The Paris 2024 Olympics got underway yesterday with an Opening Ceremony that will be a talking point, even if it wasn’t quite as successful as the organisers hoped. It was different, which always ruffles feathers, and it was inconsistent and messy but there was a lot to like in there. It’s hard for me not to compare everything to the London 2012 Opening Ceremony which was legendary, but each of them are different beasts.

(I have no recollection of the Tokyo opening ceremony even though I clearly watched it… and if I did view the Rio one then it didn’t make it on to the blog.)

The idea of taking the ceremony to the streets was a good one and I could see so much potential in what was unfolding in front of our eyes. Of course the rain didn’t help but I think everyone did an incredible job under the prevailing conditions. There’s nothing you can do but keep on going, and that’s exactly what they did.

Mixing in the athletes parade with elements of the theatrical didn’t quite work for me, because the context switching was jarring. I can understand that people perceive the parade as boring, but it’s one of my favourite parts: looking at everyone waving, remembering all these little-known countries and giving the map a good perusal. To keep going from that to the storytelling and back again did nothing for my enjoyment.

But once the parade was over and the darkening skies created even more atmosphere, things really looked up. Once the Eurodance party started, then I really got into it. The diverse cast, the horse galloping down the river, and finishing everything up with Celine was moving beyond belief. Some striking moments throughout, and such good imagery. It feels like the director was hoping it would turn out like a film, and in more controlled conditions it might have been more impactful. But this was live, it was on a huge scale, and it was telling from a production point of view that there had been no rehearsal.

Regardless, it got people talking, it was joyful for the athletes, soaked even as they were, and it got the Games underway. I feel like in four year’s time this will be an Opening Ceremony that I do actually remember.