Stronger, faster, higher — artier.
The opening ceremonies of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 was an artistic triumph, a master class in dazzling outdoor sight and sound. It had to be less fun for the tens of thousands of onlookers positioned for six to eight hours along the River Seine, as well as the 6800 athletes representing 205 delegations waving from 85 boats — all in a hard, steady rain.
For viewers at home on CBC and NBC, as well as several digital platforms, the rain hardly mattered. The ambitious, astoundingly complex show went on, seemingly without a hitch. It came to an improbable highlight, a soaring performance by Celine Dion perched high up on the Eiffel Tower with her musical director Scott Prince on piano.
Viewers who have seen Prime Video’s harrowing documentary I Am Celine Dion know that 56-year-old entertainer is suffering from a rare, progressive neurological disorder known as stiff person syndrome. It hardly seems possible that she was actually singing Friday night in Paris but it sure seemed like she was. Her stirring performance, delivered with such panache, wowed the crowd, along with the commentators on the NBC broadcast: Mike Tirico (his fourth time as the network’s main Olympic host), Payton Manning and Kelly Clarkson.
“That was incredible…incredible to have that moment,” said Clarkson. “She’s a vocal athlete.”
Covering the opening ceremonies for the CBC were Andi Petrillo, Waneek Horn-Miller, Perdita Felicien and Craig McMorris. This “The Social” approach may have sounded good on paper but those involved seemed under-prepared throughout. This was a marathon that would have zapped any team of commentators, but beyond Petrillo, the lack of booth experience showed. So much was going on, and at various intervals, viewers were left in the dark. The CBC opening ceremonies team seemed poorly mic’d, well behind what was happening or just oblivious to it.
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Sure, there were a ton of names to retrieve. Some were meant to surprise, such as when the Olympic relay saw the doobie-shaped torch passed, not just to French sports stars, but to athletes from other countries who had won on French soil. Among that foursome were 14-time French Open tennis star, Spain’s Raphael Nadal, French Open tennis champ Serena Williams, Romanian gymnast (and 1976 Montreal Olympic hero) Nadia Comaneci and American sprinter Carl Lewis, all boating at a good clip down the Seine.
They were followed by 24 French athletes, including two paralympians and a 100-year-old Gold Medal winner from the 1948 Games. Then Marie-José Pérec and Teddy Riner finally lit the cauldron in the Jardin des Tuileries before the smokey yellow cauldron took flight in a 100-foot tall balloon-like structure, hoevering over the Paris night sky.
NBC’s prime time replay of the opening ceremonies was edited and name checked by dependable Tirico, who made up for booth tourists Manning and Clarkson. At least NBC’s prime time broadcast made sure such details were shared with viewers, a feature that did not seem to be added on CBC’s evening broadcast.
As spectacular as the Paris opening ceremonies were, the very long water parade of nations made “The Irishman” look like a short subject. The torch relay began hours earlier, on a Paris subway tunnel, with kids carrying the torch through catacombs, by boat, accompanied by a mysterious hooded figure. The Phanton of the Opera? He carried on via horseback and later showed off wild gymnastic skills. He did everything but surf and pole vault.
One sequence along the way (there were 12 motifs) found Phantom dude torching his way through the Louvre with the Mona Lisa and other famous portrait subjects popping out of their frames and joining in on the sight seeing. Later, massive, half-submerged painted heads peered as the 85 athlete boats that were motored past. The French have a playful sense of humour that was a missing element from recent Olympic openers from stadiums in Russia and China.
CBC’s Paris Prime Live host Scott Russell and CBC New chief correspondent Adrienne Arseneault built anticipation off the top. They also quickly dispatched that embarrassing Canadian women’s soccer cheating scandal, made worse during a commercial break where former soccer hero Christine Sinclair was featured on a field with other teammates — followed immediately by a drone shot.
On the American broadcast, Payton Manning goofed on the Canadian controversy, comparing the situation to an NFL scandal involving a former football rival.
“A little Spygate in soccer in the Olympics,” he jokes, tweaking those dirty, no-good rule-bending New England Patriots.
NBC had some cool pre-taped nuggets, like when they used an animated map to zip 10,000 miles from Paris to Tahiti to show where the surfing demonstration sporting events will take place. CBC did show — again, a drone shot! — athletes assembled on a beach in Tahiti, surf boards in hand.
A ton more happened on Olympic opening night. Wearing an antenna on her head and surrounded by pink feathered fans and dozens of male dancers, Lady Gaga sang and danced a Cabaret number near the tower. A salute to women throughout history saw giant gold statues emerge featuring ten women of distinction. On screen spun six golden rings of information about each, all filled in with different languages.
Through the rains, at least one spledid grand piano was soaked and ruined, along with several musicians and singers.
There was the now manditory Olympic rendition of “Imagine,” finally credited to John Lennon and Yoko Ono. This was performed in the dark of night on a drifting raft with a piano seemingly set ablaze. French artist Juliette Armanet sang it beautifully. “WE STAND AND CALL FOR PEACE” was super imposed on screen. During the short, let-the-games-begin speeches, Olympic boss Thomas Bach later echoed the “you may say I’m a dreamer” sentiment.
The boat parade was novel and impressive but by the time it was over it was almost time for the 2028 Games. CBC tried a low-key approach by grabbing a little face time with thoroughly soaked Canadian athletes through a video selfie or two. NBC went straight for the Yankee star power, going one-on-one deckside with American basketball ace and 36-year-old Olympic rookie Steph Curry.
The geography lesson provided by the 205 nations represented had the usual stumpers. Where in the world is Djibouti, for example? Just below Djibellie, of course.
At the end, the Paris Olympic organizers outdid themselves with the incredible Eiffel tower display. The City of Lights cranked it up several notches with something akin to a Disney World laser display combined with the spaceship scene from the end of “Close Encounters.” The strobe effects probably caused seizures in 199 of the 205 participating countries and regions but, damn, did they ever make maximum use of a world landmark. Well done, Paris.
