Paris Olympics on channels 26.7.–11.8. Go to the competition website here. You can find the entire program of the games here.
International artists, dance, music, history, craft traditions, a fashion show by young French designers, floating stages in the water, a flaming grand piano – and pouring rain.
Among other things, the opening of the Paris Olympics, which was celebrated in the French capital on Friday evening for about four hours, was made about these issues.
You could also hear Finnish music at the opening, when the dancers put their feet up like a Korean Daruden or Ville Virtanen To the tune of Sandstorm.
Conductor Klaus Mäkelä led the opening orchestra, which featured a 16-year-old Fredrika Mikkola, who studies violin at the Paris Conservatoire. Finnish member of the International Olympic Committee Sari Essayah glowed on his X-account the atmosphere along the Seine, when Mäkelä led the orchestra that played the Olympic anthem.
The opening ceremony of this year’s games was significantly different from the usual way of opening the five ring games, as the event was held outside the stadium for the first time in the history of the Olympics. The surroundings of the Seine river served as the opening scene in the darkening evening of Paris.
The athletes traveled about six kilometers to the Eiffel Tower on boats along the river. The Greek team was the first in the athletes’ parade.
The Refugee Olympic team traveled after Greece. From then on, the teams arrived in French alphabetical order, starting with the Afghan team.
Lady Gaga was the first performer
Between the parades, you could see visuals built around different themes, which consisted of music, dance and video inserts, among other things. At the same time, the Olympic torch made its way towards the rooftops of the city along the Trocadéro square.
American singer-songwriter Lady Gaga, real name Stefani Joanne Angelina Germadottatook over the stage built on Seine’s beach with an energetic, pink-feathered show that reminded me of the legendary Moulin Rouge cabaret in Paris.
The rain tormented the athletes and the audience
As expected based on the weather forecast, the opening ceremony was held in very rainy weather.
It rained non-stop in Paris for more than two hours, which forced, for example, the President of the Republic of Finland by Alexander Stubb and the president of the International Football Association Fifa Gianni Infantino to adapt to the equipment required by the weather.
Craftsmanship and animated characters
In one of their illustrations, the competition hosts highlighted French craftsmanship. In the video insert, among other things, I renovated the Notre-Dame Cathedral, which was badly damaged by fire five years ago.
The show also featured the production of Olympic medals and their transportation in the briefcases of the French luxury brand Louis Vuitton. A total of 5,084 medals have been produced for these Games, each with a piece of the Eiffel Tower.
During the evening, attention was also paid to the French Kätyrit animation characters, whose tricks this time also included the Mona Lisa painting.
Finns greet happily
The Finns advanced along the Seine in the same boat together with athletes from Ethiopia and Fiji. As already known in advance, the Finnish flag was carried by sailors Sinem Kurtbay and a skeet shooter Eetu Kallioinen.
Despite the rainy weather, the Finnish athletes smiled widely as they greeted the spectators from the boat.
When the Finnish team was introduced, there were hardly any raincoats on the Finnish athletes. Later it was seen that the Finns had put on rain gear over their outfits made of windbreaker fabric as the parade progressed.
Metal band Gojira and Aya Nakamura performed
French history was present at the opening. One of the descriptions began with the familiar Do you hear the people sing? from the movie Les Misérables about the French Revolution. – song.
After that, heavier music was heard at the opening, when the French metal band Gojira, who also performed in Finland, took over the stage with an opera singer By Marina Viotti with.
Also one of France’s most popular pop singers at the moment, Aya Nakamura performed during the evening. Both she and her backup dancer were dressed in all-gold outfits.
You could also hear Finnish music at the opening, when the dancers put their feet up like a Korean Daruden or Ville Virtanen To the tune of Sandstorm.
The iron horse carried the Olympic flag on water
One of the most spectacular moments at the opening was the passage of an iron horse and rider along the river in the dark evening.
The Olympic flame passed
A football legend in Trocadéro square Zinedine Zidane handed out the Olympic flame by the tennis star For Rafael Nadalwho set out to take it towards the Louvre as a tennis player Serena Williamsa sprinter by Carl Lewis and a gymnast by Nadia Comaneci with.
The Olympic flame was lit
Although the opening ceremony was extraordinary in terms of implementation, the opening ceremony culminated in the traditional way with the lighting of the Olympic flame.
Three-time Olympic champions, sprinter Marie José Perec and judoka Teddy Riner had the honor of lighting the Olympic flame. After lighting, the fire was raised in a hot air balloon and the balloon was lifted into the air, from where it is supposed to be visible to all of Paris.
The people who ignited the Olympic flame were such a closely guarded secret that even they themselves were said to have heard about their honorable mission only on the morning of the opening day.
The opening ended with a performance by Céline Dion
When the Olympic flame had risen over Paris, at the end of the opening ceremony Celine Dion interpreted Edit Piaf of the song L’Hymne à l’amour about the Eiffel Tower.
What made his performance even more special than usual is that the singer has not performed since December 2022, when he had to stop his world tour due to health problems.