After years of waiting, training and preparing, the world’s most skilled athletes are off to the races with the 2024 Olympic Games after a spectacular Opening Ceremony on the Seine in Paris Friday (July 26).
The festivities began with each participating country’s athletes sailing in on boats in a parade down France’s famous river, and waving excitedly at fans gathered to watch, marking the first time in history that the Summer Games’ opening ceremony hasn’t taken place in a stadium. As they each filed in, hundreds of singers, dancers and instrumentalists simultaneously converged for a string of big-budget performances, undeterred by the pouring rain that fell on Paris throughout the four-hour showcase.
The opening event took place across multiple Parisian landmarks, divided into different symbolic chapters named after French terms such as “Synchronicité,” “Liberté” and “Egalité.” Through each display of music, lights and special effects, a mysterious hooded figure carried the Olympic torch on its way to the cauldron, the lighting of which at the end of the ceremony — following a monthslong relay that included Snoop Dogg, Pharrell Williams, BTS’ Jin and thousands more as torchbearers — signified the beginning of the two-week competition.
From show-stopping performances led by international superstars such as Lady Gaga, Celine Dion and Aya Nakamura to immersive artistic tributes to French culture and values, the 2024 Olympics were launched into motion with unprecedented levels of pizazz.
Keep reading to see Billboard‘s top moments from the Opening Ceremony, in order of appearance, below.
Following days of rumors that she’d be performing at the ceremony, Mother Monster showed up — and showed out. The superstar — at first concealed by fluffy pink pom poms — teased her presence by doing a saucy dance with only her legs visible. After the props cleared to show Gaga in all her glory, she dove into a pristine, highly choreographed number on a set of golden stairs, singing “Mon Truc en Plumes” by Zizi Jeanmaire entirely in French.
During the “Synchronicité” section, members of an orchestra played a gorgeous number while standing in the windows of a Parisian building. Dancers in metallic costumes splashed and danced along the Seine while footage showed how the gold, silver and bronze medals are plated, while others hung suspended in the air, tethered to a high-up structure, paying tribute to the craftspeople and builders who made the Games possible.
Though Gaga’s performance was hard to follow, the dozens of performers utilized in this section was a gorgeous display of unity and cohesion.
Move over, Olympic medals — here comes Olympic metal. The opening ceremony’s “Liberté” section began with a tribute to the French Revolution via a brief performance of Les Miserables‘ “Do You Hear the People Sing?” from Théâtre du Chatelet, followed by opera singer Marina Viotti and heavy metal band Gojira shocking crowds with a fiery showcase of “Ah, ça ira,” a famous song by French revolutionaries, in front of blasts of flames and dozens of Marie Antoinettes holding their own decapitated heads. The whole thing was just as hard core as the Olympians themselves.
French musician Aya Nakamura was a walking gold medal during her performance in the “Egalité” section, appearing in a shimmering dress of feathers alongside a troupe of dancers and the orchestra of the French Republican Guard. The singer nailed her track “Pookie, Djadja,” as well as Charles Aznavour’s “For Me Formidable” and “La Bohème” while using the Pont des Arts — a bridge linking the Institut de France to the Louvre Museum — as a catwalk.
Mezzo soprano Axelle Saint-Cirel delivered a stunning operatic performance of the French national anthem, or La Marseillaise, while standing on the roof of the Grand-Palais. She nailed each note of a rendition of the piece specially re-orchestrated by composer Victor le Masne for the event while dressed in a French flag-inspired gown by Dior, meanwhile the country’s flag was formally presented at the ceremony.
France took a moment to show off one of the things it does best — fashion — in a catwalk show DJ’d by French producer Barbara Butch that went down as the athlete procession was happening nearby. Young designers from the country showed off their work on various models, one of whom was Italian Paralympic fencer Bebe Vio, while dancers and drag performers such as Nicky Doll — host of Drag Race France — brought the party on either side of the aisle. Fierce.
An emotional high point came after the procession ended, all the boats gathering at the base of the Eiffel Tower. Some of the athletes looked contemplative upon arriving at the end, while groups of the American contestants — after being led through the river by flag bearers Lebron James and Coco Gauff — cheered “U.S.A! U.S.A!” while watching the landmark shimmer with flashing lights, adorned with the Olympic rings.
Later, just before the cauldron-lighting, the tower wowed audiences by putting on a colorful light show, lasers beaming out into the city around it.
Symbolizing the unity achieved by the world’s nations every Olympic Games, pianist Sofian Pamart and singer Juliette Armanet performed a delicate rendition of John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s “Imagine” while adrift on a raft in the Seine. Any risk of the musicians catching a chill from the rain that persisted into the evening was snuffed out by the fact that their piano was on fire the entire time.
“We stand and call for peace,” read a message on screen after the final notes.
At long last, it was time to light the cauldron. Rafael Nadal, Serena Williams, Carl Lewisand Nadia Comaneci all took turns holding the Olympic torch while cruising on a small boat down the Seine as a sign-language performer theatrically interpreted an EDM track for the athletes waiting back by the Eiffel Tower.
Tennis legend Amélie Mauresmo took over the flame once the boat docked near the Louvre, followed by a string of other French athletes ending with Teddy Riner and Marie-José Pérec jointly lighting the hot-air-balloon vessel, which rose into the air after receiving the fire, in Tuileries Garden.
Finally, Celine Dion made her glorious, long-awaited comeback on the world’s stage, sounding better than ever belting out a triumphant rendition of Edith Piaf’s “Hymne a L’amour” in French while embedded in the Eiffel Tower, which dripped with shimmering lights. The stunning ballad made for the perfect finale to the ceremony, moving NBC commentators to tears.
It marked her first time singing live since halting her performance schedule in 2022 after being diagnosed with Stiff Person Syndrome, a neurological disorder that affects one’s muscles — not that you’d ever guess it from Dion’s gorgeous, pitch-perfect delivery. Brava.