Olympics opening ceremony gets under way with starring roles for Lady Gaga and Zinedine Zidane

Jul 26, 2024

Lady Gaga sang in French and played the piano as she performed at the Olympics opening ceremony on the banks of the River Seine.

The US superstar – the first musical act at the event – was joined by a host of dancers shaking pink pompoms as she delivered a dazzling performance – but it was all recorded, according to the Associated Press (AP) news agency.

The Grammy and Oscar-winner kicked off her performance on steps along the Seine, singing Zizi Jeanmaire’s Mon Truc en Plumes.

The singer’s representatives did not immediately respond to a request for comment about why her performance was prerecorded, said AP.

For the first time in Olympics history, the ceremony is not taking place in a stadium.

Paris Olympics latest: Procession on River Seine at spectacular opening ceremony

Hundreds of thousands of spectators lined the banks and bridges of the Seine as they watched thousands of athletes on boats in a flotilla making their way along the waterway.

Among the guests were world leaders including French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, who were joined by dignitaries such as the US First Lady Jill Biden and International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach.

The ceremony began with a pre-recorded video of French football legend Zinedine Zidane running and carrying the Olympic torch through the streets of Paris, including “jumping” over a car.

He made his way underground to the Metro where he gave the torch to three children who went on a boat with a hooded figure before they emerged on to the surface of the river.

Plumes of blue, white and red smoke – representing the colours of the French tricolour flag – were also seen on a bridge before the flotilla began with the Greece boat.

The ceremony also included a sequence that alluded to the musical Les Miserables before a guillotined Marie Antoinette was shown at the Conciergerie, the site where the last French queen consort prior to the revolution was imprisoned.

French heavy metal band Gojira put on a fiery performance as they played on balconies and windows, attached by harnesses, across the building.

Red streamers burst out of the Conciergerie and the group was followed by a performance from opera singer Marina Viotti.

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