Olympic Opening Ceremony

[TheGreenKnight]

Watching the opening ceremony. AIBU in finding it boringly grim. Especially when compared to London 2012.

The balloon flame reminds me of the "You are here" marker in Google maps 😂.

Celine saved it...almost!

Agreed that the Marseillaise was outstanding!

And I felt sorry for all the organisers and participants that the weather didn’t cooperate but the ballon and flame were amazing!

Non, je ne regrette rien

Heard it cost over a billion euros

Hoping that at least some of the people who were slating it earlier stayed with it long enough to see that balloon cauldron and the superlative, incredible Céline Dion. I have not seen that bettered.

Definitely

Having been dragged to many French spectaculars during my French holidays and the amazing puy du fou - they absolute excel at this type of grande amusement. There is fire, fireworks, horses, masses of children dressed in costume, adults ready to battle, there is passion and emotion and over the top music. It goes on and on to some grande finale. To be honest I didn't see much of this passion tonight. Think they were so focused on those boats on the river everything else seemed a side show.

Celine though- amazing.

I so wanted to be blown away....

She was the best part!!

We only caught a glimpse of Rafa ☹

That poor piano! DH said at least it would dry out when they set fire to it on the river.

Yes, we managed to stay the course and the end was the best part.

I thought it was very good.
Paris looked amazing despite the rain.
Very impressive.

I'll have to swim against the tide, I thought it was fantastic. I didn't watch every minute I will admit and was skeptical about it not being in a stadium but I really enjoyed it, especially that holographic horse. The threesome was hilarious, as was the lack of explanation from the BBC commentators. I'm not a Celine Dion fan, but she was magnificent. Given what he's going though, how amazing to perform on the Effiel Tower.

Didnt Queen Elizabeth parachute into the stadium at 2012. Why didnt the French do something similar with Madame Macron?

Yes, I agree with this. It would have been great to see the wonderful late Françoise Hardy and honorary French woman Jane Birkin represented in the music.

The balloon cauldron looked like a large version of the one that we went up in in Bournemouth. Without the fire. The galloping horse was good. For a while. You could see propeller wake from the rock that the Imagine singer in danger of catching fire was on, but I wonder how the horse went so far and for soooo long.

The cauldron was dire?! Harsh! 😮

So is there a flame in the main stadium? Or is it just above Paris? Our moving part cauldron by Thomas Hestherwick was a masterpiece and was in the Olympic stadium. Cannot see the Ballon with a glowing “basket” as an Olympic flame.

We always think the parade of athletes is boring. So few actually turn out now and we nearly always get a water sport athlete to be involved. Not sure how a parade can be improved. Agree nhs was a silly inclusion in ours but we do keep going on about it! Other than that, ours at least had humour!

Well I thought it was fabulous. The same kind of unhinged chaos you get with Eurovision. Beheaded queens? On fire pianos? People swinging about on sticks? An Assassin's Creed character running around the rooftops? The mechanical horse? The light show? THE BALLOON?

Bloody brilliant.

I think it's shame it wasn't in a stadium, mostly because of the weather but also because the people who were actually there will only have been able to see the bits that were close to them, not the whole thing. But I think it's the rain that really ruined it (arguably, that was a risk that should have been considered as relatively likely and perhaps changed the plans but it was unusually bad weather for July).

I liked the boats and think it will have been a fantastic atmosphere for the athletes on board - probably more so than walking through a stadium. Unless they get seasick in which case not so nice!

I liked a lot of the entertainment but not all of it - it felt very Eurovision in places. The abuse of the pianos hurt my soul. The one in the torrential downpour won't ever be the same and why on earth they would set fire to something worth that much money I do not understand.

I loved the horse and the balloon, the light show and all the flags. And Celine.

Yes 🙈 Tres risqué! Wtf & why?!

I'm way behind, only at the part with the combusting piano.

Does it get better? Cos I'm bored shitless

What a pile of shite.

I'm embarrassed for the French.

Ours was fantastic compared to that drivel.

I agree. I loved it, not every single part admittedly (wasn't so keen at the start) but thought it got better and better, in spite of the awful conditions. Really quite beautiful and unique in parts and the way it showcased the city by moving through it I thought was incredible.
I thought there was a lot of history and culture in it - didn't really miss humorous references or nods to the nation's health care system. Different strokes for different folks I suppose... I'd be quite proud if I were French!

I thought it was awful, especially when compared to London 2012.

I thought it started off really well and liked the non stadium aspect and the boats were memorable and different.

But then too long on the fashion runway with 4 people parading up and down looking miserable in the rain. I thought it all became too pompous and humourless. It feels like the French are not able to take the piss out of themselves which is tedious.

I had to get in the car and listen on the radio for the last bit and thought "who's this caterwauling?" Celine Dion is no Edith Piaf. Dreadful