Paris won the bet from day one. Yes, it was a prototype opening ceremony The Olympic Games are completely different from what we are used to until now. A large stadium with thousands of people, national teams to parade and any event to complete the scene.
One city, one stadium
Paris dared to expose herself. Make the whole city a stage. Obviously, there were also flaws in the organization, some weak choices, while the event had a belly in places. In addition, the rain that continued did not help. But such things happen when you undertake such a large project, when you make a large part of the city part of the scenery that you have prepared. As an idea, though, it was great.
You get to the heart of the Seine, which, despite being dirty the rest of the time, remains the central artery of the city that gives it life. You use the trademark bateaux mouches on the river and complete the missions of all the teams.
At the same time, on its banks, always full of people because Parisians love the Seine every day and every hour – they did not wait for the Games to enjoy it – world events are happening. And you see how Lady Gaga from Paris in the 50s does her show, and on the other hand, his ballets remind you of the cabaret era, the black era, absinthe drinking, Art, the same life.
Parkour and Notre Dame
And while this is happening, a masked torchbearer is parked on the rooftops of Paris like another Phantom of the Opera from the imagination of Gaston Leroux, while the stunning ingenuity of the organizers is that they use the construction site of Notre Dame in synchronicity and combine the past with the present , against the background of the reconstruction of the scaffolding of the mythical – for the history of the city, but also of the country – temple.
Where is the head?
Paris included everything because it can. And a metal band performing the French Revolution song Ca Ira with the head of Marie Antoinette staring in amazement at her beheading, and Carmen Bizet. It also featured Masaliatide as interpreted by Axel Saint-Chille, as well as Aya Nakamura singing Charles Aznavour. And all this because nothing in life is one-sided.
In the same context, many were upset that one of Paris’s bridges became a fashion catwalk, forgetting that fashion and its presentations are the center of the city’s culture, as well as multiculturalism and diversity. Logically, Le Pen and her ilk around the world stepped up the pressure last night, but c’est la vie, as the French still say.
A laser show on the Eiffel Tower right before the appearance of Celine Dion singing Edith Piaf, a fiery balloon flying in the sky of the city were the icing on the cake, which intelligently presented the history of France and Parisian culture, avoiding chauvinistic stereotypes and kitsch solutions.
From there it’s all a matter of taste and obviously it’s legal to have people who did not like the ceremony. I mean the Greek microcosm of social media. It’s one thing, purely subjective, and quite another to constantly argue how unsurpassed the Athens 2004 ceremony was. In the second case, we resemble old men from The Muppet Show who live to complain – at least they do so intelligently and with humor – and in the worst case, some pro-lifers who shake their heads in disapproval at modern decay. And usually no one pays attention to them.