LADY GAGA, HEAVY metal and a rare performance by Celine Dion helped to open the 2024 Olympics in Paris.
Celine Dion gave her first live public performance since revealing she is living with stiff person syndrome (SPS), with a spectacular rendition from the Eiffel Tower at the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics.
The Canadian singer cancelled her Las Vegas residency due to health concerns in 2021, before revealing her SPS diagnosis in December 2022 and cancelling her Courage World Tour.
She had not performed in public until the closes minutes of tonight’s ceremony.
Before that, a total of 85 boats carried the team delegations on a four-mile journey through the centre of Paris, with more than 300,000 spectators lining the banks of the river.
Among these were Team Ireland, lead by flag bearers Shane Lowry of Offaly and Sarah Lavin from Limerick.
The athletes followed musical performances ranging from heavy metal to Lady Gaga surrounded by a plume of pink feathers and backing dancers, in a nod to different periods of France’s musical history.
As the ceremony moved down the river, it paid tribute to the country’s culture and history including Les Miserables, a popular novel by Victor Hugo, which has subsequently been turned into a musical.
The celebrations were met with heavy rain with performers, including pianist Alexandre Kantorow, braving heavy showers during their performances.
The boats later headed under a bridge which, filled with performers, had been transformed into a temporary catwalk.
Among those highlgihted during the journey to bring the torch to its destination were a horsewoman, armoured in the shiniest of metal, riding an equally metal horse.
And the Olympic flame was lit by French athletes Marie-Jose Perec (left) and Teddy Riner.
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