The Olympics opening ceremony has been slammed by viewers, described as ‘the worst’ ceremony, with rain making the audio difficult to hear and organisers being called on to ‘stop the boats’.
6,800 athletes, dressed in plastic ponchos, tried to keep the spirits up as they sailed down the Seine in a huge fleet of 85 boats.
Performances by Lady Gaga and some 3,000 dancers, acrobats and actors are barely audible over the sound of rain. Spectators call it “boring” and “the worst Olympic opening ceremony ever.”
A social media user said: ‘France is doing well, but it is still a long way from the opening ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games.’
The first boats with athletes sail down the River Seine for the opening ceremony
Torrential rain in Paris disrupted the opening ceremony, with many spectators wearing ponchos and umbrellas
France is cloudy, grey and wet as the Olympic Games opening ceremony takes place along the River Seine
The GB team embraced the rain, with many opting not to wear a poncho to protect themselves from the downpours
The Olympic ceremony in Paris has started with a performance by Lady Gaga
Let the games begin! The opening ceremony for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games has officially begun
A screen on the Trocadero breaks due to heavy rainfall
Olympic refugee team athletes arrive on the Seine
The boat with the Cuban team sails down the Seine
A masked torchbearer runs across the roof of the Musée d’Orsay in Paris, France, during the opening ceremony
A performer, painted blue and covered with flowers and fruit, representing the Greek god Dionysus, sang in French
Another used a picture of Rishi Sunak on a podium with the text: ‘Stop the boats’ to describe how they felt about the parade on the water.
For the first time in history, the opening ceremony will be held outside a closed stadium. Instead, Paris will host an unprecedented water parade for the Olympics.
The open-air spectacle takes place on a 6km stretch of the Seine and involves a total of 160 boats, each carrying 94 athletes, sailing down the iconic river.
However, fans on social media are not impressed with France’s attempt to change the ceremony, with one writing: ‘I’m sorry, but this is the worst Olympic opening ceremony I can remember.
“It’s an interesting idea to have the athletes come on boats, but it looks messy and lacks the roar of the crowd. Sorry, but not for me.”
Some criticized the boats themselves, writing, “All boats should have been the same and better looking.”
Another said: ‘This opening ceremony would really benefit from Graham Norton’s commentary where he wonders what the hell is going on. Does anyone else find this so bizarre and hard to follow?’.
Gaming fans compare the masked torchbearer who runs across rooftops through the city to Arno, a character from the video game Assassin’s Creed.
The official Assassin’s Creed X account even posted a video of Arno jumping around in the game, with the caption: “Keep an eye on the rooftops of Paris – Arno might be watching from above.”
A performance by a man painted blue and covered in flowers and fruit, representing the Greek god Dionysus and singing in French, left viewers stunned, comparing him to a Smurf, an Avatar and Iggle Piggle from the children’s programme In The Night Garden.
An X user wrote: ‘Can it get any worse! Avatar meets smurf remake’.
Another viewer joked: “It’s hilarious how the French rely so heavily on their contributions to different genres of music and the microphones only catch the rain,” after performances of the cancan, a selection of songs from Les Mis, the opera Carmen and a performance by French heavy metal band Gojira.
Meteorologists who predicted that the unusually rainy weather in July would be a “disaster” for the outdoor ceremony appear to have been right, as the screen at the Trocadéro, where thousands of spectators had gathered, appeared to have failed due to the gloomy weather.
Instead of people enjoying the Parisian sun in shorts and T-shirts, the streets were lined with umbrellas and spectators – including celebrities – wore ponchos to protect themselves from the rain.
One viewer joked on social media: ‘If it keeps raining by the time they get to Zimbabwe, they can take the boat down the street!’.
“Well, that nice idea from outside turned out well, huh?” wrote another sarcastically.
