Do You Hear the People Sing?

DO YOU HEAR THE PEOPLE SING?
Paris Opening Ceremony defies the rain

by Philip Barker at Le Trocadéro

At the climax of a truly unforgettable night, French Olympic heroes Teddy Riner from judo and athlete Marie-Jose Perec carried the final Torches.

Triple Olympic champions both, they set the seal on what proved to be a truly unforgettable spectacle, despite heavy rain which fell almost throughout. It was the wettest Opening Ceremony since the 1952 Helsinki Games.

A remarkable show had Lady Gaga on the banks of the Seine and Celine Dion on the Eiffel Tower in a cavalcade of “la vie Parisienne.”

It also embodied the Olympic regulations and aspirations which forbid discrimination because of sexual orientation or any other reason.

There were performances from drag artistes and even a runway to invoke the great fashion shows of Paris, disco, rap and other music and a tumult of memorable moments including the illumination of the Eiffel Tower with the emblem of the European Union in a sequence designed to show “Unity in Diversity.”

There was also one moment organisers might prefer to forget, the Olympic Flag was raised upside down.

This was to be a Ceremony predominantly on the river, an opening sketch featured a Torchbearer who arrived at the Stade de France, only to realise belatedly that he was in the wrong place.

It fell to Zinedine Zidane to rescue the situation with a journey on the Paris Metro where the posters from past Olympic Games accompanied his journey.

Zidane was a hero of the team which won the 1998 World Cup on French soil.

A winged accordionist played from a bridge as the Flame passed underground, beneath the Paris streets.

A group of young people took the Torch from the depths of the Paris sewers back to the river.

They were accompanied by a mysterious hooded Torchbearer with a costume inspired by

masked characters in French culture including the iron mask, the Phantom of the Opera and Ezio from “Assasin’s Creed.”

When the great nautical river pageant began, Antonin Dvorak’s “Symphony from the New World” signalled the start for the 85 river craft which conveyed the competing teams from Pont d’Austerlitz to Port d’Iéna.

The first boat flew the flag of Greece, carried by race walker Antigoni Ntrismpioti, who had been the penultimate Torchbearer on Greek soil. She was joined by basketball star Giannis Antetokounmpo.

On board the second boat was the Refugee Olympic Team.

Some teams went on Bateaux Mouches, the famous Parisian river boats, others on smaller vessels.

Then Lady Gaga appeared with dancers on the banks of the river to perform “Mon truc en plumes” a number inspired by Zizi Jeanmaire’s rendition in the French revue.

It was the first set piece of an astonishing musical show to reflect the theme “Enchante,” one of 12 tableaux  which included Offenbach’s “Can Can.”

There was Gabriel Faure’s “Pavane,” “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” by Paul Dukas and the “Danse Macabre” by Camille Saint Saens.

This at least was an echo of 1924 for Saint Saens was heard there too.

The Flame meanwhile had been taken across the rooftops by the hooded Torchbearer who entered the Louvre.

There it is discovered that the Mona Lisa has disappeared.

The culprits were eventually revealed to be Minions in another charming segment.

The music of Les Miserables — “A la Volonte du Peuple” known in English as “Do you Hear the People Sing?” — was also to be heard with images of the famous barricade scene.

The rebuilding of Notre Dame after the 2019 fire was also reflected in the performances which punctuated the Ceremony.

There were depictions of ten notable women which included Alice Milliat. The founder of the Women’s Olympiad in the early 1920s, she crossed swords with Pierre de Coubertin and subsequent IOC officials as she campaigned for greater representation of women in the Olympic Games.

Unusually, the French anthem was played during the parade and not at the start of the Ceremony.

Although a new arrangement which was musically pleasing, it somehow lacked the essence of the wonderfully robust “Marseillaise” loved by many beyond France.

Among the tableaux were “Liberte, Fraternite, Egalite” and spectators were shown the fashioning of the Olympic medals, each with a small piece of metal from the original Eiffel Tower.

Finally, a “horse” draped in the Olympic Flag made its own progress along the river and onto dry land at Le Trocadero. By now a real horse, it preceded the bearers of the Flags of all the participating teams.

Le Tricolor, held proudly by Florent Manadou and Melina Robert- Michon of France, led the taking of the oaths which were also recited by a judge and a coach, on behalf of what is known as the “entourage.”

In another break with the usual practice, the Olympic Flag had been raised before the official declaration to open the Games by President Macron.

It flew, albeit upside down, to the strains of the Olympic Anthem written for the first Olympics of the Modern Era by Corfiot composer Spiros Samaras.

This was performed with the original Greek lyrics written by Kostis Palamis.

The choir’s interpretation was one of the finest renditions ever heard at the Games.

Spectators were also given a version of John Lennon’s peace anthem “Imagine.”

“Some may say, we in the Olympic world, we are dreamers, but we are not the only ones,” said International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach.

“And our dream is coming true tonight: a reality for everyone to see. Olympians from all around the globe, showing us what greatness we humans are capable of. So I invite everybody: dream with us. Like the Olympic athletes, be inspired with the joy that only sport can give us. Let us celebrate this Olympic spirit of living life in peace, as the one and only humankind, united in all our diversity.”

There had been a link to the surfing competitors in Tahiti, the first time that Olympic competition will take place in the same Games, at the same time, in different continents.

Later the hooded figure arrived on stage with the Olympic Flame, and waiting to receive it, to the delight of spectators, was Zidane.

As the French team led chants of “Zizou,” he held the Torch high and passed it to Rafa Nadal, winner of no fewer than 14 men’s French Open singles titles at Roland Garros.

The Flame now embarked upon a river journey.

A first of a succession of champions greeted it including 1948 cycling gold medallist Charle Coste. Now 100, he played his part alongside Nadia Comaneci, Michael Phelps and others as it passed L’Arc de Triomphe, at the heart of the great thoroughfare of Paris where it had entered the city on Bastille Day (July 14)

Each bearer joined the others to reflect the addition to the Olympic motto, “Faster Higher Stronger and Together.” At last Perec and Riner carried the Flame to a balloon which soared into the skies.

This evoked the pioneering spirit of French aviators such as the Montgolfier brothers and Andre Garnerin, the aeronaut of France all over 200 years ago.

Coubertin had insisted that ‘un spectacle’ was essential to distinguish the Olympics from simple World Championships.

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