balloon, which then floated up into the night sky.
The balloon took off from the Tuileries Garden in the heart of the Louvre estate. In 1783, this was where the first flight of a hydrogen-filled gas balloon took place.
French President Emmanuel Macron then declared the Paris Games open. French flag bearers Florent Manaudou and Mélina Robert-Michon took the Olympic Oath on behalf of all the athletes taking part in the Games.
Keep Up With The Philippines’ Olympic Team
The Philippines has 22 athletes representing the country at the Paris Olympics. To keep up with their individual competitions, here is the schedule of their events in Philippine time.
July 27
4:12PM – Joanie Delgaco (Rowing, Women’s Single Sculls)
9:30PM – Carlos Yulo (Artistic Gymnastics, Men’s Qualification)
July 28
3:30PM – Samantha Catantan (Fencing, Women’s Individual Foil)
8:50PM – Aleah Finnegan, Emma Malabuyo, Levi Ruivivar (Artistic Gymnastics, Women’s Qualification)
July 29
3:20AM – Aira Villegas (Boxing, Women’s 50kg Preliminaries, Round of 32)
July 30
4:00PM – Kiyomi Watanabe (Judo, Women’s 63kg Elimination, Round of 32)
5:00PM – Kayla Sanchez (Swimming, Women’s 100m Freestyle)
11:54PM – Nesthy Petecio (Boxing, Women’s 57kg Preliminaries, Round of 32)
July 31
3:04AM – Eumir Marcial (Boxing, Men’s 80kg Preliminaries, Round of 16)
6:04PM – Hergie Bacyadan (Boxing, Women’s 75kg Preliminaries, Round of 16)
9:30PM – Carlo Paalam (Boxing, Men’s 57kg Preliminaries, Round of 16)
August 2
5:00PM – Jarod Hatch (Swimming, Men’s 100m Butterfly)
August 3
4:10PM – EJ Obiena (Athletics, Men’s Pole Vault Qualification Round)
August 4
5:50PM – John Cabang (Athletics, Men’s 110m Hurdles)
6:35PM – Lauren Hoffman (Athletics, Women’s 400m Hurdles)
August 7
3:00PM – Bianca Pagdanganan, Dottie Ardina (Golf, Women’s Individual, Round 1)
9:00PM – John Ceniza (Weightlifting, Men’s 61kg)
August 8
9:00PM – Elreen Ando (Weightlifting, Women’s 59kg)
August 10
1:30AM – Vanessa Sarno (Weightlifting, Women’s 71kg)
Banner image via Instagram @olympics.
