The organizers of the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics are refusing to go into details of what they would ultimately end up doing at the event. Here’s what What is known about the concept, the artists and the music, according to public statements in recent months and leaks to the press.
What is the concept?
Instead of using the main athletics stadium for the opening parade, as is usual, The organisers have moved the event outside and into the heart of the capital in keeping with their motto “Wide Open Games”. Due to the size and complexity of the parade, it has never been fully rehearsed.
In between 6,000 to 7,000 athletes will sail on 85 barges and boats along a six-kilometer stretch of the Seine, from the Austerlitz bridge in the east to the Eiffel Tower. Up to 500,000 people will witness the event from the stands specially built for the occasion, with tickets up to $2,900on the river banks free of charge and on balconies and apartments overlooking the ceremony.
Entertainment
The show was designed by the prodigious French theatre director Thomas Jolly, 42-year-old Jolly, known for the hit rock-opera musical Starmania, has assembled a creative team that includes Fanny Herreroscreenwriter of the French television series “Call My Agent!”, as well as the best-selling author Leila Slimani and the famous historian Patrick Boucheron.
The show is divided into twelve different sections, with some 3,000 dancerssingers and entertainers located on both banks of the river and nearby bridges and monuments. A tribute to Notre-Dame Cathedral is guaranteedunder reconstruction after suffering a fire in 2019 and located on the banks of the Seine, possibly with dancers on its scaffolding.
The music will be a mix of classical, traditional “chanson française” as well as rap and electro. The Franco-Malian star of R&B Aya Nakamura He is likely to act despite criticism from far-right politicians, such as Marine Le Penwho suggested that his performance would “humiliate” France.
The renowned French electronic music duo Daft Punk has said he turned down an invitation to perform, while French DJ David Guetta was ruled out much to his irritation.
Which is the message?
Asked to sum up his message last week, Jolly said it was “amor“Despite the risk of angering conservatives, he said his work would be a celebration of cultural, linguistic, religious and sexual diversity in France – and around the world. “I think that the people who want to live together in this diversity, in this otherness, are much more numerous, but we make less noise.“, he declared.
It is assumed that It will be nothing like last year’s Rugby World Cup opening ceremony, which was heavily criticized for its retro style and included a succession of French clichés such as baguettes, berets and the Eiffel Tower. Jolly’s team also does not want to exaggerate France’s historical contribution to the development of democracy and the concept of universal human rights, thanks to its Enlightenment philosophers and the 1789 Revolution.
“We want to avoid our natural tendency to lecture people,” Herrero recently told Le Monde. And don’t expect a three-hour homage to French greatness to rival the nationalist pomp of the 2008 Beijing Games.The Beijing 2008 opening ceremony was exactly what we didn’t want to do.“, declared Boucheron to Le Monde.
What will be the big moments?
With so much still under wraps, it’s hard to predict. A performance by Aya Nakamura, after so much controversy over her role, would be a major moment, especially so soon after parliamentary elections in which the anti-immigration far right won a historic 143 seats in the French parliament.
Jolly has strongly hinted that a submersible or submarine could emerge from the waters of the Seine at some point. “You have the sky, you have bridges, you have water, you have banks, you have plenty of space to make poetry,” Jolly told reporters last week. “So why not under the river as well?”
The biggest moment of all might just be the finale, if everyone gets home safely. Since it was introduced in 2021, the ceremony has raised hackles among French police because of the difficulty of securing so many people in such a vast urban area. Some 45,000 security forces will be on duty.
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