The whole world had eyes only for Paris this Friday, July 26, for the kickoff of the 2024 Olympic Games. At least a billion people, and 22 million in France, were in front of their screens to follow a ceremony that, according to foreign newspapers, kept its promises. “One thing is certain: this opening spectacle of the Olympic Games is one for eternity. For nearly four hours, Paris (offered) everything it takes to make this evening an unforgettable moment,” we read in the German daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.
With its parade on the Seine and its many tableaux mixing theatre, dance and music, the ceremony celebrated the city of Paris, its history and its art of living. Enough to convince the Chinese newspaper China Dailyfor whom Paris has succeeded in opening these Games “in a singularly romantic way” and “certainly in the most Parisian way”: by transforming the Seine into an open-air theatre. This “superproduction along the Seine”, to use the words of the Sports Gazette Italian, is all the more impressive as it required “extraordinary” security measures, which worried the same foreign press in recent days.
The crazy, sometimes kitsch aspect of the sequences that followed one another on the banks of the Parisian river, aroused the admiration of many media. “It was wet, some parts were bizarre, most were beautiful and the whole thing was really, really memorable”, summarizes the American television channel CNN. The BBC, which must have had in mind the incredible spectacle of the London 2012 Olympics, also judged the show “often brilliantly frenetic and, at other times, moving”. It did note, however, the “bizarre” segue between the singer Lady Gaga’s cabaret number of “My Feather Thing” – a tribute to the famous revue star Zizi Jeanmaire – and the boat trip of the Bangladeshi athletes’ delegation.
The wettest ceremony in history
All the newspapers noted one thing: the torrential rain that fell on Paris during the evening. “Paris amazes the world under the deluge,” enthuses the Spanish daily The Countryspeaking of nothing less than the “most audacious ceremony in living memory.” If the raindrops dissuaded some from watching the spectacle on the banks of the Seine, They “did not prevent the delirium” of the spectators, notes the Argentinian newspaper Clarinwho also described the ceremony as “unforgettable” and “climaxing.” In the end, it was perhaps “the wettest opening ceremony in the history of the Olympic Games” of the modern era, jokes CNN, while acknowledging that the bad weather only “tried” to steal the spotlight from the artists and athletes.
The illumination of the capital’s most famous monuments captivated foreign media, particularly the “dazzling laser show that lit up the Eiffel Tower” and “did its best to pierce the leaden Parisian sky”, Write the Telegraph. For the Spiegelthe inclusion of our heritage in the ceremony “gave a glimpse of the ancient theatrical tradition of France, whose grandeur dates back to the court of Versailles”. And to assert: “Yes, truly: thinking big and showing one’s grandeur, our neighbors know how to do it”. The German newspaper notes, however, that “not everything was live.” and that “despite the large broadcast screens in the city, it was better to sit in front of the television to be able to completely abandon oneself to the illusions.”
A political ceremony
Given the political context, some have made the connection between this great spectacle and the result of the legislative elections in France, which have also been widely discussed around the world. “At a time of acute political confrontation that has left the country in a deadlock, the ceremony was an invitation to reflect again on the meaning of the nation and the possibility of reaching an agreement,” explains the New York Timesciting the controversial participation of singer Aya Nakamurathe most streamed French woman in the world, accompanied by the musicians of the Republican Guard.
For the Corriere della Sera“Paris staged before the world a softened, irenic, idealized version of its history. More Edith Piaf than Napoleon, more Venus than Mars, a black Marianne singing the Marseillaise…” A show that dusted off the genre to the point of blurring the boundaries. The Italian daily asks itself the question : was it a “contemporary art performance”? A “Gay Pride”, in reference to the drag queen show on the Debilly catwalk? A “fashion show”? The opening ceremony in any case showed a modern face of France, attached to diversity.
One vote was enough to bring everyone into agreement. “Recognizable among a thousand” from the first floor of the Eiffel Towersinging ‘L’Hymne à l’amour’ by Edith Piaf, “Celine Dion has put a grandiose end to an equally grandiose opening ceremony,” concludes the Swiss daily. The weather.