PARIS (AP) — Celebrating its reputation as the birthplace of revolution, Paris kicked off its first Summer Olympics in a century Friday with an extraordinary opening ceremony studded with stars and whimsy, showcasing the city’s resilience as authorities grappled with suspicions of acts of sabotage which targeted the French high-speed rail network.
Widespread travel disruption caused by what French authorities described as coordinated arson attacks on high-speed rail lines and rain in Paris dampened the mood ahead of the ceremony.
But the spectacular start of the show at 7:30 p.m. lifted the spirits of spectators around the world. A humorous short film featured football icon Zinedine Zidane. Plumes of blue, white and red smoke followed. And Lady Gaga sang, in French, with dancers waving pink feathered pompoms, adding a touch of cabaret to the start of what is expected to be a show lasting more than three hours.
Crowds packed the Seine and watched from balconies as Olympic teams paraded in boats along the waterway, oohing and aahing.
The stakes for France were immense. Dozens of heads of state and government were present and the whole world watched as Paris was transformed into a gigantic open-air theatre.
The Parisian ceremony took place along the Seine, transforming the city’s iconic monuments into stages for dancers, singers and other performers.
The rains that soaked spectators and athletes and the chaos in Parisian train stations have highlighted the risks of Paris’ bold choices. The sprawling ceremony gave organizers more people to transport, organize and protect than if they had followed the example of previous Olympic host cities, which opened with stadium shows.
Yet as the show began, optimism was soaring: Paris, true to its motto of being unsinkable, might just win its bet.
While overnight rains predicted by the national weather service Météo France are unlikely to delay the ceremony and many of the planned surprises, Parisian organizers were keeping their fingers crossed for clear skies to help them showcase the city and its iconic landmarks.
The rainy weather could make the ceremony more tiring for the thousands of Olympic athletes parading on boats on the Seine and the hundreds of thousands of spectators on its banks and bridges, far more numerous than could have been accommodated in France’s national stadium.
Paris organisers said they expect 6,800 of the 10,500 athletes to be present before the next 16 days of competition.
“Of course, when we organize an open-air show, we favor good weather,” explained the chief organizer of the Paris Games, Tony Estanguet, on France Inter.
But the ceremony “was designed to take place in the rain,” he said.
“It might be a little different,” he added. “We’ll adapt.”
Some spectators who followed the organizers’ advice to arrive well in advance along the ceremony route were furious at the long waits to get to their seats.
“Paris was great, everything about the Olympics and the information was horrible,” said Tony Gawne, a 54-year-old Texan who arrived six hours early with his wife.
“When you spend $6,000 for two tickets, it’s a little frustrating.”
But Paris has many aces up its sleeve. The Eiffel Tower, whose head is still visible under the clouds, Notre-Dame Cathedral, restored from the ashes of This is the fire of 2019 — the Louvre Museum and other iconic landmarks will be the stars of the opening ceremony. The award-winning theater director Thomas JollyThe creative mind behind the series used the distinctive Parisian cityscape of zinc-grey rooftops as a playground for his imagination.
His task: to tell the story of France, its people, its history and essence in a way that leaves an indelible mark on the Olympic public. Refreshing the image and self-confidence of the French capital that was repeatedly hit by deadly extremist attacks in 2015. Find out how Paris also aims to revive the Olympic Games, with the Summer Games, it has tried to make them more attractive and sustainable.
This is a big request. Paris therefore sees things on a grand scale, very grandly. This also applies to security.Large fenced-off areas of central Paris are off-limits to people without passes and the skies will be closed to flying within a 150-kilometre (93-mile) radius during the ceremony.
Many details of the show, which will last until sunset and into the Parisian night, are being kept under wraps to preserve the “wow” effect. Lady Gaga was spotted before the show, singing to warm up. She raised her hand and waved. French media have also mentioned Celine Dion and French stars among the thousands of artists who could perform.
Jolly was also recently filmed watching French Air Force planes practice drawing a heart shape in the Paris sky with trails of colored smoke.
Football icon Zinedine Zidane, who led France to ecstasy at the 1998 World Cup, is among the names who could light the Olympic cauldron. Another possibility is that organizers could bestow the honor on survivors of the 2015 attacks by Islamic State group gunmen and suicide bombers that killed 130 people in and around Paris.
The identity of the final torchbearers is the country’s biggest secret. Estanguet said Friday morning that he was the only one who knew “the personality of the athlete” and that he had still not revealed the identity of this person.
“I plan to notify the last carrier today,” he said. “He or she doesn’t know.”
The broad outlines of the ceremony have been announced previously and are astonishing in their ambition. French President Emmanuel Macron They said that at first it seemed like “a crazy idea and not very serious.”
The athletes will parade on boats along a 6-kilometre east-west course along the Seine, followed by 320,000 paying ticket holders and guests, as well as many spectators from balconies and windows.
During their aquatic adventure, the athletes will discover the splendors of Paris. They will pass in front of historic sites temporarily transformed into arenas for Olympic sports.
The Place de la Concorde, where French revolutionaries guillotined King Louis XVI and other members of the royal family, now hosts skateboarding and other sports competitions, and the iron, stone and glass Grand Palais is a venue for fencing and taekwondo.
The golden-domed resting place of Napoleon Bonaparte, the backdrop for Olympic archery, and the Eiffel Tower, which donated pieces of iron that were embedded in the Olympic gold, silver and bronze medals. They will be won in the 329 events of these 32 sports.
Up to 45,000 police officers and gendarmes, plus 10,000 soldierswill ensure the security of the ceremony and its VIP guests, under the presidency of IOC President Thomas Bach and Macron.
The goal of Paris, Estanguet said, is to “show the whole world and all French people that in this country we are capable of exceptional things.”
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AP journalists Megan Janetsky and Jerome Pugmire contributed to this report.