(26 Jul 2024)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
++MUSIC CLEARED FOR EDITORIAL USE++
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Paris – 26 July 2024
1. STILL of ceremonial smoke in the colors of the France flag appear over the Seine River
2. STILL of a boat carrying the Olympic Refugee team
3. STILL of spectators waving French national flags
4. STILL of a performer sitting on a bridge
5. STILL of athletes from the United States on a boat
6. STILL of Lady Gaga performing
7. STILL of Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo in front of the Eifel Tower
8. STILL of Serena Williams in front of the Eifel Tower
9. STILL of the Eifel Tower lit up
10. STILL of the Olympic Flame rising on a balloon after being lit
11. STILL of a light show projected from the Eiffel Tower
STORYLINE:
A hot-air balloon brought an Olympic ring of fire into a rainy sky and singer Celine Dion belted from the Eiffel Tower as Paris kicked off its first Summer Olympics in a century Friday, with a four-hour-long, rule-breaking opening ceremony that unfurled along the Seine River.
Thousands of athletes on 85 boats started the 6-kilometer (nearly 4-mile) parade on the Seine by breaking through curtains of water cascading down from Austerlitz Bridge. The jetting waters were a wink at the fountains of Versailles Palace, the venue for Olympic equestrian competitions.
On-and-off showers did not seem to hamper the enthusiasm of the athletes. Some held umbrellas as they rode boats down the river in a showcase of the city’s resilience as authorities investigated suspected acts of sabotage targeting France’s high-speed rail network.
With the ambitious ceremony, the stakes for France were immense. Dozens of heads of state and government were in town, and the world was watching as Paris turned itself into a giant open-air theater. Along the Seine, iconic monuments became stages for dancers, singers and other artists.
Despite the weather, crowds crammed the Seine’s banks and bridges and watched from balconies, “oohing” and “aahing” as Olympic teams paraded in boats down the waterway that got increasingly choppy.
More than three hours into the show, French President Emmanuel Macron declared the Games open. In a gaffe before that, the five-ring Olympic flag was raised upside down at the Trocadero across from the Eiffel Tower.
In some memorable moments, French-Malian pop star Aya Nakamura, the most listened-to French-speaking artist in the world, emerged from a pyrotechnic display in an all-gold out to sing her hit “Djadja” accompanied by a Republican guard band of the French army.
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