Lady Gaga, Celine Dion and French-Malian singer Aya Nakamura joined dancers, an opera diva and even a heavy metal band in an opening ceremony for the Paris Olympics that sought to proudly showcase French culture with a modern twist.
The first-ever opening ceremony held outside a stadium on the River Seine had to battle driving rain that cast a pallid gloom over the City of Light.
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.
It is now. The world is watching us. Lets open the Games in style! French President Emmanuel Macron, who watched the ceremony in a VIP stand with other leaders, wrote on X.
In a nod to her passion for French culture, US pop star Lady Gaga appeared from behind a fan of pom-poms held by her dancing troupe to sing Mon truc en plumes (My Thing With Feathers), an iconic French music hall hit by the legendary Zizi Jeanmaire.
