Paris Olympics Opening Ceremony: The Best and Most Bizarre Parts

The opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics 2024 began with an assortment of all things French, from Les Misérables to the can-can, and it ended with the raising of an upside-down, sodden Olympic banner.

According to the Independent, the five colored rings of the emblem were “in the wrong positions and had been hoisted incorrectly.” Footage on social media shows the blunder in action.

All was not lost, however. Artistic director of the event, Thomas Jolly, fit in performances from Juliette Armane, a mic-troubled Lady Gaga and Céline Dion, who ended the ceremony with Edith Piaf’s “L’Hymne à l’Amour;” her first performance since 2019, after being diagnosed with Stiff Person Syndrome.

Scenes from the French Revolution and the 1924 Paris Olympics were spliced together with Minions and memorable moments from Olympic history as the 7,000 athletes from 205 countries made their way down the Seine.

Drag performers and models vogued down a mock runway together as a decapitated Marie Antoinette sang along to the French metal band, Gorjira.

A typo on the official French broadcaster of the games, France Télévisions, went viral after it spelled former Vogue editor Anna Wintour’s name “Annal,” according to Out.com.

The reaction online

The lead-up

Organizers of the Paris Olympics made history with the first opening ceremony held outside the main arena.

Instead of being an indoor spectacular, the event took place along the river Seine as 10,000 athletes traveled on 100 boats almost four miles from the Austerlitz Bridge, past the iconic Notre-Dame de Paris Cathedral, and arrived near the Eiffel Tower.

As tradition states, Greece led the parade, with the French delegation the last team announced. Other countries arrived in alphabetical order, except for the United States and Australia, which are set to host the Games in 2028 and 2032, respectively.

A TV audience of more than 1 billion people watched as the 206 delegations traveled in boats along the Seine.

Details of the show were kept under wraps but big names including Céline Dion and Lady Gaga were rumored to be performing, while rapper Snoop Dogg was one of 30 torch carriers. However, the identity of the person set to light the Olympic Cauldron was a closely guarded secret. In the end, the honor went to the distinguished French Olympians Marie-José Pérec and Teddy Riner, who were the last recipients of the torch after it passed through the hands of soccer player Zinedine Zidane, tennis player Rafael Nadal, former NBA star Tony Parker, and Charles Coste, France’s oldest living Olympian.

The attack Friday on France’s high-speed train lines by multiple “malicious” acts, including arson, on Friday had given organizers extra concerns about the opening ceremony.

France deployed around 35,000 police each day during the Games, with 45,000 expected to be working for the opening ceremony, a spokesperson at the French Interior Ministry told CNN. France also deployed 10,000 soldiers in the Paris region, supported by 1,800 police officers from around the world.

Organizers were able to avoid another last-minute crisis for the opening ceremony when the SFA-CGT union representing hundreds of dancers performing at the event reached a deal that would give the lowest-paid dancers between $150 and $260 extra, AFP reported.

France will be hopeful that its bold decision to undertake the first outdoor ceremony will make it one of the most memorable opening ceremonies of the Olympics Games—like the 2008 Beijing Olympics, which is generally considered to be the most spectacular in history.

Another memorable opener was the 2012 London ceremony, overseen by Trainspotting director Danny Boyle. Who can forget Daniel Craig’s James Bond calling in at Buckingham Palace to accompany Queen Elizabeth II before the royal appeared to parachute into the stadium? And at the Barcelona 1992 opening ceremony, Spanish Paralympian Antonio Rebello launched a flaming arrow 230 feet into the air to light the cauldron.

Jolly said viewers will experience France’s multifaceted cultures. “France is Edith Piaf… it’s also opera, it’s rap, it’s a whole range of musical styles,” the 42-year-old told AFP. “The idea is not to project a fixed identity.”