According to the organisers, the aim of the sequence was to highlight these women, some of whom are not well-known, and to ensure that their statues become an integral part of the French landscape. French mezzo-soprano Axelle Saint-Cirel, dressed in the colours of the French flag, sang La Marseillaise to accompany this surprise.

The emblematic figure of French rap appears as King for the ‘Sportivité’ painting. One of the most prominent opera stars of his generation, Jakub Józef Orliński, countertenor and breakdancer, performed an aria from Jean-Philippe Rameau’s opera ‘Les Indes Galantes’ at the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics.

With her angelic voice, she sang the aria ‘Viens Hymen’, which celebrated love and togetherness in an artistic tableau entitled ‘Sportiness’, featuring urban sports such as breakdancing, skateboarding and BMX. Major figures from French history (Kings Dagobert, Henri IV, Louis XIV, Napoleon and even the hero of the Second World War, General De Gaulle) performing unexpected tricks.

To celebrate in Parisian style, DJ Barbara Butch played a selection of the most famous French songs. There also was a fashion show featuring the creations of Kevin Germanie

One of the most moving moments was when singer Juliette Armanet performed John Lennon’s song ‘Imagine’, which became a hymn to peace. Set up on a barge on the Seine and accompanied by pianist Sofiane Pamart, the artist was far from her usual register.

From the Austerlitz Bridge, a horse carrying the Olympic flag and ridden by an all-metal rider glided down the river. Archival images of the Olympic and Paralympic Games were projected on the screens, as if to link the present to the past, but also to its future, with this futuristic metallic silhouette that defies the law of gravity.

The Paris 2024 Opening Ceremony  began at the Stade de France with the screening of a film starring local comedian Jamel Debbouze and former footballer Zinedine Zidane, and ten minutes later the boat carrying the Greek delegation began the traditional parade of athletes.

An impressive wall of water in the shape of the French flag opened up under the Pont d’Austerlitz to clear the way for the boat, the first of 85 that would carry the 6,500 or so parade participants to the Trocadero. Unfortunately, the rain dampened the spectacle and lightened the crowds, which was watched by 320,000 people on the banks of the Seine.

The opening musical spectacle was a performance by American pop queen Lady Gaga, who sang the emblematic French music hall song “Mon truc en plumes” by Zizi Jeanmaire, who died in 2020 and was one of the voices of a brazen and uninhibited Paris.

At the edge of the quays, several performers waved flags, all dressed in pink. ‘La vie en rose’ was the chic image of this ceremony. The masked Olympic torchbearer crossed the Seine on a cable car, just after the wild choreography of the dancers of the legendary Moulin Rouge.

A mix of live performance along the Seine and filmed images, the show was a succession of twelve scenes that follow the journey of a mysterious masked flamethrower on a zip-line across the rooftops and bridges of Paris.

Paris’ Notre Dame Cathedral, badly damaged by fire in 2019, was honoured in one of the choreographed sequences of the Olympic opening ceremony. Performers in construction uniforms danced on the scaffolding of the cathedral, which is due to reopen on 8 December after years of work.

In an early afternoon clip, Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa had disappeared, a reference to the ‘robbery of the century’ of 21 August 1911. But it reappeared in a sequence featuring the Minions, an animated film directed by Kyle Balda and Pierre Coffin. It is the meeting of two French artistic worlds.

From Olympe de Gouges to Simone Veil, via Gisèle Halimi, ten statues paying tribute to French women pioneers in their respective fields emerged from the Seine on Friday.

Paris ushered in the 2024 Games Friday with a spectacular opening ceremony on the banks of the Seine, which was eventually flooded by rain. The event was an eclectic mix of art, sport and culture, creating an unforgettable spectacle that overcame unprecedented logistical and security challenges.

The Opening Ceremony of the Paris Olympic Games, between the Pont d’Austerlitz and the Pont d’Iéna, had a unique format, with the French state betting heavily on the organisers and the IOC to promote gender equality and start these Olympics with a bang. A total of twenty artists took to the stage for a magnificent show lasting over four hours.

The Paris 2024 Opening Ceremony was the first in Olympic history to be held outside a stadium, with the River Seine becoming an unprecedented stage for the global sporting event watched by more than a billion people. The long-awaited moment came after a hectic day that began with rain and sabotage on the French rail network.

The fast-moving and multi-location ceremony masterminded by acclaimed French theatre director Thomas Jolly was aimed at impressing the global TV audience as much as those who braved the weather and intense security to watch live. The first-ever opening ceremony held outside a stadium — on the River Seine — had to battle pouring rain that cast a pallid gloom over the City of Light.

The 12 different phases of the ceremony told the story of a country rich in its “diversity”, “inclusive”, “not one France but several Frances”, and celebrating “the whole world united”. Jolly was backed by a writing team including famed novelist Leila Slimani and screenwriter Fanny Herrero, who penned the smash-hit casting agency comedy “Dix pour cent” (“Call My Agent).